Editing Buddha (album) (section)

==Re-release==
The rights to ''Buddha'' and its associated recordings were the subject of a dispute between the band and Secor in later years. According to Secor, he and the band had a gentleman's agreement: he would pay for the costs of recording and manufacturing the tape, and in exchange would receive half of all the profits from it. According to Raynor, the oral agreement was that Secor would invest $1,000 and when that money was recouped, the band would have complete ownership of the work product.<ref name="controversy">{{cite news|author=Katy St. Clair|url=http://www.eastbayexpress.com/eastbay/planet-clair/Content?oid=1066056|title=Planet Clair|newspaper=[[East Bay Express]]|date=September 12, 2001|access-date=September 14, 2013}}</ref> Secor helped the band sign to [[Cargo Music]] in 1994 using his connections at the label; he felt that by helping the briskly growing band sign a deal he could build his own label, Filter Records, in the wake of Blink's success. According to Secor, he attempted to contact the band to discuss the rights to the tape, but would only receive comments such as "Oh, let me call my manager and I'll call you right back."<ref name="controversy" /> Secor asserted he should have the rights to the master tapes, having financed the entire production. He alleged that Cargo Music began calling him and making threats, and he could not afford to fight back and was unlikely to win since he had no written contract with the band. In 1996, Blink-182 signed a joint-venture deal with major label [[MCA Records]], who Secor also said began calling him. "Try going up against that," he remarked in 2001.<ref name="controversy" />

The band began to grow suspicious that Secor was keeping all the money from selling copies of the ''Buddha'' cassette, and contacted their lawyer, [[Joe Escalante]] of [[the Vandals]], who also owned independent record label [[Kung Fu Records]]. They informed Escalante that they believed "someone's bootlegging it," and requested his legal help to stop Secor.<ref name="controversy" /> In exchange for legal fees, Blink-182 would allow Kung Fu Records to re-release ''Buddha'' on [[compact disc]].<ref name="controversy" /> The band had told Secor not to sell any more copies of the cassette, but suspected that he was still doing so. Escalante anonymously ordered a tape from Secor, and Secor sold it to him.<ref name="controversy" /> Blink-182 asserted that they were not receiving royalties for these sales. "I paid off all of the royalties for the remaining stash of tapes that I had of ''Buddha''," said Secor in 2001.<ref name="controversy" /> "It was about 25. The tapes sold for five bucks, and I gave them half of what their profit would be. I wanted to have a few to give to people and to have on hand." Secor felt it was his right to sell his stock of the cassettes, since the band "had been paid royalties for that already."<ref name="controversy" />

Kung Fu re-released ''Buddha'' on CD and cassette in November 1998, and has since re-released the recording on vinyl and retains digital distribution. The remaster cleans and sharpens the sound of tracks, and contains a slightly different track listing. "They'd already sold 60,000 copies of ''Cheshire Cat'', said Escalante, "and I thought, 'Man, if I can sell just 10% of that that would be great for the label,' and of course it sold a lot more because they went on to be superstars."<ref name=p57shoo>Shooman, 2010. pp.&nbsp;57–58</ref> In 2001 the label had reportedly sold 300,000 copies of ''Buddha''.<ref name="controversy" /> "At this point it's not even the money," Secor said at the time. "It's the fact that there is no mention of my work anywhere; no credit has been given to me."<ref name="controversy" />

===Reception===
Reviewing the 1998 re-release of ''Buddha'' for [[AllMusic]], critic [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] rated it three stars out of five, calling it a "promising debut" and "a solid skatepunk record that illustrates the group's flair for speedy, catchy hooks and irreverent humor."<ref name="am">{{cite web |author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/buddha-mw0000054080 |title=Buddha – blink-182 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=February 5, 2014|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine }}</ref> ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' viewed it, alongside proper debut album ''[[Cheshire Cat (Blink-182 album)|Cheshire Cat]]'' (1995) as "slapped together lilting melodies and racing beats in an attempt to connect [[emo]] and [[skate punk]], a sort of pop hardcore."<ref name=newrs>Brackett, Nathan (ed.) (2004). ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide''. New York: Fireside, 904 pp. First edition, 2004.</ref> "This fast and furious beauty may have been recorded in two days, but it soon had the labels knocking at DeLonge and co's door," said ''[[Total Guitar]]'' in 2012.<ref name="totalguitar" />