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WHAT IF: Enema was released today


bojangles

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I just started thinking about this, with all the PC stuff going in this world today, if blink released Enema today do you think they would've gotten just as big and famous, or do you think they would've been written off real quick cause of their dick jokes, I often wonder if that shit would been considered too offensive for todays society. 

I probably worded this really badly but curious to see people's thoughts

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i don't want to credit the guys too high, but they were a tiny part of bands that made todays pop culture what it is... so it's really hard to compare how people would react to it now.... 

If enema were released today it would be compared to othe pop punk acts that are active now who wouldn't even exist in said form if it wasnt for blink...

 

 

but if it wasn't for them to breakthrough as a goofy band that based a lot of their marketing on the guys personalities, another band would0ve done it and blink would be viewed as a copy of that... maybe. The songs on that record would still be banger to this day. it has aged so well.....

All the small things would get huge either way. that song is just made to be successfull on radio imho

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I think it would do pretty well but no where close as successful as 1999. It doesn't have the same production that mainstream music currently has (synths and electronic influences, more auto tune, etc.). 

I think the pop-punk community would still rave about it though. 

WMAA and ATST would still make good singles.

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If Enema was released today, that means there is no pop punk album to define the genre in the early 2000s. Pop punk wouldn't have been as mainstream IMO. Green Day would probably be bigger than they were around 2000-2002 as well.

I don't think the album would've been nearly as successful. Blink were largely supported by MTV. Perhaps they would've been on a similar level of fame as ADTR or something. But a few songs definitely would be criticised as sexist. Dumpweed like the guy above mentioned. The line from Dysentery Gary "your mum's a whore" would've been offensive today too.

The Party Song would possibly be criticised too for the lyrics in the chorus. Women would probably say something like "we can wear whatever the fuck we want". The humping dog line in Anthem probably would be considered offensive too.

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In regards to PC culture, Enema would have mostly been fine. I mean Dumpweed with that lyric is a little dubious but nothing outlandish. I don't think The Party Song would have been a problem, either. none of enema songs, silly jokes aside, are like 'Hey whore, get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich' so I don't think anything would have happened from that perspective.

I'm not sure about some of their other songs, but for the most part I think blink don't actually stray too badly in those areas. most of their outlandish ones are obvious jokes because their purposely absurd and gross and that humour is still alive and well. 

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for the most part, blink has aged pretty gracefully, and there's not a ton from them i'd consider problematic in the sense that the PC crowd would attack them for. dumpweed's the only real thing i can think of, and there's some homophobic stuff here and there, but it was never overwhelming. i can't easily picture a world where this would be released today. saying that is assuming they never ruled MTV or pop punk never became gigantic... like if pop punk sorta petered out in the late 90s. if it were released by a young blink today, it'd probably sound more like california in that that's what big, mainstream records sound like now. would it be as successful? there's no telling. there's an absence of guitar on the radio that was prevalent in 1999, but it's worse today. that said, i think the general public still enjoys the pop-punk of yesteryear and clearly from the younger bands still doing it, there's a great audience for that sorta thing. so perhaps it could have achieved some level of success today, but the type of 15 million copies sold, oversaturated media appearances, etc? couldn't happen again, just doesn't anymore.

blink, and other bands that got gigantic from that time (creed, limp bizkit, 3 doors down, whatever else) were the last true rock stars. they got super paid and got out right before the bubble burst

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3 hours ago, boxelder said:

for the most part, blink has aged pretty gracefully, and there's not a ton from them i'd consider problematic in the sense that the PC crowd would attack them for. dumpweed's the only real thing i can think of, and there's some homophobic stuff here and there, but it was never overwhelming. i can't easily picture a world where this would be released today. saying that is assuming they never ruled MTV or pop punk never became gigantic... like if pop punk sorta petered out in the late 90s. if it were released by a young blink today, it'd probably sound more like california in that that's what big, mainstream records sound like now. would it be as successful? there's no telling. there's an absence of guitar on the radio that was prevalent in 1999, but it's worse today. that said, i think the general public still enjoys the pop-punk of yesteryear and clearly from the younger bands still doing it, there's a great audience for that sorta thing. so perhaps it could have achieved some level of success today, but the type of 15 million copies sold, oversaturated media appearances, etc? couldn't happen again, just doesn't anymore.

blink, and other bands that got gigantic from that time (creed, limp bizkit, 3 doors down, whatever else) were the last true rock stars. they got super paid and got out right before the bubble burst

I also think had blink never broke up in 2005, they would've garnered respect as a rock band too. The way Foo Fighters and Green Day have that respect. They were well onto that level after the 2003 album, and despite that album shedding people's opinions of blink being some lame pop punk band known for running nude, they still had a lot to do to convince the music industry to give them that kind of respect. I really think another album would've achieved that, especially considering how AVA could've sounded if it was for blink (one of the biggest let downs, because all the ideas of AVA were fucking great, obviously another topic though).

Saying that though, I think blink have always had way more respect than Limp Bizkit and Creed, just not on the Foo Fighters & Green Day level. Considering how huge Sum 41 was in 2001 and 2002, I'm surprised they never really reached that kind of level too, especially after the Chuck album. That album has everything that rock fans love.

As for Enema, if it was released today, it wouldn't be nowhere near as huge as that album was back in 1999. Blink defined pop punk, probably more so than Green Day with the Dookie album. I do think Sum 41 probably would've latched on to a bit of that kind of success but not at the same level. Enema was just unique. Nothing had ever sounded like it. Blink weren't just part of the music scene back then. They were a huge part of pop culture. Fashion, MTV, cameos with movies like American Pie.

If Enema wasn't released back then, there would probably be no New Found Glory, no Fall Out Boy, no Panic at the Disco, no All Time Low, no Good Charlotte. Well, those bands would still exist probably, but blink massively influenced all of these, so their music would be mad different. Even Jerry Finn's career would turn out completely different. Even bands like ADTR would be effected as well as Five Seconds of Summer.

Maybe I'm overrating the success Enema had in 1999, but blink weren't just a band. They were one of the faces of the music industry back then. Eminem, Britney Spears etc, they were literally on that level of fame at the time.

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I can't see Enema being made like it is in today's climate. It's very much a creature of it's era and it's sensibilities were cutting edge then. But say somehow they crafted the same songs, image, etc I think it wouldn't nearly be as popular. It would maybe be a cult-ish type of band that attracted a strong following but never reached mainstream "success".

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8 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

I also think had blink never broke up in 2005, they would've garnered respect as a rock band too.

conversely, i think their 2005 breakup and subsequent reunion is the only reason they have what little credibility they do today. they disappeared at just the right time, for just the right amount of time.

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I think Enema would have been succesfull these days, people love comedy and the songs are still very catchy. It probably wouldnt be groundbreaking but very succesfull though.

As for blink getting respect, i think they achieved it at 2003-2004 even Roberth Smith was talking wonders about them, they probably needed one or two more great records to get to the size of the likes of Green Day of Foo Fighters. Blink had aother chance with Neighborhoods but it didnt when mainstream enough, and we all know the weakness of that record.

On other topic, blink getting to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame its a debate these days, i bet they will but soo many years later.

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Hard to say, I mean humor goes in cycles and Blink's humor was definitely a part of that late 90s/early 00s era. Sex and crazy extreme shit like Jackass and just overall "I can't believe I'm seeing/hearing this!!" was the root of a lot of comedy at that time. That being said, I don't think their humor was just outright misogynist or anything, they were ALWAYS the butt of their own jokes. Even that line in Dumpweed "I need a girl that I can train," in context, was the absurd thought of a dude who is too insecure to handle a relationship so he runs away. 

And the Party Song, which yeah has some dumb judgmental lyrics, has the punchline that he'll only think he's too good for this girl until the next time he gets turned down by yet another girl.  And the anti-bro-culture lines score them points too.

I don't know, any time I hear some newly woke person talk about how Blink were retroactively offensive I'm reminded of the one line that I think encapsulates their entire worldview: "I know I'm pathetic"

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The music scene is totally different so there's no way to tell. Even though we live in a PC culture, rap music is offensive, sexist as ever and they're using the N word like its going out of style. 

Like others have said, without Enema, other bands would have different success and some might not have existed at all. Either way I have no doubt Enema would be significantly better than the next best pop punk album. 

The one thing ive learned about music is that the most important thing is often "right place, right time." 

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14 hours ago, vic vinegar said:

I think ATST would've been a hit. Enema was definitely a right place, right time kinda record. I dunno, running naked in the streets is sexual harassment.

No it isn't, it's indecent exposure.

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8 hours ago, Champ182 said:

Hard to say, I mean humor goes in cycles and Blink's humor was definitely a part of that late 90s/early 00s era. Sex and crazy extreme shit like Jackass and just overall "I can't believe I'm seeing/hearing this!!" was the root of a lot of comedy at that time. That being said, I don't think their humor was just outright misogynist or anything, they were ALWAYS the butt of their own jokes. Even that line in Dumpweed "I need a girl that I can train," in context, was the absurd thought of a dude who is too insecure to handle a relationship so he runs away. 

And the Party Song, which yeah has some dumb judgmental lyrics, has the punchline that he'll only think he's too good for this girl until the next time he gets turned down by yet another girl.  And the anti-bro-culture lines score them points too.

I don't know, any time I hear some newly woke person talk about how Blink were retroactively offensive I'm reminded of the one line that I think encapsulates their entire worldview: "I know I'm pathetic"

This.

To make a revisionist work on past stuff is really tricky and edgy, sometimes. Here in Spain, there have been several cases of  that, and is stupid. You just can't judge with today's eyes what people thought like... 30/40 years ago. You can't censor that just for the sake of it. It's a mistake and a sympthom of losing perspective and the understanding of a specific context. Moreover, is like taking this times like if there were the perfect ones, and I'm sure that in ten years we all will be criticizing lots of shit we are doing and saying now. So... there's no point on doing that.

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