Robbin' the Hood

Context and production values

Robbin' the Hood is a Sublime album with noted low production values (the album sleeve boasts of its "13 self produced 4-track home recordings"), and also has multiple samples and lyrics from other artists featured in some tracks. It has been speculated that it was Brad Nowell's answer to the people who were beginning to feel he was in the music business for the money. The album is full of fillers, instrumentals and 'Raleigh Soliloquies,' selections from a rant recorded by a man with schizophrenia named Raleigh Theodore Sakers. Raleigh Soliloquy Pt. III has Raleigh singing his interpretation of "You Don't Know What Love Is" by George Benson. This was done as it was originally only going to have 6 tracks. According to late lead singer Bradley Nowell's wife, Troy Dendekker, the majority of the album was recorded in a Long Beach, California crack house. She also stated that the album was written and recorded at the height of Nowell's heroin addiction, with many references to this reflected in the album's lyrics, particularly in "Pool Shark".

Follow up

Some of the songs on the album contain parts that were later reused by the band on other albums. For example, the principle chord progression in the instrumental "Lincoln Highway Dub" was featured again in the band's later hit "Santeria", and elements of "Work That We Do" would later appear in "Under My Voodoo". Incidentally, it was during the recording of Robbin' the Hood, that the band recorded demos of "What I Got" and "Garden Grove."

Influences and covers

Gwen Stefani, of No Doubt, contributes guest vocals on the track "Saw Red", notably before either Sublime or No Doubt enjoyed mainstream success. Many of Sublime's melodies and riffs have not only been influenced by, but directly taken from, other reggae artists and bands. "Steppin' Razor", originally written by Joe Higgs, was covered by The Wailers and later popularized by Peter Tosh in his solo career. In "Greatest Hits", Nowell mentions The Ziggens, their "brother" band signed to the same label. The guitar riff and associated rhythm in the song was borrowed from Yellowman. Boss D.J. is partially a cover of a song by British reggae band Aswad, "Roots Rocking". The Free Loop Dub borrows melody from the song "Loaded" by Scottish alternative rock band Primal Scream. STP's lyrics "Baby you wanna give me kisses ... but a taste of honey is worse than none at all" are borrowed from "I Second That Emotion".

A number of other bands are either mentioned explicitly, alluded to, or sampled including: Steady B, Barrington Levy, Geto Boys, The Doors, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Marley, Flavor Flav, Just-Ice, Beastie Boys and Jack Owens.

Track listing

All songs written by Sublime unless otherwise noted

1. "Waiting for Bud" – 1:02
2. "Steady B Loop Dub" – 1:23 (Contains samples of "Badfish",and "Bring the Beat Back" by Steady B. Also, the line "Music from Jamaica all the love that I've found, pull over there's a reason why my soul's unsound" was later used in "Garden Grove".)
3. "Raleigh Soliloquy Pt. I" – 1:46
4. "Pool Shark" – 0:57
5. "Steppin' Razor" (Joe Higgs) – 2:24 (Contains a sample of Steely Dan's "Do It Again".)
6. "Greatest-Hits" – 2:53 (Contains a sample of "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng!" by Yellowman and a partial cover of the Mad Mad riddim, first heard in "Mad Mad Mad" by Alton Ellis, and also heard in 'Drowning' by The Beat)
7. "Free Loop Dub" – 3:08 (Contains a sample of "Loaded" by Primal Scream)
8. "Q-Ball" – 0:43
9. "Saw Red" - 1:57 (Featuring guest vocals from Gwen Stefani. Contains a partial cover of "She's Mine" by Barrington Levy.)
10. "Work That We Do" – 2:34
11. "Lincoln Highway Dub" – 2:21 (The intro is 30 seconds.)
12. "Pool Shark (Acoustic)" – 1:25
13. "Cisco Kid" – 4:38 (Contains samples of "Introduction" by Guru, "When The Music's Over" by The Doors, dialogue from Scarface, and clips from The Cisco Kid')'
14. "Raleigh Soliloquy Pt. II" – 3:39
15. "S.T.P." – 2:57 (Contains lyrics from "I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson)
16. "Boss D.J." – 2:51 (Contains partial covers of "Do it Twice" and "Waiting in Vain" by Bob Marley, as well as Aswad's "Roots Rocking", although Roots Rocking covers "Do it Twice" as well.)
17. "I Don't Care Too Much for Reggae Dub" – 5:20
18. "Falling Idols" – 2:37 (Ross Fletcher/William Pangborn III; originally performed by the Falling Idols)
19. "All You Need" – 2:45 (Contains a lyric from "Fight Like a Brave" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers)
20. "Freeway Time in L.A. County Jail" – 3:17 (Contains slightly modified lyrics from "The Hukilau Song" by Jack Owens and "Them Belly Full" by Bob Marley)
21. "Mary" – 1:34
22. "Raleigh Soliloquy Pt. III" / "Don't Push" / untitled / "The Farther I Go" (Mudhoney) – 8:29

* Track 22 includes several hidden tracks including an alternate version of "Don't Push" and an untitled dub song that includes snippets of "Boss D.J." The original Skunk Records release also contains a cover of Mudhoney's "The Farther I Go," which was removed from the Gasoline Alley/MCA re-release for legal reasons.

Notable songs

No singles were released from Robbin' the Hood, although the songs "Pool Shark," "STP," "Saw Red," "Boss D.J.," and "Greatest-Hits" became some of Sublime's best-known songs. Two versions of "Pool Shark," about frontman Bradley Nowell's addiction to heroin, appear on the album: An uptempo punk-rock version and a more emotional acoustic version. The uptempo version later appeared on Sublime's Greatest Hits album, while an acoustic version is featured on 1998's Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends. "Saw Red" was included on Second Hand Smoke, Greatest Hits as well as the 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Sublime compilation.

Personnel

Sublime

Additional personnel

Production