Sublime

Sublime is the third and final album released by the band Sublime, on July 30, 1996, two months after frontman Bradley Nowell’s death. The album was a major commercial success, going five times platinum in 1999 and etching Sublime into a permanent place among the stars of mid-90s alternative rock. Its most popular single, “What I Got”, was an uncharacteristically poppy song; the bulk of the album was faithful to Sublime’s ska, dub, and reggae influences, with tempos ranging from the frantic — such as “Seed,” “Same in the End,” and “Paddle Out” — to the slow and deliberate, such as “Pawn Shop” and “Jailhouse. ” “Jailhouse”, is a cover of a Bob Marley song which can be found on many Bob Marley albums including “The Wailing Wailers at Studio One, Vol. 2”.

The musical styles throughout the album vary nearly as much as the subjects discussed, ranging from the mellow Hip Hop groove of “Doin’ Time” and reggae beat of “Caress Me Down” to the pop-rock “What I Got” and the hardcore punk sound of “Paddle Out”. The genre-crossing musical diversity expressed on the album is one of the more compelling reasons for the record’s wide mainstream appeal.

The album marked the band’s debut on a major label (MCA) after several releases on Skunk Records.