Robbin' the Hood

There are very few actual songs on this album, most of it consists of the band talking, a D.J. mixing around on the turntables, and even a short track of rapping. "Boss D.J." and "Saw Red" are great songs, but ultimately that's not worth the price of admission unless you're an extreme Sublime fan. I'm not going to mess around and give the album a mercy 4 or 5 stars, because it doesn't deserve that rating. I even found myself struggling a bit just to fill it in as a 3.

If you like this album, that's fine, it's not necessarily bad. I'll admit it's very cool that "Robbin' The Hood" was all self recorded in various living rooms. But I doubt I'll find myself reaching for this album to often, I only picked it up out of respect for the band and what they did.


not for fans with no patience   August 17, 2004
b.o.b. (Parma, Ohio United States)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

i must say, this album is by far the most hotly debated sublime album out of any of them, so i will say this before going on...if you are a fan of the sublime songs you hear on the radio, and think the rest of their music is a bit off the wall, then don't even bother looking into this album, you will be sorely disappointed by the lack of commercialism on this recording. even their debut album '40 oz. to freedom' sounds like a sellout disc when compared to this one. that being said, what you will find on this album is the most intensely personal recording that bradley and the boys put together. most of it was recorded in various living rooms around the long beach/south l.a. area, and you will notice a rather poor sound quality on many of the tracks, but after noticing this, and listening to them a few times, you realize how little the sound quality really matters. in fact, there are only a few songs that could be considered singles, such as 's.t.p.' (which stands for secret tweeker pad), 'greatest hits', where bradley pays homage to bert susanka and his punk outfit the ziggens, and 'saw red', a punk/ska track featuring gwen stefani from the band no doubt. a few of the songs are rough sketches of songs that would later be included on the self-titled album. 'lincoln highway dub' is a jazz inspired insturmental that was later completed and retitled 'santeria', and 'steady b loop dub' is another insturmental that was eventually reworked and went on to become 'garden grove'. (if you listen to the post-mortem album 'second hand smoke', you can hear a demo of what was to be the original 'garden grove' entitled 'garbage grove', but the boys wanted to wait for a chance to record it professionally, so it was stripped down to an insturmental for this release) the remainder of the disc is a collection extremely experimental fusion tracks, as well as several acoustic songs in which bradley lays down his heart and soul. 'pool shark', which has both an acoustic and fleshed out punk version, documents the conflict that bradley endured while fighting his losing battle with heroin addiction. most of the other songs are just fun to sing along with, like 'boss d.j.', 'mary', and the outstanding blues inspired track 'freeway time in l.a. county jail'. there are a few interludes which are provided by some weirdo named raliegh theodore sakers, and are extremely funny to hear, especially part 2, which is very obscene and has made me laugh out loud several times. everything being told, 'robbin the hood' is my favorite sublime disc, although it wasn't always my favorite one, it has certainly grown on me and i enjoy listening to it more and more every time i hear it. if you want to know the whole story of sublime, you can't miss this one. if you are looking for a much more reggae influenced sound, try '40 oz. to freedom', and if you want the somewhat homoginized, radio-friendly sound, go for the self-titled album instead.


Pure Sublime - Not over-produced   February 6, 2006
DanVta (Vta, CA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I had the good fortune of being turned on to Sublime early on watching surf videos and listening to Kroq, and had the better fortune of checking them out live in Vta before Brad's untimely death. As great as their other albums are, this is the album that truly shows how diverse and talented this group was. They do an amazing dub cover of Tosh's Stepping Razor, a pop/punk/ska "Saw Red" featuring a young Gwen Stefani (when ND was actually a ska group), a hardcore punk version of "Pool Shark" and a dark, soulful acoustic version of the same song, an instrumental/dub of "Santaria" (which I like better than the vocal version), and a bunch of other great songs. In all, this is the only album to exhibit the full potential of the group, and is the closest thing to the mix of songs that you would have seen at a live Sublime show. Perhaps not the best album for the casual listener, but for those wanting a greater appreciation of what Sublime was about, I'd suggest you start here.


Experimental Stuff You Must be Patient With   December 16, 2003
Stingray Ramone (Los Angeles, CA United States)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

In between Sublime's highly acclaimed releases, 1992's 40 Oz. To Freedom and 1996's Sublime, is 1994's Robbin' the Hood, an album of exploration for the band as they merge jazz, blues, psychedelic rock, ballad into their fused rap-punk-ska-reggae style. If you thought 40 Oz. and the self-titled album were melting pots of various genres, then Robbin' the Hood is the mother of all eclectic, musical melting pots. Here's a track-by-track rundown:

1. Waiting For Bud - A brief jazz/reggae instrumental opener. Easygoing track to get you into the varied mood of the album. 5/5.

2. Steady B Loop Dub - Awesome sampling on display here. It's here where Brad conjures up a line for the opening song of the '96 self-titled album, Garden Grove ("Music from Jamaica, all the love that I've found, pull over, there's a reason why my soul's unsound"). 5/5.

3. Raleigh Soliloquy Pt. 1 - Ah, yes, that lovable psychotic Raleigh Theodore Sakers. Here, he's mumbling about a computer programmer named Christine Gontara. 5/5.

4. Pool Shark - A rowdy, minute-long, straight-up punk rocker. Depressing lyrics about Brad's heroin addiction, but he shouts them out as if the depression is nothing. The audio quality isn't exactly pristine on this, as the frantic drum and guitar accompaniment overshadow Brad's raucous vocals. 4/5.

5. Steppin' Razor - A Peter Tosh cover. An excellent, upbeat reggae number with Brad's low-key voice going along with the vibe. 5/5.

6. Greatest Hits - Pure ska punk. Great bass and great delivery on Brad's part. 5/5.

7. Free Loop Dub - Reggae/dub with a psychedelic twist and decent sampling to close it out. 4.5/5.

8. Q-Ball - Too brief hip-hop number (0:43), featuring Q-Ball, Brad's cousin and Long Beach rapper. 3/5.

9. Saw Red - All-out ska duet with Gwen Stefani of No Doubt. I prefer the acoustic version of this song off of Sublime's acoustic album over this. Still an excellent track. 5/5.

10. Work That We Do - Dub that's more intensive on Eric Wilson's bassline. Good stuff. 4/5.

11. Lincoln Highway Dub - Precursor instrumental to Santeria with a more involved bass rhythm. 5/5.

12. Pool Shark (Acoustic) - A stark contrast from the loud, over-the-top version of Pool Shark. Here, Brad pours his heart into this song as you can feel his depression and anguish. 5/5.

13. Cisco Kid - A nice, lighthearted break from the previous track. Awesome hip-hop beat with Brad's playful rapping to boot. The sampling is from an old western show, "The Cisco Kid". 5/5.

14. Raleigh Soliloquy Pt. II - Best soliloquy among the three although it's not quite a soliloquy. Raleigh crazily argues with a guard, who threatens to lock up Raleigh in a psych ward if he doesn't go away. Funny, profanity-laced, free-flowing dialogue. 5/5.

15. STP - One of my favorites. This ska punk track is about Brad's "Secret Tweaker Pad". Brad's vocals are at its most majestic and intense in this one. 5/5.

16. Boss D.J. - A catchy, soulful acoustic track, "so nice, you wanna hear the same song twice.", as Brad put it in this song, although you may wind up playing it more than twice. 5/5.

17. I Don't Care Too Much For Reggae Dub - The band along with some friends, in particular, Opie Ortiz of the Long Beach Dub All Stars are talking about music with some teenager off the streets. There's some sampling of this conversation with some sweet dub music in the background. 4.5/5.

18. Falling Idols - A ska-ish instrumental cover of the Falling Idols' (a Long Beach punk band) theme song. 4.5/5.

19. All You Need - More ska punk, but who's complaining? 5/5.

20. Freeway Time in LA County Jail - Brad Nowell sings the blues! Catchy, uplifting track with bouncy, playful rhythm and wonderful lyrics attached to it. 5/5.

21. Mary - A softer, mellow ballad about being in relations with some underaged girl named Mary. Has a great lullaby-like quality about it. 5/5.

22. Raleigh Soliloquy Pt.III - Short (roughly over 1:30), relatively calm commentary by Raleigh, telling us that we don't know what love is. After eight minutes of silence, a funky, more rap-intensive version of Don't Push comes on, along with another version of Boss D.J. 5/5.

Robbin' the Hood is a rather misunderstood Sublime album and if you're new to Sublime, I recommend you start with the self-titled album and 40 Oz. first before delving into this one. That way, you would have a greater appreciation for Robbin' the Hood.


Few albums are this good   January 16, 2006
jokamachi (california)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

One gets a little self-conscious when making too many references to the Beatles, but this album was the band's Sgt. Pepper through and through. Every bit of Nowell's creativity went into this seamless work; it is far from hodge podge: this is a collage of almost everything Sublime was and would become over the years; it is a statement about their culture and influences; it is a snapshot of their lives and the way they looked at the world around them. It is, without a doubt, my favorite work by the LBC trio, and it is one that will stand for years to come.