Maps of Music

California (2016)

Where the lyrics of California take you, and where it was really made.

The band shelved dozens of songs it had already written and started again with a new producer, John Feldmann.

Key places

Recording at Foxy Studios, Woodland Hills (2016)

Recording site Very Loud House (Woodland Hills) — The album was recorded at Foxy Studios in Woodland Hills, California, between January and March 2016. The map point is set at city-centre level, not at the exact studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• California: seventh studio album by American rock band Blink-182
• Released July 1, 2016 through BMG, the band's only album on that label
• First of two albums by the band to feature both producer John Feldmann and Matt Skiba
• Skiba replaced founding member Tom DeLonge, who was absent from 2015 to 2022
• Title comes from the band's home state of California
• Deluxe edition with eleven new songs released in May 2017

Background

• Neighborhoods (2011) and Dogs Eating Dogs (2012) followed touring; recording new material became difficult due to DeLonge's various commitments
• After disagreements that led to DeLonge's departure, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker recruited Skiba
• Skiba filled in for DeLonge at the March 2015 shows, then rejoined as an official member
• The trio began writing together for the first time at Barker's studio, Opra Music in North Hollywood, in September 2015

Recording

• Recorded at Foxy Studios in Woodland Hills, California, between January and March 2016
• First new lone producer since longtime collaborator Jerry Finn
• Band shelved earlier songs and wrote 28 new songs in a period of 3–4 weeks
• Nearly 50 songs were recorded in total
• Sessions regularly ran up to 18 hours a day

Cover

• Artwork by English street artist D*Face
• Pre-existing but unfinished illustration was used for the album cover

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in August 1992 in Poway, California, a northern suburb of San Diego County.
• Tom DeLonge was introduced to Mark Hoppus through Hoppus's sister Anne, and they first recorded with drummer Scott Raynor.
• Early releases came through independent label Cargo Records, with the debut Cheshire Cat in 1995 and Dude Ranch in 1997.
• The band was renamed 182 after a threat from an Irish band named Blink.

Members

• Mark Hoppus (bass, vocals) is the only member to have stayed in the band throughout its history.
• Tom DeLonge (guitar, vocals) left twice and returned in 2022.
• Travis Barker (drums) replaced Scott Raynor in 1998.
• Matt Skiba (guitar, vocals) was a member from 2015 to 2022.

Career

• Enema of the State (1999) reached over fifteen million copies sold worldwide and made the band major international stars.
• Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) became the first punk rock album to reach number one in the U.S.
• The band announced an indefinite hiatus in 2005, and they reunited in 2009.
• California (2016) and Nine (2019) were recorded with Matt Skiba.
• One More Time... (2023) was released after DeLonge's return and became the band's third number-one album on the Billboard 200.
• Sales reportedly total 50 million albums worldwide.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave mixed to positive reviews; Metacritic average 63 out of 100 from seventeen reviews
• AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung called it the band's best in 15 years, a return to form
• Rock Sound's Gav Lloyd wrote that the album recalls what makes the band great and gives it a fresh twist
• NME's Charlotte Gunn said it has the humour, pace, emotion and huge choruses of a classic Blink record
• Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan considered it the band's catchiest music since their heyday
• Exclaim!'s Josiah Hughes was more critical, calling it uneven and disjointed
• The A.V. Club's David Anthony gave the album a C−
• The Guardian's Gwilym Mumford deemed the album a tired and tiring work
• Several reviewers found the album overly long, and others felt Feldmann was too much of an influence

Records

• Debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 186,000 equivalent album units, 172,000 copies sold in the first week
• First UK chart-topper for the band, selling 24,000 copies in its debut week
• Nominated for Best Rock Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, the band's first nomination; lost to Cage the Elephant's Tell Me I'm Pretty
• 408,000 units sold in the US as of December 2016, ninth best selling rock album of 2016
• Re-entered the Billboard 200 at number 17 in the week of the deluxe edition release

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album was first slated for self-release, but the band chose BMG after that label acquired Vagrant Records
• D*Face's two rejected alternate artworks were later posted on NME's website
• Alternate titles included No Future, OB-GYN Kenobi, Nude Erection and No Hard Feelings
• The track Brohemian Rhapsody is a joke song whose title puns on Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody
• This is the first album not to include Tom DeLonge

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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