1. "Dumpweed": One of the best things about "Enema of the State" is how it doesn't begin by blowing through all its best songs. The album opens surely and steadily, with a couple introductory bursts of what's to come. Before we can get to "What's My Age Again?" and "All the Small Things," "Dumpweed" serves as scintillating sample of the bubblegum angst to come -- yelped hooks, pogo riffs and drums from Travis Barker that go off like popcorn in the microwave.
2. "Don't Leave Me": This one isn't Mark Hoppus' strongest song on the album, but it doesn't need to be. "Don't Leave Me" is the bassist's answer to DeLonge's "Dumpweed," keeping the momentum going into track three with a two-and-a-half minute pick-me-up breakup song, with catchy little post-chorus breakdowns and the sort of straight-ahead bass solo that happens when you let the bassist write the song.
3. "Aliens Exist": A lot of pop-punk bands could use a primer on writing songs that aren't about girls or hating authority. Blink-182 did plenty of both on this album, but they managed to break the mold of pop-punk lyrical tropes with this peppy song about aliens that sounds like it was written after watching a History Channel marathon on Roswell.
4. "Going Away to College": By 1999, few 27-year olds could relate to the emotions of an 18-year-old like Blink. This one has late-teens written all over it: a guy trying to keep things going with his high school girlfriend after leaving for college, with its chugging, stop-start verses and hooky chorus ("long time" and "valentine" just rhyme together so smoothly). The track captures the glory days of Blink, and its fadeout into the opening notes of "What's My Age Again?" is seamless.
5. "What's My Age Again?": For the pop audience, this was the Blink song that started it all. "Dammit," released two years prior, might've been a better introduction to the band, but "Enema's" first single is the quintessential Blink manifesto -- the story of a twenty-something who still acts like a child. There's a crudeness to it that one might regret when older and wiser (like the use of the word "bitch"), but alas, this is what happens when people look back on their younger, dumber selves. The Mark, Tom and Travis show seems reasonably well-adjusted now, and with the careers they forged since this song, they must look back on it fondly.
6. "Dysentery Gary": Speaking of crudeness, here's a song that clowns on a guy for "trying on his father's tights," calls his mom a whore and then makes a bestiality joke. At least its title probably gave medical lessons to kids who didn't play "Oregon Trail" growing up.
7. "Adam's Song": Just when you thought the Blink dudes couldn't even act 20 with 30 creeping up, here's a song -- and a hit single at that-- that hints at the emotional maturity they'd show on later releases, especially 2003's self-titled album. "Adam's Song" was inspired by a boy's suicide note and features some real downer lyrics, although the speaker ultimately decides to keep on living in the song's triumphant, driving chorus. Stylistically, it's also a Blink breakthrough: rather than putting their heads down and plowing through at breakneck speed, the band dials back the verses and interludes to let them breathe a bit. The resulting chorus achieves an arena-worthy feel not achieved anywhere else on "Enema of the State."
8. "All the Small Things": Blink-182's biggest chart success started as an ode to Tom DeLonge's girlfriend (and future wife) Jennifer Jenkins and the Ramones, whom the guitarist paid tribute to through with the infectious "na na nas." They clowned on boy bands in the music video, though in reality, they too were in the midst of a massive pop moment. The single peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100, got regular "TRL" rotation and appeared on the fourth "Now That's What I Call Music!" compilation.
9. "The Party Song": Barker revs up his percussion to warp speed here, as 27-year-old Hoppus plays a protagonist who reluctantly visits a frat party (we can only hope he was reflecting on an experience several years prior). You probably had to read along to the lyrics in order to follow his rapid-fire narrative, although when it ends with the refrain of "some girls try too hard," it's clear the bassist had a pretty typical college experience.
10. "Mutt": A little bit of voyeuristic angst from our narrator Tom DeLonge: there's a loathsome couple who act like they're in constant audition for a porn flick, and he's sick of it. If the guy from "Dysentery Gary" and the girl from "The Party Song" got together, this would probably be them. "Mutt" is one of "Enema's" less memorable tracks, but it made it onto the soundtrack of the original "American Pie," which also included a cameo from the band watching Jason Biggs' sexual misfortunes over a webcam.
11. "Wendy Clear": "Wendy Clear" is one of Blink's most underrated songs. DeLonge's lead riff is pop-punk gold, Jerry Finn's production shimmers and Hoppus' vocal hook finishes the job. On a lesser pop-punk band's record, this could have been a lead single; on an album as deep as this, it's relegated to "deep cut" status.
12. "Anthem": Connecting to 16-year-olds angry about their curfews and lack of booze, Blink-182 nails it, and even justify themselves in calling this one "Anthem." In fact, they nailed it so well that they opened their next album, 2001's "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket," with a song called "Anthem Part Two."
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