Sublime was recorded over a period of three months in Austin, Texas, in sessions characterized by heavy drug use and raucous partying.

Bolstered by numerous hit singles, among them "What I Got", "Santeria", and "Wrong Way", the record proved to be enormously successful, despite the band being defunct and thus not able to promote the album through touring.

The group originated as a garage punk band, and they eventually began to infuse elements of reggae and ska over the course of their existence.

Local radio station KROQ began spinning the single "Date Rape" two years following its release, and Sublime rose to fame.

[4] The band also adopted the Internet as a viable promotional tool, distributing their albums through early online music retailers.

[3] Robbin' the Hood performed well on college radio, and Sublime continued to grow in popularity, largely "on the back of the California punk explosion engendered by Green Day and the Offspring.

[3] However, Sublime were initially unable to get the rights for "Summertime", so Nowell discarded "Doin' Time" as well as "Trenchtown Rock" entirely and re-sequenced the album.

The band managed to gain the rights to the song before the album was released, and "Doin' Time" was added to the end of the tracklist at the 11th hour.

However, the song was already recorded with the "doin' time" lyric, and lead singer Bradley Nowell had recently died of a heroin overdose.

[4] Promoting the album proved to be challenging due to Nowell's death, with no band to provide touring support or broadcast appearances.

"[4] Abbey Konowitch, vice president of MCA Records, remarked to trades on the album's timing: It's so unfortunate that Brad isn't here to see the way his music is being appreciated and accepted by the public.

[4]Eric Wilson, the band's bassist, was "more pragmatic about the issue": We just want the album to do well so that Brad's kid can go to a good school, and so that we can continue [to make a] living.

[4]By October 1996, the disc had moved 145,000 units; its success led to renewed interest in the band's back catalog, which experienced marked growth.

"[2] Nisid Hajari of Entertainment Weekly called the album a "respectable testament" to Nowell's memory, ultimately noting that the record "coheres more on an intellectual rather than emotional level, its sound too diffuse to be dramatic.

"[9] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the record an A−, commenting, "Junkies who retain enough soul to create music at all are generally driven to put their brilliance and stupidity in your face.

"[32] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic reports that Nowell's death allowed the album to be "slightly overrated in some critical quarters".