

The glossy production set Blink-182 apart from the other crossover punk acts of the era, such as Green Day. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket has sold over 14 million copies worldwide.Īfter a long series of performances at clubs and festivals and several indie recordings during the 1990s, Blink-182 finally achieved mainstream success with the release of Enema of the State in 1999, which launched the band "into the stratosphere of pop music" and catapulted them to become the most popular punk act of the era. To support the album, the band co-headlined the Pop Disaster Tour with Green Day. Critical impressions of the album were generally positive, commending its expansion on teenage themes, although others viewed this as its weakness. It produced three hit singles-" The Rock Show", " Stay Together for the Kids", and " First Date"-that were top-ten hits on modern rock charts. The album had near-immediate success, becoming the first punk rock record to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 and achieving double platinum certification in May 2002. Due to differing opinions on direction, the trio worked in opposition to one another for the first time, and the sessions sometimes became contentious. Regarding its lyrical content, it has been referred to as a concept album chronicling adolescence, with songs dedicated to first dates, fighting authority, and teenage parties. As such, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket continues the pop-punk tone that Blink-182 had honed and made famous, albeit with a heavier post-hardcore sound inspired by bands such as Fugazi and Refused. During the sessions, MCA executives pressured the band to retain the sound that helped their previous album sell millions.

The album was recorded over three months at Signature Sound in San Diego with producer Jerry Finn. It is the band's final release through MCA. The album's title is a tongue-in-cheek pun on masturbation ("take off your pants and jack it"), and its cover art has icons for each member of the trio: an airplane ("take off"), a pair of pants, and a jacket. The band had spent much of the previous year traveling and supporting their previous album Enema of the State (1999), which launched their mainstream career. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket is the fourth studio album by American rock band Blink-182, released on June 12, 2001, by MCA Records.
