When 'Bleed American' was released I was only 6 years old. I liked Wacky Races, whizzing round until I fell over and Westlife - I never truly discovered Jimmy Eat World until my teenage years.

It’s 2001. Blink 182 are running round the streets naked and moaning about being 23, the millennium has brought a new wave of youth exuberance, it is the golden age of nu-metal and skater kids are shredding the gnar on Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 whilst drinking Sunny Delight until their skin turns yellow.

The turn of the millennium is a time that defined pop punk and emo. Grunge has returned to the underground, the boyband boom is slowly dying off and the world is living in a happy-go-lucky pre-9/11 world. Classic after classic is being churned out by US pop punk hit-makers with Alien Ant Farm, The Offspring, Weezer, American Football and pop punk behemoths, Blink 182, all hitting it big.

Today the internet enjoys looking back at this time as a novelty, with quizzes determining which band you are depending on your favourite pizza, complete with the guy from Smash Mouth in the sidebar. But amongst the spiky hair and flame shirts there were some genuine genre and generation defining classics. ‘Bleed American’ by Jimmy Eat World was one of them.

The Arizona band were dropped by Capitol after moderate success with their debut and second albums. ‘Bleed American’ itself nearly never happened, with the band self-funding the entire recording and promotion process. The band had to put the music on the backseat and get “real jobs” working in construction, driving customers around an auto parts dealership, and selling art supplies.

In a 2001 interview shortly before 9/11, they seemed only dimly aware of the success that was about to come their way. “We had no idea what was going to happen, but there were signs of things to be encouraged by. When we went on tour, it just seemed to be getting better and better.”

Unfortunate circumstances were hit when the name of the album had to be temporarily changed to ‘Jimmy Eat World due to the September 11th attacks. ‘Bleed American’ was considered malicious in those turbulent times, as US troops got deployed to Iraq, although they changed it  back to the original when the controversy had died down. The title track ‘Bleed American’ was also changed to ‘Salt Sweat Sugar.’

“‘Bleed American’, for me it’s just a portrayal of cultural, societal neglect, I guess,” explained lead singer Jim Adkins in 2013, on the decision to change the album’s name.  “It’s not at all like “we hate the troops” or people who died from terrorist attacks had it coming. It wasn’t a subversive sort of song at all. We wanted people to have access to it so they could judge it objectively.”

Working the hard graft clearly paid off, with the album going platinum in the USA and Canada and Silver in the UK.  It was listed in Rock Sound’s ‘101 Modern Classics,’ featured in Q’s Top 50 of 2001 and continues to be featured in lists of greatest pop punk or emo albums. Here on Punktastic, we nailed it with an August 2001 review that is still just as true today:

”Bleed American is, put quite simply, one of the albums of the year. Jimmy Eat World have produced an album that is breathtaking, beautiful and brilliant.”

Commercial and critical success aside, the album has undeniably become a landmark in the genre. The epitomising and timeless sound of youth, plain and simple. An album that lacks clichés but instead stands the test of time as one of the greatest ever albums for friendship, troubles, growing up and coming of age. Still as relevant as the day it came out, it has the ability to encapsulate the struggles of being 16-25.

Title track, ‘Bleed American’, and ‘A Praise Chorus’ are slices of stadia rock moshpit mayhem, hitting the ground running. The rougher early days of JEW and the post-grunge emo scene shine through, its edges cutting your body, making you get up and let loose.  ‘Hear You Me’ offers a profound and rare male tenderness from Jim. Written about two Weezer fans who died in a car crash, the genre-defining ballad has offered a soundtrack to many in hard times  Even wizened older fans can still be found belting out the “may angels lead you in” line from the final chorus into a bathroom mirror.

Then there is ‘The Middle.’ The track that made them big. The band have mentioned countless times that that song turned a corner for them, flinging them into a stardom unseen by similar bands of the time.

In a 2013 interview, they talked about it with familiar humility. “It’s cool. It’s no lie to say it’s our hugest song to date. Hell, how many bands don’t even get one ‘…Middle’? It’s an amazing compliment, it’s a very flattering thing that this far along, people still find something, anything, in what we did or do that they can relate to and care about.”

A true coming of age masterwork. An anthem for “living right now and being yourself.” Remarkably the song itself is only a mere 2 minutes and 48 seconds but within its lyrical pep talk the Arizona band created a future staple for all rock fans, people needing a pick-me-up and a soundtrack for crappy American teen comedy films. Praise should also be given to ‘The Authority Song’, and ‘Sweetness.’

Many modern bands cite JEW as inspiration. Real Friends drop the band’s name in the chorus of their 2013 track ‘Skin Deep.’ UK emo lads Moose Blood mention listening to Clarity in ‘Bukowski’ from their 2014 work of genius ‘I’ll Keep You In Mind From Time To Time.’

The album itself is a song writing masterpiece. No clichés, no bullshit. Just Adkins spewing his life, heart, soul and strife out of his whimsical, angelic and eternally youthful voice. An album to help you when you’re up and an album to help you when you’re down. ‘Bleed American’ is a classic.

“Everything will be alright” *sips from red party cup*