Styles:
* Alternative Pop/ Rock
* Punk Revival
* Third Wave Ska Revival
* Ska-Punk
Artist:
Sublime
Formed In:
1988
Bio:
Formed in Long Beach, CA, in 1988 as a garage punk band, Sublime grew to fame in the mid-'90s on the back of the Cali punk explosion engendered by Green Day and the Offspring, though Sublime mixed up their punk rage with reggae and ska influences. The band released just two albums during its first seven years, finally finding a hit with its self-titled third one. It was Sublime's last, however, as lead singer Brad Nowell died in May 1996, just two months before the album's release.
The trio which comprised Sublime -- vocalist/guitarist Nowell, bassist Eric Wilson, and drummer Bud Gaugh -- played their first gig on the 4th of July 1988 at a small Long Beach club (a show that sparked the infamous Peninsula Riot). The group began aggressively touring around the area with an increasingly substantial following, especially among the surf/skate beach crowd. After four years of concentrating strictly on live shows, Sublime's first album (40 Oz. to Freedom) was recorded in 1992. The LP was released on Skunk Records -- the label formed by Nowell with Sublime manager Miguel -- and sold at shows, but it really started to break when KROQ began playing the single "Date Rape" two years after its initial release.
Mostly due to the radio exposure, Sublime signed to MCA for 1994's Robbin' the Hood, which revealed an experimental ethic more in keeping with cut-and-paste dub than the well-tuned rage of the Cali punk revival. The album performed well at college radio and set the stage for the breakout success of their self-titled third album. On May 25, 1996, however, Nowell was found in a San Francisco hotel room, dead of a heroin overdose. The band collapsed, but Sublime was still slated for a July release. On the strength of the alternative radio hit "What I Got," the album was certified gold by the end of 1996. As Sublime's legend lived on, Wilson and Gaugh formed a new band called Long Beach Dub Allstars. There were also a number of posthumous Sublime releases, among them 1997's Second Hand Smoke, 1998's Stand by Your Van and Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends, Greatest Hits in 1999, and Gold in 2005.
Album:
Sublime
Tracks:
1. Garden Grove
2. What I Got
3. Wrong Way
4. Same in the End
5. April 29, 1992 (Miami)
6. Santeria
7. Seed
8. Jailhouse
9. Pawn Shop
10. Paddle Out
11. The Ballad of Johnny Butt
12. Burritos
13. Under My Voodoo
14. Get Ready
15. Caress Me Down
16. What I Got (Reprise)
17. Doin' Time
Review:
Sublime's eponymous major-label debut arrived a few months after the band's leader, Brad Nowell, died tragically of a heroin overdose. As a show of sympathy, the album tended to be slightly overrated in some critical quarters, who claimed that Nowell was an exceptionally gifted lyricist and musical hybridist, but Sublime doesn't quite support those claims. The trio does have a surprising grace in its unabashedly traditionalist fusion of Californian hardcore punk, light hip-hop, and reggae. Switching between bracing hardcore and slow, sexy reggae numbers, Sublime display supple, muscular versatility and, on occasion, a gift for ingratiatingly catchy hooks, as on the hit single "What I Got." What they don't have is the vision -- either lyrical or musical -- to maintain interest throughout the course of the entire album. Sublime sags when the band delves too deeply into their dub aspirations or when their lyrics slide into smirking humor. The low moments don't arrive that often -- by and large, the album is quite engaging -- but they happen frequently enough to make the record a demonstration of the band's blossoming ability, but not the fulfillment of their full potential. Of course, Nowell's death gives the record a certain pathos, but that doesn't make the album any stronger.
Rating:
95
Release Date:
Jul 1996
Label:
MCA
Bitrate:
* 320kbps
File format:
* mp3
File size:
* 134.42 MB
Group Members
* Eric Wilson
* Brad Nowell
* Bud Gaugh
Similar Artists
* No Doubt
* Goldfinger
* The Suicide Machines
* King Changó
* Home Grown
* The Urge
* Jimmie's Chicken Shack
* Sugar Ray
* Smash Mouth
* Rancid
* Buck-O-Nine
* Hepcat
* The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
* Dance Hall Crashers
* Skankin' Pickle
* Let's Go Bowling
* Mustard Plug
* Less Than Jake
* The Bloodhound Gang
* 311
* Operation Ivy
See Also
* Long Beach Dub Allstars
* Eyes Adrift
Influenced By
* Fishbone
* The Specials
* Jane's Addiction
* Red Hot Chili Peppers
* Bob Marley
Followers
* Catch 22
* Slightly Stoopid
* Wahala
* Buzz Poets
* Marianne Flemming
* Lucky Boys Confusion
* Murs
* Strut
* J Band
* The Matches
Performed Songs By
* Brad Nowell
* Eric Wilson
* Marshall Goodman
* Ira Gershwin
* George Gershwin
* Dorothy Heyward
* Bud Gaugh
* Dubose Heyward
* Michael "Miguel" Happoldt
* Lindon Roberts
* Michael Kay
* Greg Graffin
* Trevor McNaughton
* Brenton Dowe
* Bob Marley
* Joe Higgs
* Ross Fletcher
* Kevin Roach
* Robert Hunter
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