blink-182 Album: “Buddha”

First off, do NOT call Buddha an album. It's not. It was a demo recorded to send out as a feeler for record companies. Their first album was Cheshire Cat.

Now, on to business...

This is where blink started some eight years ago. Granted, the reprise of Buddha is different - "Girl Next Door" and "Don't" were originally "Degenerate" and "Family Next Door" on the 24-track version. Ok, a word of warning - if you're a newer fan, you won't like this. This is PUNK blink-182, not pop-punk, Enema Of The State blink-182. The guitar is really raunchy and at times, the bass drowns out everything else save the drums. Tom sings off-key quite a bit. Mark was sick at the time, so his vocals are pretty much crap (well, on "Girl Next Door" he rocks). But it shows tremendous promise for the band that has already become a household name for pop-punk. Many of the tracks on Buddha appear on Cheshire Cat (their first album), and a few even came from the Flyswatter demo (which makes Buddha look like Enema by comparison in terms of production). Some of the songs are truly great - "Carousel" is widely regarded as their best song ever - and show that even when they were 18 years old, blink knew how to rock. The best songs are "Carousel", "Girl Next Door", and "21 Days" ("Girl Next Door" is actually a cover of a Screeching Weasels song). If you want to be a true blink fan, pick this up, but like I said before - if you're a new fan, I'd steer clear...

I'll just go over the songs real quick.

Carousel (10/10) - Possibly the best blink-182 ever. It is the first song Tom and Mark wrote (thought it wasn't put on Flyswatter).

TV (6/10) - Nice little riff, but I prefer the demo tape version of TV better.

Strings (7/10) - People hate this song, but I think it is cool. It really shows how sick Mark was when they were recording.

Fentoozler (6/10) - Eh...not for me.

Time (8/10) - Was on the Flyswatter demo tape. Awesome ska-like riff at the beginning.

21 Days (10/10) - Third best song on the album. This is NOT a filler song by any means. Classic blink-182 song right here.

Sometimes (8/10) - Quick little song with nice hook.

Point of View (7/10) - Was also on the Flyswatter demo. Great short song.

My Pet Sally (8/10) - Love this song for some strange reason.

Reebok Commerical (8/10) - Also on Flyswatter demo. Another great song.

Toast and Bannanas (8/10) - Better than the Cheshire Cat version.

The Girl Next Door (10/10) - Second best song on the CD. Love this as much as I do the Screaching Weasel's version.

Don't (9/10) - Another great song and nice way to end the CD.

I wouldnt say this is Blink at there best, but it still is good and fun to listen to. Like most there albums it has the usual Blink trade marks such as catchy guitar riffs and chorus's (dont know how to pluralize that) along with immature lyrics. But what makes this album speacial is the fact that this is pure blink 182. No studio magic at all. Another thing that makes the album fun to listen to is Tom's young and not so innocent voice. This is definately a good album.

I have to say i now own every Blink cd made including their first Demo cd 'FLYSWATTER' But this album is by far the best album Blink has made! It features some of the bestversions of songs off cheshire Cat and some others aswell! if you are a die hard Blink fan like me then you will love this album!

If fans pick up this CD for no other reason it should just be, atleast, to own. As said above, its different... Its not your average MTV-aired Pop-Punk. In fact, a lot of people exposed to the "MTV-era Blink 182" will hate this album... Personally, I love both new and old Blink. Its evolution at its best! Good song concepts, fun guitar riffs, what else do you want?