Filed under: Music | Tags: 182, 2011, album, alphabet, blink, blink-182, covers, mark hoppus, neighbourhoods, new album, theory, titles, tom delonge, travis barker
I’ve been a blink-182 fan ever since I saw the music video for Dammit on TV when I was 10 years old, but it wasn’t until the release of 2001’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket that I started to notice something interesting about their album titles/album covers.
Their albums, in chronological order, are:
- Flyswatter
- Buddha
- Cheshire Cat
- Dude Ranch
- Enema of the State
- The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (Live Album)
- Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
- Self Titled
- Greatest Hits
- Neighbourhoods
Here’s where the pattern begins. Notice the alphabetical order of albums 2-5; B, C, D, E. That’s interesting enough, but the pattern seems to end there…until you examine their album covers.
I mean…the entire front cover is a large letter A. This one is easy.
We’ve already covered the next 4, but here are the covers anyway.
Their next release was The Mark, Tom and Travis Show, their live album. The cover is a cartoon of the band performing live, and what’s that on the kick drum?
That’s the F symbol for one of Travis’ company’s, Famous Stars and Straps. It makes sense that it’s there, and also conventently helps with this theory.
Next up is Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.
This is when I started to notice the pattern, as the only letter on the cover aside from the bands name is…yep…a ‘G’ on the jacket.
Why put a ‘G’? Was it just a random letter, or the band continuing their alphabet pattern? Let’s move on to the Self Titled album…
Nothing here…unless you bridge the gap between the green and purple paint lines.
A lower case letter ‘h’.
Here’s the flaw in the theory…but I suppose if you wanted to go for a stretch…
That’s just cheating. But seeing as this album was released after the band went on their ‘indefinite hiatus’, maybe the band didn’t have much say in it or didn’t care enough to continue with the letters at that point. But, after they got back together, and with the release of their new album, maybe they decided to include it as the ‘I’ and move on to the ‘J’. Check out their album cover for Neighbourhoods.
What’s that painted on the wall under the ‘B’ in ‘Blink’?
A ‘J’. Thus continuing Alphabet Theory.
Has anyone else noticed this? I can’t be the only one…
If the next album title begins with letter ‘K’, or the album cover contains a noticeable letter ‘K’ somewhere, maybe we’ll have our answer.
gh
PS. That dang Greatest Hits album…getting in the way…
13 Comments so far
Leave a comment
I Am Gary Hampton. 
Mark Hoppus – the alphabet theme will not have an I. demo A, buddah B, cheshire cat C, dude ranch D, enema E, travis’s drum on the MT&T show F, jacket pocket on TOYPAJ G, untitled H in blink-182, greatest hIts…
Comment by Blind Itachi (@blinditachi) September 10, 2011 @ 9:58 pmI’ve noticed this too. The hidden letter was the first thing I was looking for on the cover. When I noticed it was a “J”, I did the same thing you did and wondered why there was no “I” album, and thus assumed that the greatest hits album was the “I”. I mean there are two “I”‘s on the cover but that can’t be it. Maybe it was the album released during the Indefinite hiatus. Noticed the “I” in Indefinite. Either way it’s a nice bit of trivia for us real blink fans.
Comment by Rick Martin September 14, 2011 @ 4:50 pmLook at the “1” on the Greatest Hits, there is an I.
Comment by Jarin Keyes September 27, 2011 @ 3:25 pmand i think on the Untitled, The Right Eye crosses the outline of the face in a very “H” like fashion.
Hoppus has said the I on the Greatest hits is behind the 1 in 182.
Comment by Drew October 1, 2011 @ 4:25 amnext to the 1 on the Greatest Hits is a ‘drop shadow’ of the 1, but if you look closer it seems more like an uppercase I. Maybe?
Comment by Scott October 1, 2011 @ 7:27 amThe other two theories behind the H’s position on the self-titled are 1.) that the right eye on the smiley face forms an H with the outline of the face, or 2.) there’s a hidden capital H within the B. I personally think the eye is the intentional H, since the large lowercase H isn’t really there.
Comment by Eric Leroy Simpson October 4, 2011 @ 10:23 amthe H in untitled its the right eye of the happy face
Comment by Luis García November 30, 2011 @ 8:00 pmI always love to hear and read stuff about these! Puzzle solving and decoding are things that blows my mind. Thanks for sharing!
Comment by Ice Chest Coolers December 14, 2011 @ 7:49 pmI think the i on greatest hit is the I roman rumeral for 1
Comment by ryan March 7, 2012 @ 1:52 pmon the greatest hits the picture forms the I
Comment by nameunknown June 21, 2012 @ 7:56 pmyou have the h incorrect on the untitled album. it’s part of the smiley where the right eye connects with the mouth. if you tilt you head 45 degrees it is easier to see.
Comment by Blinkfan November 13, 2012 @ 6:23 pmA – G are obvious.
Selftitled has 2 different stories. The H in the untitled is in the “b” of blink-182 look closely and you’ll notice. If you think this isn’t correct, look at the right eye and the circle – they make a “H” aswell.
Greatest Hits: This one is kinda different to explain. On the UK promo of the greatest hits, the “i” in greatest hits was different to the other letters. Rick DeVoe wanted to get this version on the official version too, but somehow it didn’t make it onto the cover.
I’m kinda disappointed that “Dogs Eating Dogs” has a reference to the K on the cover, because it’s just an EP. Their first and only EP before, “They Came To Conquer Uranus”, also hadn’t had a D in it.
Anyway, who cares. All that matters is the music!
Comment by Duck Tape December 13, 2012 @ 5:35 pmThe letter I is right behind the number 1…
Comment by filosofobico April 9, 2013 @ 3:20 am