Editing Enema of the State (section)

==Musical style and composition==
''Enema of the State'' is considered by critics as [[pop-punk]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/top-punk-pop-albums-3248336 |title=The Ten Best Punk Pop Albums of All Time |publisher=[[ThoughtCo]] |last=Lamb |first=Bill |access-date=September 25, 2017}}</ref><ref name="kerrang15" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/listen_to_this_cover_of_the_1975s_girls_in_the_style_of_enema_of_the_state |title=Listen to this cover of the 1975's "Girls" in the style of 'Enema Of The State' Blink-182 |work=[[Alternative Press (magazine)|Alternative Press]] |last=Ralph |first=Caitlyn |date=January 27, 2017 |access-date=September 25, 2017}}</ref> and [[skate punk]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Brian |title=The Best of What We Saw at Riot Fest 2019 |url=https://www.theyoungfolks.com/music/136564/the-best-of-what-we-saw-at-riot-fest-2019/ |website=[[The Young Folks]] |access-date=September 16, 2019 |date=September 16, 2019}}</ref><ref name="riotfest.org">{{cite web |last1=Cimarusti |first1=Luca |title=20 Years Later, 'Enema of the State' Stands the Test of Time |url=https://riotfest.org/2019/06/enema-remembering-20/ |website=[[Riot Fest]] |date=June 27, 2019 |access-date=October 6, 2020 |quote=The band approached the session with their typical three-chord, hyper-melodic, breakneck skate punk, and the production value was able to walk a nearly-impossible to find line that appealed to literally everyone.}}</ref> The songs on ''Enema of the State'' are fast-paced songs regarding "adolescent aimlessness, [[broken heart]]s and general confusion over the care and feeding of girls," according to writer Gavin Edwards.<ref name="Edwards 2000"/> Summarizing the album's content, ''[[The New York Times]]''{{'s}} [[Jon Caramanica]] called ''Enema of the State'' a sampling of "ecstatic, goofy numbers about teenage uselessness, with a smattering of tender introspection."<ref name="nyt"/> The songs are mainly [[autobiography|autobiographical]], or are inspired by stories from friends' experiences.<ref name="altpress99"/> ''Enema of the State'' largely revolves around age and maturity—"more specifically, their lack of it, their attitude toward their lack of it, or their eventual wide-eyed exploration of it," said writer Nitsuh Abebe.<ref name="newyork"/> On guitar, DeLonge's [[minimalist]] style trades solos for riffs: "The riffs I write stand on their own without a rhythm guitar behind them. Riffs keep songs sounding more diverse than the same old [[chord progression]]s," he said in 1999.<ref name="guitar"/>

DeLonge later reflected on his desire for a more "pop" sound:

{{blockquote|Punk rock was becoming polished. [[NOFX]] [was] a punk band we grew up listening to, and they had a record called ''[[Punk in Drublic]]'', and it was awesome. It was game-changing; it sounded ''good''. We wanted to take it to the next level. [...] There had never been a pop-punk band that sounded like [[nursery rhyme]]s on [[Anabolic steroid|steroids]], on the mainstream level at least. And that's what I used to have daydreams of. I used to think the radio could use that, could use a band that was really powerful and catchy and fast and youthful and angsty.<ref name="ws">{{cite news |url=http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/tom-delonge-blink-182-enema-of-the-state-interview/ |title=Record Club: How 'Enema of the State' Changed Tom Delonge's Life |first=Laura |last=Leebove |date=October 17, 2014 |publisher=Wondering Sound |access-date=October 17, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018041721/http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/tom-delonge-blink-182-enema-of-the-state-interview/ |archive-date=October 18, 2014}}</ref>}}

The band decided to emphasize arrangements, harmonies and melodic ideas rather than the fast-paced nature of ''Dude Ranch''; the change was brought about by the band, rather than record executives of theirs.<ref name="altpress99"/> Barker hoped to give the songs varying [[tempo]]s, something missing in the group's prior recordings. "I told Mark and Tom, 'It's going to be repetitive if all our songs have the same [[Blast beat|punk-rock beat]] all the time. Why don't we try some different tempos?'" DeLonge noted he was open to his proposals, and responded, "Dude, I just play guitar and write melodies. You own the beats. If you have an idea, that's what you're supposed to do."{{sfn|Barker|Edwards|2015|pp=120–121}} As a result, songs range from slow ("Adam's Song"), mid-tempo ("Going Away to College"), and fast ("Party Song").<ref name="h722"/> Where as other songs in the band's arsenal stayed [[double-time]], Barker worked to add differentiating features: in "The Party Song", he plays in 4/4 time on the bridge with a "jumpy" [[Tom drum|tom]] beat, indebted to [[surf rock]],<ref name="h722"/> and the choruses in "Anthem" are half-time.<ref name=drum04>{{cite magazine| author =Matt Schild| date = December 1, 1999| title = Blink-182's Travis Barker: Punk Recruit|magazine= [[Modern Drummer]]|page=21|volume= 23|issue=12| publisher =Modern Drummer Publications, Inc.| location =[[New Jersey]] | issn =0194-4533 }}</ref> He incorporates a [[Music of Latin America|Latin]] [[samba]] on "Dysentery Gary":<ref name="kerrang15"/><ref name="p4k"/> "We actually wrote that [[bossa nova]] part a couple days before we went into the studio. It wasn’t even supposed to be like that. I just played it as a joke one time during practice when we were writing the songs, because I just got bored of playing the same drum parts, and everyone liked it a lot, so we kept it."<ref name="h722">{{cite web | last=Doerschuk | first=Andy | title=Travis Barker In 2000: Punk Drumming Grows Up | website=DRUM! Magazine | date=April 19, 2011 | url=https://drummagazine.com/travis-barker-in-2000-punk-drumming-grows-up/ | access-date=June 5, 2024}}</ref> On "Going Away to College", Barker settles into a single-stroke snare roll; he played in marching band in high school. In a 2000 interview with ''[[Drum!]]'', he explained: "There’s this ''[[Zildjian]] Day in New York'' video where [[Steve Gadd]] does a full solo, and for the first five minutes it’s all just on snare drum, like a marching beat. I always like the way that sounded, so that’s kind of why I put that in the middle of 'Going Away to College.'"<ref name="h722"/>