When Blink 182 released California on July 1, 2016, the album had one huge obstacle before anyone had even heard it.. Tom DeLonge was gone!
For many blink fans, that was enough to make up their minds. The conversation quickly became less about the songs themselves and more about who wasn’t on the record. Matt Skiba was stepping into one of the most recognisable roles in pop punk, John Feldmann was producing instead of Jerry Finn, and Blink were trying to prove they could still exist after one of the biggest lineup changes in modern rock.
Nearly ten years later, we feel California deserves another chance..
That doesn’t mean it’s Blink’s best album, and it doesn’t mean every criticism was unfair. The production isn’t for everyone, some fans still aren’t sold on the outside songwriting, and at 16 tracks before the deluxe edition, it’s probably longer than it needed to be. But reducing California to “the album without Tom” ignores just how important it was for the band and how successful it actually became.
It’s easy to forget just how uncertain Blink’s future looked in 2015. The relationship between DeLonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker had completely broken down, recording sessions had repeatedly stalled, and after years of delays it genuinely felt like the band might be over. Bringing in Skiba wasn’t about replacing Tom. Nobody could have done that. It was about giving Blink a future.
Skiba deserves far more credit than he often gets. Instead of trying to copy DeLonge’s voice or songwriting, he brought something completely different. His background in Alkaline Trio naturally added a darker edge to songs like Cynical, Left Alone and San Diego, while his chemistry with Hoppus created a new dynamic rather than forcing an old one. That was probably the smartest approach he could have taken. Trying to imitate Tom would have failed. Bringing his own personality into the band gave this version of Blink its own identity.
The recording process was just as different. After meeting with Feldmann, the band scrapped dozens of demos they had already written and started again from scratch. They spent weeks working twelve to eighteen hour days, writing at a relentless pace that was completely unlike anything Blink had done before. Hoppus has since admitted he wasn’t always comfortable with the process, but it pushed him to stop overthinking every lyric and trust his instincts. Feldmann’s goal wasn’t to recreate the past. He wanted to make a Blink 182 record that felt exciting in 2016 while still keeping the band’s DNA intact.
Whether that approach worked will always divide fans, but commercially there isn’t much room for debate.
California debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, giving Blink their first US chart topper since Take Off Your Pants And Jacket in 2001. Even more surprisingly, it became the band’s first ever number one album in the UK despite arriving almost two decades after Enema Of The State made them global stars. It also outperformed Neighborhoods, earned the band’s first Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album and finished 2016 as one of the year’s best selling rock records in the United States.
The success didn’t stop there. The California Tour became the biggest tour of Blink’s career at that point, grossing almost $29 million during its first North American leg and attracting more than 745,000 fans. For a band many people believed couldn’t survive without one of its founding members, those are remarkable numbers.
Looking back, it’s also hard to argue that the album didn’t produce lasting songs. Bored To Death remains one of the biggest singles Blink have released this century and has comfortably outlived the initial debate surrounding the record. Cynical has become a fan favourite, San Diego still stands as one of the most emotional songs the band have written about their own history, and Home Is Such A Lonely Place showed a more mature side of Hoppus’ songwriting that often gets overlooked.
Ironically, one of the strongest arguments in California‘s favour came years after its release. When Tom returned to the band in 2022, the Skiba era wasn’t erased from Blink’s history. Bored To Death stayed in the live set and Cynical has also been performed since the reunion. If the band themselves still see value in those songs, perhaps fans should too.
That doesn’t mean everyone suddenly has to love California. Music is always personal, and there will always be fans who simply prefer Blink with Tom DeLonge. That’s completely understandable. But there’s a difference between preferring one lineup and dismissing another.
Without California, there’s every chance Blink 182 wouldn’t still be here today. The album gave the band stability during its most uncertain period, introduced them to a younger generation of listeners, put them back at the top of the charts and proved they could still fill arenas around the world. Most importantly, it kept the band moving forward until the day all three original members were ready to share a stage again.
Maybe that’s California’s real legacy. It wasn’t trying to replace the past. It was making sure Blink 182 still had a future..
