In the life of every band, there comes a time to take stock; to reflect on goals set and goals achieved; to offer a silent prayer of thanksgiving for the many blessings so richly bestowed upon us. For blink-182, this is not the time. They're too busy touring the world, scarfing Sombrero's burritos, farting and rocking the planet till the ozone layer disintegrates. In the recent past, blink-182 won a Teen Choice Award, a Blockbuster Music Award, and appeared on the MTV Awards '00 where they performed "All The Small Things" and won Best Group Video. In Europe they received an MTV Europe Award for Best New Act. They performed on Saturday Night Live and the Tonight Show (twice), appeared in American Pie and opened the Billboard Music Awards. The band also graced the covers of Rolling Stone, Alternative Press (twice), Teen People, Teen and CosmoGirl, just to name a few. It's safe to say the blink-182 is now a worldwide phenomenon, with their records reaping platinum and their concert tours packing `em in all across Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Americas. And earlier this year, blink-182 ventured back to the studio with producer Jerry Finn to record their fourth studio album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (you should say the title out loud to fully appreciate the subtle, sophisticated humor). By every indication, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket is turning out to be an evolutionary hybrid for blink-182, as hooky as 1999's multi-platinum Enema of the State, but with all the punk spirit of their MCA debut album Dude Ranch. "This is the hardest, fastest record that we've done," says blink's Tom DeLonge of the upcoming album. "It's way more punk-rock than our previous records, and we're excited about it." Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (release date 6/12/01) follows Enema of the State and last year's smash live album The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back). The band's popularity has only increased since their formation in '93. World-wide sales are now over seven million copies, not to mention the fact that the CD perched high atop the upper-reaches of Billboard's Top 200 for over a year. The album's three singles, "What's My Age Again," "All The Small Things" and "Adam's Song" dominated MTV, alternative, rock and Top-40 radio.
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