Editing Dude Ranch (album) (section)

== Music and packaging ==

{{Listen
 |filename     = Emo_Blink-182.ogg
 |title        = "Emo"
 |description  =
Emo as a genre is characterized by expressive, confessional lyrics, and the trio named this song after DeLonge's favorite band at the time, [[Jimmy Eat World]].<ref name="Greenwald, 12">{{cite book|last =Greenwald|first =Andy|author-link =Andy Greenwald|title =Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo|publisher =[[St. Martin's Griffin]]|year =2003|location =[[New York City|New York]]|isbn =0-312-30863-9|page=2|title-link =Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo}}</ref><ref name="shooman44"/> "And while later [[pop punk|pop-punk]] bands such as [[the Promise Ring]] will implausibly deny their [[emo]] tendencies, the scrupulously unpretentious Blink actually name one of their bitter anthems after the frequently derided genre," wrote ''[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]]''.<ref name=newrs>Brackett, Nathan. (2004). ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide''. New York: Fireside, 904 pp. First edition, 2004.</ref>
}}

According to music critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]], ''Dude Ranch'' is an album of "juvenile, adrenaline-fueled punk-pop."<ref>{{cite book |author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas|title=All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul |publisher=Backbeat Books |date=April 1, 2002 |pages=111 |isbn=978-0879306533|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-pH4i3jXvAC&pg=PA111|quote=turning out 15 tracks of juvenile, adrenaline-fueled punk-pop.|display-authors=etal|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine }}</ref> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine's Doug Reece described it as "a collection of machine-gun-quick, energetic [[punk rock|punk]] songs—sometimes with a puerile slant—about such topics as girlfriends, broken hearts, and fights with one's parents."<ref name="billboard"/> At ''[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]'', it was characterized as a "killer skate-punk record".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/and_the_best_blink_182_album_of_all_time_is|title=And the best Blink-182 album of all time is…|work=Alternative Press|access-date=May 2, 2015|date=August 22, 2014}}</ref> Greg Simpsons at Punknews.org too labeled it skate punk, stating that the album "set [the] blueprint for their style of poppy, goofy skate punk that they would later bring to the masses."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.punknews.org/review/12807/blink-182-cheshire-cat|title=Blink-182|publisher=Punknews.org|access-date=May 2, 2015}}</ref> DeLonge considered the album a step up in terms of songwriting, with "Dammit" proving the breakthrough to him.<ref name="AP07"/> The album's guitar tone has been interpreted as scratchy and displaying a "blown-out quality that's in constant combat with the vastly more refined vocal hooks." DeLonge at the time was playing a "sticker-heavy" [[Stratocaster]] with a [[Seymour Duncan]] Invader [[Pickup (music technology)|pickup]].<ref name="Guitar.com"/>

"Pathetic" has been considered a tale of "abject self-pity in the face of collapsed relationship."<ref name="p42"/> "Pathetic" is also reportedly about DeLonge's mother being disappointed about how DeLonge was doing in high school and college.<ref name=MTVTwenty>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/3021959/blink-182-dude-ranch-twenty-years/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621223014/http://www.mtv.com/news/3021959/blink-182-dude-ranch-twenty-years/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 21, 2017 |title=Back On The Dude Ranch: Blink-182's Breakthrough Record Turns 20 |publisher=[[MTV]] |last=Sherman |first=Maria |date=June 21, 2017 |access-date=December 27, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://cccadvocate.com/1583/scene/albums-pertinence-persists/ |title=Album's pertinence persists |work=[[The Advocate (Contra Costa College)|The Advocate]] |last=McFarland |first=Cody |date=December 10, 2014 |access-date=December 27, 2018}}</ref> The distinctive riff of "Dammit" was created when Hoppus was forced to skip over the missing two strings on an acoustic guitar.<ref name="p70"/> The song's theme is [[Adulthood|maturity]], exemplified by the refrain, "Well, I guess this is growing up."<ref name="p42"/> "Dick Lips" was named after an insult the trio bandied around at Big Fish during recording. It was written about DeLonge's experience when he was kicked out of [[Poway High School]] for showing up to a basketball game while intoxicated.<ref name=shooman44>Shooman, 2010. p. 44</ref> "Waggy" was a word Hoppus created while belching, prompting him to name the song with it.<ref name="shooman44"/> "Untitled" has been considered a tribute to the emerging [[ska punk]] scene,<ref name="p42"/> and "Emo" by its namesake, which is partly a tribute to DeLonge's favorite band at that time, Jimmy Eat World.<ref name="shooman44"/>

"Apple Shampoo" was inspired by Elyse Rogers of [[Dance Hall Crashers]], whom Hoppus dated; the title is culled from a particular brand of shampoo she often used.<ref name=p43>Shooman, 2010. p. 43</ref> "Josie" makes further reference to Dance Hall Crashers and the band [[Unwritten Law]] ("My girlfriend likes UL and DHC").<ref name="shooman44"/> "A New Hope" takes the standard rock subject matter of a hopeless crush and rewrites it with details of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' series.<ref name="Los Angeles Times 1997"/> The original ''Star Wars'' trilogy were popular during Hoppus' childhood into the late 1970s and early 1980s, and a theatrical re-release in the late 1990s reinvigorated interest in the series.<ref name="p43"/> "Degenerate" is a re-recording of a track that first appeared on the band's demo cassette ''Demo No.2''. "Lemmings" is another re-recorded track, which had previously only been available on a 7-inch. The band felt the song was strong enough that it should not be limited to those owning record players.<ref name="p70"/>

The cover design, a collage by artist Lou Beach, features a bull with the band's name branded on its rear end, while the packaging is decorated by images of the band as cowboys on a "[[dude ranch]]".<ref name="linernotes"/><ref name="p42"/> The gatefold packaging features a painting stating "Greetings from the Blink-182 Dude Ranch," which was intended to be a pastiche of both "cheesy postcards" and a parody of [[Bruce Springsteen]]'s ''[[Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.]]''.<ref name=p42>Footman, 2002. p. 42</ref> Art direction for the album was headed by MCA in-house graphic artist Tim Stedman, with Stedman and designer Ashley Pigford crafting the visual package.<ref name="linernotes"/> The CD art, a revolver chamber, was designed by artist Victor Gastelum, while the band photography was done by Steven Shea.<ref name="linernotes"/> DeLonge recalled in 2012 that the only "bad" aspect of ''Dude Ranch'' in retrospect were the jokes found within the inside artwork: "I remember sitting at the Sombrero taco shop going, 'Fuck, we’ve got to finish off our album cover, let's just write some jokes to these cowboy pictures.' Why did we do that? We should have had better jokes for those pictures."<ref name=totalguitar>{{cite journal|date=October 12, 2012 |title=Tom DeLonge talks guitar tones, growing up and Blink |journal=[[Total Guitar]] |publisher=[[Future Publishing]] |location=[[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[United Kingdom]] |issn=1355-5049 |url=http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/tom-delonge-talks-guitar-tones-growing-up-and-blink-565422 |access-date=October 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212085024/http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/tom-delonge-talks-guitar-tones-growing-up-and-blink-565422 |archive-date=December 12, 2012 }}</ref>