Maps of Music

Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)

Where the lyrics of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket take you, and where it was really made.

The title came from a casual remark made at a snowboarding lodge, and the album went on to become the first punk record to reach number one in the United States.

Key places

Most of the album recorded in San Diego (2001)

Recording site Signature Sound — The band returned to San Diego to record most of the album at Signature Sound. The studio was also where its predecessor had been recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Drum tracking in Hollywood (2001)

Recording site Larrabee Sound Studios — Drum tracking began at Larrabee Studios West in Hollywood, not long after pre-production. The studio is listed among the sessions for the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Drum tracking at Cello Studios (2001)

Recording site EastWest Studios — Drum tracking also took place at Cello Studios in Hollywood, alongside Larrabee Studios West. The band began proper tracking for drums not long after pre-production. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Mixing in Burbank (2001)

Recording site Encore Recording Studios — Tom Lord-Alge mixed the album at Encore Studios in Burbank. The band had him mix it in California rather than his usual Miami space. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (TOYPAJ): fourth studio album by American rock band Blink-182
• Released in June 2001 by MCA Records
• Follows Enema of the State (1999), the band's multiplatinum breakthrough
• Producer Jerry Finn continued the partnership from the previous album
• Title is a double entendre: 'take off your pants and jack it'
• Trio split on the album's direction, reflecting a band in transition
• Lyrics chronicle adolescence, with songs about the prom, authority, and teenage parties

Background

• Enema of the State moved over fifteen million copies worldwide
• Singles from Enema became radio staples and cemented the band's stardom
• Band faced creative burnout and pressure from its label to meet deadlines
• Band had moved from small clubs to amphitheaters, arenas, and stadiums during the Enema cycle
• DeLonge said MCA pressure pushed the band to rush the follow-up
• Interim live album The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!) released in November 2000
• Band wanted to shed its silly public image and adopted more mature branding for the rollout

Recording

• Pre-production began in December 2000, using ideas developed on the road
• Demos recorded at DML Studios, a small practice studio in Escondido, California
• Drums tracked at Larrabee Studios West and Cello Studios in Hollywood
• Majority of the album recorded in San Diego at Signature Sound, the same studio as the predecessor
• Recorded between December 2000 and March 2001
• Mixed by Tom Lord-Alge at Encore Studios in Burbank
• Mastered by Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood
• Last Blink album recorded on analogue tape

Cover

• Three icons for the members: a jacket, a pair of pants, and an airplane
• DeLonge received the pants and Hoppus the jacket; Barker received the airplane
• Three collectible CD editions: red plane, yellow pants, and green jacket, each with two bonus tracks

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · 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

• Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone was among the most effusive positive reviewers, praising the band's unpretentious attitude
• Darren Ratner of AllMusic called the record one of the band's finest works to date
• People praised the adrenaline-laced songs and the band's potty-mouthed humor, recommending them to adolescents of all ages
• Q magazine said the band write some very good pop songs when they stop arsing around
• The Village Voice described the sound as emo-core with elegiac pauses
• Aaron Scott of Slant Magazine found the sound recycled from the band's previous efforts
• Joshua Klein of The Washington Post felt the album was stagnant and cookie-cutter
• Kerrang! critic Ian Fortnam criticized its lack of risks and money-in-the-bank commercialism
• Entertainment Weekly's David Browne called the album a paradox of adolescent energy made joyless
• NME said the band had become indistinguishable from the teenage dirtbag genre they helped spawn

Reappraisal

• Kelefa Sanneh of The New Yorker praised the album in a profile and called it peppy, sulky, and stupid
• AbsolutePunk's 2011 Retro Reviews project named it the band's best effort
• Rock Hard ranked it 452nd in its 2005 book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time
• Stereogum's Grant Sharples said in 2021 that the album improved on its predecessor
• Steven Hyden of Uproxx called the album middling, with some hits but no fan's best work

Records

• Debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 350,000 copies
• First punk album to reach number one in the United States
• Number one on the Canadian Albums Chart with 47,390 copies sold in the first week
• Number one on Germany's Top 100 Albums
• Certified platinum in the US, then double platinum in May 2002
• Over 14 million copies sold worldwide
• Second-highest-selling album in the band's catalogue

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

Trivia

• The title was coined by guitar tech Larry Palm after a snowboarding day, when a soaked kid's mother told him to take off his pants and jacket
• The band's three editions were partly inspired by NOFX's Punk in Drublic, which had varying tracks on different formats
• Executives hoped to market the three editions separately to boost sales, but the band argued strongly against this tactic
• Palm filed suit in 2003 and the band eventually settled out of court for $10,000
• The 2002 Pop Disaster Tour with Green Day was conceived as a Monsters of Punk tour, echoing the Monsters of Rock tours
• The clean version lists Happy Holidays, You Bastard as just Happy Holidays, an instrumental with one final line

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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