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Though it’s popularity only really came in the wake of Nowell’s death, “40 Oz To Freedom” is now seen by many as a first rate album in it’s own right, and for good reason. Sublime were renowned for their partying, and “Date Rape” ultimately simply serves to showcase their sense of fun, rather than make any deeper moral claim. However there’s also no doubt that the track is a harsh condemnation of date rape and date rapists, after all, the culprit gets his comeuppance (pun possibly intended this time) and the ultimate message is that justice will be served. These lyrics have at times been criticised – there’s no doubt it’s a light-hearted song – and there are those who have suggested it’s wrong to make light of such a serious subject.
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Far from taking it lying down (no pun intended), she takes her attacker to court, he gets convicted and sent to jail and is in turn raped by “a large inmate”. Nowell’s lyrics on “Date Rape”, apparently inspired by meeting someone at a party who announced that “if it wasn’t for date rape I’d never get laid”, tell the tale of a young woman, who, having been picked up by a stranger in a bar, is date raped. It’s easy to see why “Date Rape” quickly became a favourite amongst eager dancers at live shows, originally to the disappointment of Sublime’s members, who initially considered it to be something of a novelty song and inferior to many of their others. The effect generated is one of relentless, fast-paced, ska-punk energy.
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Indeed it avoids any clear verse/chorus structure in favour of an incessant groove decorated by Nowell’s story-telling vocals and interrupted only by a dirty guitar solo at the ninety second mark and a sax led coda at its end. The track lacks the big on-beat chorus that became a feature of the hits of many of the bands Sublime inspired. Today’s choice, “Date Rape”, the album’s nineteenth of 23 tracks, does, of course, have a distinct ska feel.īacked by the saxophone of Brian Wallace, Nowell on guitar, bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh launch into a blistering third wave attack. Interestingly, Sublime’s early influences came as much from hardcore punk, reggae, dub, dancehall and hip-hop as ska, and 1992’s debut album “40 Oz To Freedom” is a lengthy piece of genre fusion, heavy with covers and borrowed song parts, showcasing all of the above and more. The album featured radio hits “Santeria”, “What I Got”, “Wrong Way” and “Doin’ Time”, as well as numerous other tracks now considered to be classics and was vital in pushing ska music into the mainsream. Sadly frontman Bradley Nowell would not live to see the phenomenon that his band’s work became, as widespread critical acclaim and popularity did not come until the release of their self-titled third album two months after his death from a heroin overdose in 1996, aged just 28. No exploration of ska music would be complete without mention of Sublime, the Californian three-piece who were unquestionably one of the most crucial acts at the heart of the American third wave revolution of the 1990s.