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Dude Ranch-era (1996-1998)

After moving to Encinitas, California, the band recorded the album Dude Ranch in 1996 with producer Mark Trombino. The album came out in 1997 and was a hit. It had two singles from it ("Josie" and "Dammit") rose to the top of the U.S. airplay charts. In 1998, the band met a slight setback. Raynor, who had a serious drinking problem at the time, was reportedly asked to leave the band and go into rehab, although there are also reports that he decided to leave to go to college. Raynor claims he agreed to go into drug rehab, but the rest of the band kicked him out over the phone because they didn't believe that he would do it. Whatever the explanation, he left midway through a U.S. tour. He was replaced by Travis Barker, who had been playing with support band The Aquabats. It is widely believed that the single "Man Overboard" on the band's live album speaks directly to Raynor's rift with Mark and Tom. Although Mark has stated, on the radio show "Loveline", that the song had nothing to do with the break up between them.

Breakthrough and rising to success (1998-2002)

In 1999 the album Enema of the State was released. On the album the band hired notorious Rancid and The Offspring producer Jerry Finn, who had produced every album since. The CD was successful, propelling the band to pop punk fame, and gaining a large amount of airtime on MTV and Total Request Live (TRL). This was largely due to the commercial success of the songs "What's My Age Again?", which was a song dedicated to the group's very close friend Matthew Purcell, "Adam's Song", and "All the Small Things"; and particularly to the infamous music video for "What's My Age Again" which featured the band streaking. They sold seven and a half million copies of the album worldwide, which made it their best-selling album up to that point. The sound on Enema of the State was rooted in the same genre as earlier punk-rock bands such as NOFX, Green Day, and The Offspring, but it was more accessible to the mainstream, with a punky-feel. Many original fans felt that the band had strayed from their punk rock roots.

blink-182's only live album, The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back was released in 2000. It is no longer in print, and it is sought after by collectors. The songs are from the group's first three albums: Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch, and Enema of the State. The album also includes one new song, "Man Overboard," as well as a few joke songs.

2001 saw blink-182 continue their commercial success, recording Take off Your Pants and Jacket (the strange title was a punning reference to masturbation), which followed the same basic formula of "Enema of the State". In 2001, blink-182 appeared on the cover of CosmoGirl, and won a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award.

When the CD first came out, there were several versions with different bonus tracks. There were three versions, "Take off," "Pants," and "Jacket," each of which indicated by a different sticker on the CD. The actual CD had pictures of a red plane, yellow pants, or a green jacket. Each version had two different bonus tracks. The tracks were "Fuck a Dog", "Mothers Day" and "When You Fucked Grandpa", three joke songs, and the serious were "Time to Break Up", "Don't Tell Me That It's Over" and "What Went Wrong". Since there were only two bonus tracks on each of the three versions, some long term fans wanted every one. Those bonus tracks were only out for a limited time, about a month or so. After that month they only sold "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket: without any bonus tracks and with all three logos on the actual CD itself.

On break and career with band projects (2002)

After touring for the promotion of the widely successful Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, the band decided to take a break from the pop-punk world. During this time the members of the band took different paths: Mark passed more time with his newborn son Jack, while Tom and Travis had other ideas. The two were involved in a side-project called Box Car Racer, and Travis also worked with The Transplants. Both bands explored other musical styles.

One of the first side-projects involving the members of Blink-182 was Box Car Racer, in which Tom and Travis functioned as band members and songwriters. Tom wanted to create an acoustic-emo sort of project, while Travis wanted to create a hardcore punk band. Instead of creating two separate bands the friends decided to fuse the two ideas together to create Box Car Racer. The name of the band comes from the name of the airplane Bockscar, which dropped the second atomic bomb, Little Boy, on Japan. The first single of the self-titled album was "I Feel So", followed up by "There Is". The record included guest singers Tim Armstrong (Rancid, Operation Ivy, Transplants) on "Cat Like Thief" and Mark Hoppus (blink-182). However, according to recent interviews with Tom, Box Car Racer project caused much friction between him and Mark, which was one of the main reasons why the band abruptly broke up in 2005.

After Box Car Racer, Travis decided to do a second side-project known as The Transplants. This band started as Tim Armstrong (Rancid and Operation Ivy) and Skinhead Rob just messing around in Tim's basement recording studio. It did not take long to realize that their punk rock fusion with rap had something special, but they really wanted to seal the deal. Having already known Travis from Box Car Racer, Tim immediately asked Travis to assist in the side project. Soon the Transplants debuted their first CD entitled "Transplants" on Tim's record label Hellcat Records. The fist single of the album was "DJ DJ", followed up by the wildly successful "Diamonds and Guns". But their second single was soon banned from the airwaves due to explicit lyrics. Despite this fact, the song is now feature on the Garnier Fructis commercial. The Transplants are now a major punk-rock act and even toured on the Warped Tour.

Untitled (blink-182)-era (2002-2005)

After taking some time off in 2002, following the record tour, the band released their fifth blink-182 (album) on November 18, 2003. Described as a self-meditation on romantic decay, the album featured the hit singles "Feeling This" (previously named "Action"), "I Miss You", "Down", and the 1980s-influenced "Always". Travis Barker has confirmed that the band left the album untitled (rather than self-titled) to represent a new blink-182. It showcased a style of music deeper than anything blink-182 had done previously, but still got a good deal of play on pop stations and MTV. Critics have deemed their sound similar to that of The Police and U2, although members of the band claim they took most of their influence from The Cure, whose front man Robert Smith had appeared on "All of This". Listeners called the riffs heavier and the lyrics more profound. The lyrical content of their songs is often humorous and uplifting. A tour with No Doubt in the summer of 2004 was very successful. In many ways it also helped blink-182 break away from the common pop punk genre, dismissing predictable similarities that could be seen from band to band.

On "indefinite hiatus" (2005)

On February 22, 2005, many fans were shocked when blink-182 announced they were going on an "indefinite hiatus". Fans were distraught and the announcement was soon removed from the band's official site. Rumors soon began to swirl about the band breaking up. The only band member to speak up right away was Travis, but he soon stated that he was not the only person in the band and there were two other people reporters could question. Fans soon began to say there was a fight that separated Tom and Mark. Kerrang! soon printed an article that confirmed worried fans' fears, but Tom denounced it on his "In-studio journal on MacBeth, and told no one to trust any article unless it came straight from the band members' mouths.

Post-hiatus (2005-present)

In the wake of the hiatus, Geffen Records released blink-182's "Greatest Hits". From Cheshire Cat to the untitled album, the album chronologically holds the band, most famous, and most important songs in their career, including the two previously unreleased tracks "Not Now" (from the European version of the untitled album) and "Another Girl Another Planet" (a cover song originally by The Only Ones, recorded for its use as the theme song to reality show Meet the Barkers). The album immediately climbed to the top of the chart and reached #6 on the United States top selling records. There are three versions of the Greatest Hits CD. One has a bonus track: Aliens Exist (live) with a bonus DVD, and the other version has two bonus tracks: Go and I Won't Be Home For Christmas along with the DVD.

Many credit the growing tensions between Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus as the reason for the "indefinite hiatus". In an interview with Kerrang! Tom discussed blink-182's hiatus. It was stated that the side project Box Car Racer created a rift between Tom and Mark. While on tour, Tom had an epiphany and knew he was destined to do something great in his life besides Blink 182. At the end of their European tour in 2005, Tom wanted to return home to be with his family. Geffen Records immediately offered Tom a solo album, but he declined. Mark, reportedly, heard only half the story and became very upset. Mark then created Plus 44. Tom claimed that the last words said by his band mates were "If your family is going to be your priority, then you better be cool with the repercussions." Tom is now in the band Angels and Airwaves (AVA). Two songs have now been leaked onto the internet, called The Adventure and Good Day. The Adventure is a demo of the song to be featured on their album says Tom, while there isn't too much information about Good Day, since no official comment was made about it.

Studio Albums

* Cheshire Cat (1994)
* Dude Ranch (1997)
* Enema of the State (1999)
* Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)
* (Untitled) (2003)

Pod Casts

Hi, My Name Is Mark

Since the hiatus of blink-182, Mark Hoppus has set up his very own podcast called "Hi, My Name Is Mark" (www.himynameismark.com). Every two weeks Mark plays songs from underground artists, interviews some of his favourite bands, changing album art, and informs the listeners about happenings in his life. The show was first created in Mark's house but later moved to a studio. Mark even won the "Best Podcast" award for 2005.

Macbeth

Following in Mark's footsteps, MacBeth Footwear soon created a podcast. Their very first podcast introduced Angels and Airwaves to the world, featuring music, an interview with the band's members, and a preview to the movie.

Trivia

* Travis Barker currently co-stars in a new MTV reality television show, Meet the Barkers, with his wife, Shanna Moakler.
* Tom DeLonge appeared in the film Idle Hands as a fast-food worker; he only had one line.
* Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker made up the "garage band" in the "Nadia strips on the net" scene from the movie "American Pie (movie)". (Travis was not credited, although he does appear on screen. He was incorrectly credited as Scott Raynor.)
o Their song "Mutt" is featured on American Pie and it's soundtrack.
o Their song "Everytime I Look for You" is featured on American Pie 2 and it's soundtrack.
* The cover of Blink-182's Greatest Hits looks similar to The Offspring's Greatest Hits' cover. It is apparently a homage to "real punk rock" according to Travis.
* Tom Delonge was #15 on Cosmogirl's top fifty hottest rockers.
* Scott Raynor is the youngest member of the band. He was about 14 years old in 1992 when the band formed, while Mark is the oldest, being 20. Tom was also younger than Mark, being 17.
* Their birthdays are: Mark, March 15, 1972; Tom, December 13, 1975; Travis, November 14, 1975; Scott, May 23, 1978.
* Travis Barker appeared on the Boost Mobile (Where You At?) commercial in 2005.
* Marks favorite bands are The Cure, A.F.I., New Found Glory, Jimmy Eat World, Midtown, Orange Fish, Alkaline Trio, Rival Schools, Saves the Day, Thievery Corporation and Rx Bandits.
* Travis Started playing the drums when he was four.
* Tom's first concert was a pop-punk band called Chemical People.
* Tom chose the name "blink" because he likes short verbs.
* Tom's wife got mad at him about the line in dumpweed that said "I need a girl that I can train."
* Tom believes in aliens and has always wanted to go to space.
* Travis Barker placed 33 in "Best Drummers in the World" play-off

The Naming of the Albums

Up to the untitled album of 2003 all albums were running in alphabetical order. The cover art of Flyswatter is an A, the starting letters of Buddha, Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch and Enema of the State follow the alphabet, on the drum kit on the cover art of The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back you can see an F on the bass drum(which is really the Famous Stars and Straps logo), and on the jacket pocket of the green version of Take off Your Pants and Jacket is a G. The band continued this with the greatest hits CD (the letter I in the word blink). Mark Hoppus stated that the covers with A through F were just a coincidence, but they intentionally added the G on the TOYPAJ cd.