Back in 1995, when I was an impressionable young man, fresh out of high school and getting ready to enter the world of college, I spent many a day and night with 311 on full blast.

The inspiration for this blog entry came from the photo above, when I decided the other day to pull up the band's self-titled album on my iPod (which itself is quickly becoming a "throwback") while heading to my son's baseball game in Boonville after work.

Considered their breakout album, it was released during the popularity of the rap-rock movement that made stars out of bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Rage Against the Machine as the grunge era began to fade.

While it wasn't their first album, it was the first one I owned. Being a fan of rock and heavy metal, 311's mix of those genre's with hip-hop, reggae, and funk produced a sound that I can't help but still bob my head to. Check out "Down", the song that made them famous, and just try not to bounce a little. It can't be done.

If I may borrow a feature from Kat Mykals' weekly #FlashbackFriday series, here are a couple of "Fun Facts" about the band:

  1. Lead singer, Nick Hexum was once engaged to Pussycat Doll front woman and former X Factor judge, Nicole Scherzinger.
  2. The band is still putting out albums to this day, their most recent, Stereolithic was released on March 11th, 2014.

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