There are no shortages of interesting stories in music history, but The Story of Sublime might have a case for being in the top ten.

Sublime came up in the ranks of the Southern California punk/surf/God knows what else scene in the late 1980s/early 1990s and started to make some noise largely off the back of a song about date rape and for finding a way to connect punk, ska, reggae, and one or two other genres, something that feels commonplace nowadays but was pretty unique back then. This led them to the band touring nationally and briefly co-headlining the first Warped Tour before getting kicked off for being troublemakers and having a dog with them that had a penchant for biting skateboarders.

In 1996, just as they finished recording their third album, one that was expected to be their breakthrough, Bradley Nowell, their frontman and main songwriter, who had long had issues with drugs, ended up dying. Two months later, that third album was released, becoming one of the quintessential albums of the decade and solidyfing the band’s reputation as one of the more low-key influential groups in recent memory.

In the years that followed, a handful of live albums and collections of rarities & demos were released, surviving members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh first formed the Long Beach Dub Allstars, which was a collection of people from the Sublime universe, and then a version of Sublime that had a dude named Rome playing the Bradley Nowell role, which kind of worked because Rome really sounded like Nowell. But then Wilson and Gaugh found someone who sounded even more like Bradley Nowell, his son, Jakob. Rome got the boot, and Sublime with Rome became Sublime again.

It’s a weird story that I guess has a happy ending, which is nice.

The latest version of Sublime started playing a smattering of shows before it became something of a full-time gig for the three members. Last week, they released a new record, billed as a Sublime record, even though true Sublime fans might feel otherwise, since legit Sublime is fronted by Bradley Nowell, not Bradley Nowell’s son. But at the same time, the world feels super shitty these days, so let’s celebrate wins when we can, and a world with some form of Sublime out in these streets is better than a world without some form of Sublime in these streets. I mean, that’s just science.

So it’s been nearly 30 years since Sublime’s self-titled album came out, and with a new album out it feels like a good time to partake in some Sublime-related reflection, specifically in the form of a ranking of their 30 best songs. And these are originals. No covers, which means songs like “Scarlet Begonias,” “We’re Only Gonna Die For Our Arrogance,” “Smoke Two Joints,” or “54-46 That’s My Number” aren’t included. It’s only fair. There are some songs included that are kind of covers, but exist within a special kind of gray area, so we’re going to let that slide.

Optional musical accompaniment can be found here.

30. “Waiting For My Ruca” (1992)

Sublime albums sneak up on you, which is a choice and a choice I’m cool with. I mean, there are basically two ways to kick off an album. You either kick the effin’ door down or you casually open the door. Sublime, and this is kind of surprising for how wild they were, went the casual route on all three of their albums. “Waiting For My Ruca,” which is basically just some drums, some samples, and some Bradley Nowell, is the low-key intro to the band’s first album, 40oz. To Freedom, and if you were looking for some bread crumbs that would hint that this band wasn’t just some bros playing fast and loose with reggae & ska-influenced punk, “Waiting For My Ruca” is a bushel of bread crumbs.

29. “Let’s Go Get Stoned” (1992)

If Sublime were a math equation, it’d be steady drums, a bouncing bass, determined upstrokes on the guitar and Nowell’s easy vocals, all of which are present in “Let’s Go Get Stoned.” But the song also shows how Sublime wasn’t down to be just one thing as halfway through the song it switches gears and heads in the direction of some kind of fuzzy guitar hero rock, capped off by a perfectly placed Beastie Boys’ sample.

28. “Superstar Punani” (1997)

Second-Hand Smoke, a collection of rarities, demos, and live tracks, came out in 1997, capitalizing on the wave of attention Sublime brought to the band. Such a move wasn’t foreign, especially back in the 90s, before streaming, which lets acts drop albums whenever they want. Back then, there was always a gap in between studio albums, and acts filled said gap with the ol’ rarities collection. Of course, the difference here is that Sublime was very much adrift in 1997, and their gap was significantly larger than that of others. Second-Hand Smoke does its job admirably and features songs like “Superstar Punani,” a song that would easily fit anywhere on any of the band’s three albums.

27. “Seed” (1996)

Back in the day, I could never go full hardcore or full punk. I just didn’t have it in me. But I liked to dabble and as a result, when bands I loved had one or two tracks on an album that had some hardcore and/or punk tendencies. It was a like a cheat code for someone like me. I could play this loud and get all the hardcore and/or punk I needed. But of course, with this being Sublime, there are a few different gears in a two-minute song as it goes from thrash to bounce to thrash to bounce and then a bit of thrash on it’s way out of town.

26. “Little District” (1998)

An album of acoustic versions of Sublime tunes was a no-brainer by the time 1998 rolled around, and Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends was a delightful addition to the Sublime universe.A highlight is the “Marley Medley” but there’s also a nice version of “KRS-One,” complete with Nowell’s admission that he never wanted to be a musician, but a ship builder…”sail around the world because it’s fucking round.” “Little District,” which was originally performed by Eric “Monty” Morris, has always stuck with me, one of those songs that is always rattling around in my head, with me liable to start singing it at any moment just because it’s there. I would sing sometimes while changing diapers, which I always thought was an interesting development.

25. “Ebin” (1992)

Who amongst hasn’t had a friend we’ve known forever suddenly change things up and in this case, become a fucking Nazi? Show of hands. Admit it. We’ve all pointed out that a friend has changed, although to be fair, most of us haven’t had friends become Nazis but at the same time, we live in interesting times, so that might actually be more applicable now more than ever. I had a friend do a study abroad program and come back super Euro, but that’s about it. Probably not the same, but the point is that I get it. Well…kind of.

24. “Boss D.J.” (1994)

Bradley Nowell, an acoustic guitar and a recording “studio” that was probably someone’s bedroom, could produce some real delicate and haunting beauty. “Boss D.J.” is one of those tunes that drifts away with you, soundtracking the memories that come floating in as your mind wanders. I love the guitar taps sprinkled throughout the song; a true mark of a low-fi, DIY recording.

23. “Saw Red” (1994)

If the whole SoCal scene was foreign to you and you were only introduced to it via Sublime or a band like No Doubt, Gwen Stefani showing up on a Sublime track would have seemed a wild and wonderful meeting of ska-infused minds. The pairing almost made too much sense, but hey, there’s a bit of history there. And no, not dating history as there’s a bit of scuttlebutt still going around that Stefani and Nowell dated, something Stefani regularly denies. She was smitten by him, though, having first heard the band when they sent a tape over to No Doubt, with the hopes of opening for them. “It was just such a weird mixture of sounds,” she explained. “It was kinda hip-hop, but then it had reggae, and it was like his soul singing, but it was [such an] amazing voice.” “Saw Red” first appeared on Robbin’ The Hood and would then get a second life when it was included on Second-Hand Smoke.

22. “Right Back” (1992)

You know what’s great about this song? Everything. Now, are we talking about “great” in terms of it being the absolute best song-writing ever? No. But “great” in terms of vibes, grooves, and a general feeling of “yeah, that’s what’s up?” Bam. Exactly. Sublime weren’t a collection of rocket scientists, but they could damn sure provide a killer soundtrack to a group of rocket scientists kicking back and hanging out, and for that, a nation salutes them.

21. “Same In The End” (1996)

As a whole, Sublime’s mistake is fantastic to listen to while driving. It hits all the gears…pun intended. “Same In The End” with the windows down, a clear stretch of road ahead, and the sun shining is like sussing out a heist plan…it almost makes too much sense, kid.

20. “Pawn Shop” (1996)

I know that I said there would be no covers on this list. And I know that I already included “Little District,” which was a cover. I know these things, I do. But I also know that it’s tricky because in a lot of instances, Sublime played a bit fast and loose with covers. Sometimes they played a cover as a cover, and sometimes they used existing songs as jumping off points for them to create their own songs, which were then a quasi-cover/quasi-original. “Pawn Shop” falls in this category because technically the song is a cover of “War Deh Round A John Shop” by The Wailing Souls, albeit a cover where they went and changed the lyrics. So while I know what I know, I also don’t know what I know, and I guess I know that “Pawn Shop” is enough of a Sublime “original” to be included in this list.

19. “Jailhouse” (1996)

Ok, see…AGAIN we have the same effin’ issue. “Jailhouse” was originally a Wailers tune, having been written by Bunny Wailer and released by the band in 1965. However, Sublime’s “Jailhouse” combines Bunny’s song with a dab of Tenor Saw’s “Roll Call.” So is it a cover if it’s a mixture of two songs and then made into a new song using the ingredients of other songs? Or is a double cover? Is double cover a thing? Is anything a thing? I didn’t expect this piece to get so deep as to question the existence of uh…things, but here we are and really we’re here just enjoying all of these songs because life is beautiful.

18. “Mary” (1994)

It’s a love song! But also a bit of a tragic love song, which fits because tragedy runs through the entire Sublime story. Not even a sweet little tune like “Mary” can avoid that.

17. “Wrong Way” (1996)

Bradley Nowell was a great storyteller and could spin a solid tale in less than 3 minutes, dropping a narrative over that tried and true ska-infused bounce. In “Wrong Way,” Nowell runs through the story of Annie, a young woman with a ratchet home life, yearning for freedom. Oh, and there’s a trombone solo, because of course there is, right? With stuff like that, I like to imagine Jon Blondell, who played the solo, just happened to be walking by and was roped into recording right quick. That probably wasn’t the case or maybe it was. Part of the fun of Sublime is the chaos.

16. “Burritos” (1996)

For “Burritos,” the band dug through their vault and reworked “Fighting Blindly,” one of their earliest songs. That early version is definitely rough, but listening to it, you get the gist. The vibe is there. So they brought it back into the mix and added new lyrics, and now I want a burrito, specifically a carnitas burrito, because those are the best, and I will not be swayed otherwise.

15. “Caress Me Down” (1996)

This song is super fun. Okay, but back in the day, when I was making the open mic rounds in sunny Portland, Maine, playing drums for whoever would have me, I tended to gravitate to this spot called The Alehouse because I liked the people and the vibe. Each week included two things without fail. The first was someone butchering a cover of “The Weight,” and the second was this dude who thought he was super cool because he could sing in Spanish, singing “Caress Me Down every single week. If he were there, you knew he was playing it and thinking he was dope because he could nail the Spanish parts. Ugh. Get over yourself, amigo. Thanks for the memories, though.

14. “Don’t Push” (1992)

40oz. To Freedom is easily my favorite Sublime record. The energy is incredible, and there is a rawness, but also, weirdly, a focus to it that is undeniable. On its own, “Don’t Push” is a fine little tune. But in context, when you listen to it while listening to the whole record, it just sounds perfect. It’s like three or four songs in one with how Nowell switches up his melodies, which is part of the organized chaos of Sublime’s music that made them so much fun and so appealing.

13. “Doin Time” (1996)

NOT a cover, but a LOOSE cover, which is one of Sublime’s specialties. Based off of the George Gershwin classic, the tune was initially scrapped from the Sublime sessions because they couldn’t secure the rights to it. By the time that changed, Nowell had died and his vocals were recorded, with him singing “Doin’ Time” instead of “Summertime,” which he would need to do in order for them to get the rights. They ended up bringing in Michael “Miguel” Happoldt to sing “Summertime” throughout the song, so it would be good to go. And hey, fun fact is that after Nowell died, it was Happoldt who ended up caring for Lou Dog until the dog’s death in September of 2001. No, I don’t think Lou Dog’s death was connected with 9/11, but thanks for asking.

12. “S.T.P.” (1994)

I got into Sublime because someone played my “Date Rape” and I was dumbfounded by how cool it sounded. Then I started really getting into the band once Sublime came out because of how cool it sounded. Once I started diving into their small but cool-sounding catalog, it was songs like “S.T.P.” that had me hooked. A true rollicking good time of a tune from Robbin’ The Hood, “S.T.P.” is manic chaos and full of so much energy it’s infectious. Each section straight-up chucks you into the next section with reckless abandon and leaves you with nothing but your wits to survive.

11. “KRS-One” (1992)

Did I know who KRS-One was when I first heard this song? No, no I didn’t. It’s fine. I was a young buck feasting off of grunge music at the time and didn’t know much about rap beyond Dr. Dre. But I’ll tell you this, I soon learned who KRS-One was because if nothing else, this song taught me that he was someone I should listen to because he will set me straight. So hey, thanks for that, Sublime.

10. “Get Ready” (1996)

“Get Ready” is another kind of cover, this time with Sublime taking a run at the 1987 song of the same name by Frankie Paul. It’s funny. There’s like Sublime blender the band must have jammed these old tunes through, making the sunniest of sunshine reggae tunes sound rough and tumble. They make them their own song, both by messing with lyrics and/or structure and then just grimmying the hell out of them. And yes, I know grimmying isn’t a word but both feels like it should be and could be and whatever, it got the point across, which may or may not be the whole point of language.

9. “What I Got” (1996)

Do I still enjoy this song? Yes.

Do I still listen to the whole thing when it comes on the radio? Yes.

Do I still have the ability to sing along with 93% of the song? Yes.

And just think how musicians and bands were inspired by this song and then set out to create their own version of it, only to likely fail wildly. The Sublime Legacy is a real thing, kids. Accept it.

8. “April 29, 1992 (Miami)” (1996)

Someone smarter than me can probably talk more about the influence Hip Hop had on Sublime and how it helped shape Nowell’s vocal style on specific songs, and this smart person would likely use “April 29, 1992 (Miami)” as a jumping off point for the discussion. The song features a trio of solid samples, including  “La Di Da Di” by Doug E. Fresh featuring MC Ricky D, “Original Gangster of Hip-Hop” by Just-Ice, and “Shook One (Part 1)” by Mobb Deep, as Nowell raps about the Rodney King riots, which may or may not have included Frank Reynolds. 

7. “Date Rape” (1992)

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I was first introduced to “Date Rape” by a friend in high school who put it on while we were sitting at another friend’s house smoking weed. I admittedly didn’t really get into the story the song tells at first, instead being drawn to the upbeat frenzy of the music and how those manic upstrokes sounded like they were played by a person engulfed in flames and playing to save their life. But the story is what gives this song legs and has helped it endure, and Nowell’s ability to tell a story in relatively straightforward terms is somewhat refreshing. He doesn’t get into lyrical flourishes or head-scratching analogies. Dude just tells a story and by just “telling a story,” it helps it stick the landing.

6. “Santeria” (1996)

An act’s song after their breakthrough song is more often than not one of the more interesting songs of their career. That first song sets the table; it creates a mood and a vibe meant to draw people in. But once you hook ’em, you better pay that off, because if not, what are we even doing here? Now, usually there is maybe a month or so before songs one and two come out. With Sublime, they released “What I Got” in July of 2026 and didn’t drop “Santeria,” a tune whose origin could be traced back to “Lincoln Highway Dub” on Robbin’ The Hood, until the following January, and it was during that span that the buzz had grown steadily. “Santeria” brought in the rest of the crew.

5. “Garden Grove” (1996)

Back when I wrote for BroBible, I set out to write about the 50 best opening tracks of all-time. “Garden Grove” landed at number 45 on the list, right after some dude named Bob Marley and before a little-known group from Liverpool. I wrote that there are two kinds of album openers.

“Opening tracks can come in many shapes and forms. Some are the equivalent of the Kool-Aid Man bursting through the wall, while others are sneaky and lead you to believe you know what’s in store only to flip the script in a big way. In a way, they’re like a scented candle for your ears; something capable of not just setting a mood but firmly establishing one.”

“Garden Grove” falls into the second category because it’s a sneaky son of a gun with how relatively mellow it is and how it’s such a cool scene setter. Sublime is a hang out record, and “Garden Grove” is a song about hanging out. Shit, man, some things just make too much sense.

4. “Pool Shark” (1994)

There are two versions of “Pool Shark” on Robbin’ The Hood, with one being thrashing punk and the other haunting and acoustic. Both are effective and work in their own way, but given the subject matter, Nowell’s struggle with heroin, I’m partial to the acoustic version and how it’s such a barebones admission of the situation he found himself in at the time. It’s a song that hit even harder after his passing, and you had some insight into the battle he was facing.

3. “Greatest Hits” (1994)

Sublime, and specifically Bradley Nowell, could hide their darkness behind their music, which was heavily propelled by reggae and ska vibes. So on the surface, you could be forgiven for thinking “Greatest Hits” is a happy little tune, a song about having your greatest hits to keep you going. But of course it’s more than that and is a song about struggling to cope, struggling to keep the ship afloat, struggling to stay sober with all of these things being Nowell’s greatest hits.

2. “40oz to Freedom” (1992)

This is really just a simple song about leaning on something that helps keep the pain away, which in this case was a good ol’ 40 ounce. But of course for Nowell, this would eventually give way to heroin. But the simplicity is beautiful, and as with a lot of great Sublime tunes, the beauty also lies within the chaos of the music. It’s loud, it’s melodic, it bounces, it hammers. The drums are steady throughout, while the guitar seems to be on a weird personal quest, but a quest loosely connected with the rest of the song. And of course, “Greatest Hits” sounds killer when played loud, and loud music might be my 40 ounce, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

1. “Badfish” (1992)

If an alien landed on Earth and was interested in music and you felt like this alien should hear Sublime, you’d play that alien “Badfish,” and then hope said alien wouldn’t kill you or beam you up into their spaceship for a romp of anal probes and whatnot. “Badfish” is what “What I Got” or “Santeria” wishes they were, as there is a freshness and ease to “Badfish” that naturally, the band, or any band for that matter, would look to emulate again. But just like trying to revisit your youth, some wells you just can’t go back to and are best left alone as you set out to find new sources of hydration and inspiration. “Badfish” might not be a perfect song, per se. But it’s the perfect Sublime song and is a bittersweet reminder of what we lost when Bradley Nowell died.

Categories: Music

Tags: 40oz to freedom, Sublime