40 Oz. to Freedom: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

40 Oz. to Freedom
CD by Sublime
Released	1992
Recorded	1991-1992 at the Mambo in Long Beach, California
Genre	Punk rock, Ska
Record label	Gasoline Alley/MCA
Length	69 min 15 s
Producer	Sublime
Professional reviews
RollingStone review	NR	link
ARTISTdirect review	4.5 stars out of 5	link
Sublime Chronology
	40 Oz. to Freedom (1992)	Robbin' the Hood (1994)

40 Oz. to Freedom is the 1992 (see 1992 in music) debut ska punk album by the Southern California rock band Sublime. 40 Oz. to Freedom received mixed critical reviews upon its first release, but is now generally approved of as an immature but sincere record, with a few spots of brilliance. Sublime would not achieve any mainstream success until two weeks after the overdose death of its leader singer and guitarist, Bradley Nowell, in 1996 (see 1996 in music). When this album was recorded, Nowell had not yet begun using heroin. To some degree, the failure of 40 Oz. to Freedom to sell well or earn the band a major label release caused a despondent Nowell to begin using heroin. When the band recorded their next album, Robbin' the Hood, they did so in a Long Beach, California crackhouse.

40 Oz. to Freedom is one of the most popular albums released in the Third Wave of Ska Revival. Its sound blended various forms of Jamaican music, including ska ("40 Oz. to Freedom"), rocksteady ("5446-That's My Number", cover of Toots & the Maytals), roots reggae ("Smoke Two Joints") and dub ("Let's Go Get Stoned", "D.J.s") with British and American hardcore punk ("New Thrash"), hip hop ("D.J.s") and folk music ("Rivers of Babylon", "Scarlet Begonias", a Grateful Dead cover).

In 1995 (see 1995 in music), Sublime sent a radio CD to the influential radio station KROQ, and one of 40 Oz. to Freedom's songs, "Date Rape", became the most requested song on the station, leading the album to appear at #1 for five weeks on Billboard magazine's (North America) Pacific Region chart, and to appear on the Alternative Artist Albums Chart for fifty weeks. The band then signed with MCA Records, which, along with the birth of his son, convinced Nowell to voluntarily enter rehab. Though he remained clean for several months, Nowell died of a heroin overdose shortly before the release of Sublime's breakthrough album, Sublime.

On the original release, "Rivers of Babylon", a folky religious song, and the outro, "Thanx", were hidden tracks.

"Get Out!" was included on the original release, but was removed due to the use of unlicensed samples. It was later remixed and released on Second-hand Smoke.

Track listing

1. "Waiting for My Ruca" (Bradley Nowell) - 2:20
2. "40 Oz. To Freedom" (Sublime) - 3:02
3. "Smoke Two Joints" (Kay/Kay) - 2:53
4. "We're Only Gonna Die for Our Own Arrogance" (Greg Graffin) - 3:07
5. "Don't Push" (Sublime) - 4:18
6. "54-46 That's My Number/Ball and Chain" (Toots Hibbert) - 5:17
7. "Badfish" (Sublime) - 3:04
8. "Let's Go Get Stoned" (Sublime) - 3:32
9. "New Thrash" (Sublime) - 1:30
10. "Scarlet Begonias" (Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter) - 3:31
11. "Live at E's" (Sublime) - 3:08
12. "D.J.s" (Sublime) - 3:18
13. "Chica Me Tipo" (Sublime) - 2:16
14. "Right Back" (Sublime) - 2:49
15. "What Happened" (Sublime) - 3:27
16. "New Song" (Sublime) - 3:14
17. "Ebin" (Sublime) - 3:32
18. "Date Rape" (Sublime) - 3:37
19. "Hope" (Aukerman) - 1:43
20. "KRS-One" (Sublime) - 2:23
21. "Rivers Of Babylon" - 2:29
22. "Thanx"

The song "D.J.s" includes, after the dancehall-style intro, a few lines quoted from "Cornerstone" by Bob Marley & the Wailers.