The drummer is good, the bassist is brilliant, and the lead singer Bradley Nowell is a legend among songwriters. The band is actually able to carry out a party atmosphere on this album. Eventually, it got to pretty much all of them, and it is one of the only ones I can listen to from the beginning to the end. After listening to it more and more, I slowly began to like more of their songs, one track at a time. Then, I really started to dig the reggae style they produced, and they created the perfect blend of reggae and bass. After getting this one, I only liked the punk songs on it, like 40 oz. Originally, all I had was their big self-titled one, and I only enjoyed the punk songs on it. to Freedom is the most original sounding album you will ever hear. Front man Brad Nowell contends, "We practically distributed the thing out of the trunks of our cars."Ĥ0 oz. TO FREEDOM.' Two years, three vans, and five tours later, the CD has sold in excess of 30,000 units.- without a distributor! The "40 oz" record is still charting at the top of most local alternative retail charts two years after its initial release. Sublime's recording history began in early '92 when they teamed up with Long Beach's legendary SKUNK RECORDS to create a cult masterpiece '40 oz. They played the "bar-b-que" band on the LA stop of the Butthole Surfers-Stone Temple Pilots "Endless Bummer" tour. Their underground credibility has landed them slots with everyone from The Melvins and The Vandals to Firehose, HR of Bad Brains and Eek-a-Mouse.
SUBLIME, once the "below average garage punk band that every kid wants to play his party," has steadily escalated from backyard beer buddies, into a prestigious musical entity. Any local scenester will tell you they were there, and that it was this performance that ignited the infamous "Peninsula Riot" of Long Beach in an explosive July 4th engagement. In January 2010, the lawsuit was settled and the new lineup now performs together as Sublime with Rome.It's been a long and wild ride since SUBLIME played their first gig back in the summer of l988. This was because Nowell had owned rights to the Sublime name, and as a result, they were not allowed to use it without approval and permission from his estate. However, not long after performing at Cypress Hill's Smokeout Festival, a Los Angeles judge banned the new lineup from using the Sublime name. In 2009, the surviving members decided to reform the band with Rome Ramirez as Nowell's replacement. Along with Bad Religion, Green Day, The Offspring, and Rancid, Sublime is credited with helping to revive mainstream popular interest in punk rock in the United States in the mid-1990s. As of 2009, Sublime has sold over 17 million albums worldwide, including about 10 million in the U.S. The self titled album is now considered a classic ska album by fans and critics. Although the album was quite popular in the United States, Sublime would not experience commercial success until 1996 with their self-titled third album, released shortly after Nowell's death, which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200, and spawned the single "What I Got", which remains the band's only number one hit single (on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart) in their musical career. To date, Sublime has released four studio albums, one live album, five compilation albums, three EPs and one box set.
Nowell died of a heroin overdose in 1996 and Sublime immediately split up. Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's dalmatian, was the mascot of the band.
The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell (vocals and guitar), Bud Gaugh (drums and percussion), and Eric Wilson (bass guitar). Excerpt: Sublime was an American ska/alternative rock band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. to Freedom, Long Beach Dub Allstars, Eric Wilson, Everything Under the Sun, What I Got, Bud Gaugh, Smoke Two Joints, Doin' Time, 54-46 That's My Number, Santeria, We're Only Gonna Die, Long Beach Shortbus, Second-hand Smoke, Date Rape, Gold, Wrong Way, Look at All the Love We Found, Stand by Your Van, Forever Free, Greatest Hits, Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends, Opie Ortiz, Badfish, April 29, 1992, Fighting Blindly. Chapters: Sublime albums, Sublime members, Sublime songs, Bradley Nowell, List of Sublime bootlegs, Sublime with Rome, Robbin' the Hood, 40oz.