The Offspring Appreciation Thread

[RobD]

Wow, The Offspring topic! I didn't know about this one. I'm a fan of The Offspring since 97 more or less.

Do not judge this fantastic album by CC, listen to the whole album, because it is awesome. Especially the last two songs, dividing by Zero and Slim Pickens.
I like a lot this new album and the renewed Dirty Magic sounds better than before.

I don't understand why some people blame a lot against CC or OCG...cmon those are just fun songs and I really can't see the difference with songs like WDYGAJ and CC...those are the same kind of songs. The Offspring had always these kind of fun-pop songs.

CC is fun, and I have a bit of guilty love for that song OC Guns however just annoys me, so I'm probably not going to listen to it ever again

I think it's the fact that there's some genuine maturity in a few of the songs, which is really refreshing to hear from them, and then contrasted with jokey irrelevant filler tracks like OCG that people don't like. I wouldn't mind OCG if it was a longer album and there was a more worthwhile song included as extra.

[me7]

My first impressions of the middle part of the album after a decent start:

Cruising California (bumpin' in my Trunk):
A bit meh, probably meant as a joke but it gets old too soon.

All I have left is you:
Very unspectacular, are these guys getting too old?

OC Guns:
DAFUQ. This album is degrading quickly. This sounds like another joke that isn't really funny.

Dirty Magic:
You gotta be kidding me. Yes, the song is good. Yes, it probably is the best song on the album. ...but it's still an old song. Is this song meant to be apology, because they realize that the previous songs don't cut it?


That said, Dividing by Zero is really nice, and so is the opener The Future is now (even though the dynamic compression sounds atrocious on this track).
I have mixed feelings so far and I currently rank it below Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. Let's see how I feel after a few more spins.

[cramx3]

I didn't realize there was an offspring thread...

Smash was the first CD and also the first tape of any band that 8 purchased when I was in 4th grade. I haven't really kept up with their music, but i still love Smash and Ixnay on the Hombre .

[Zook]

Ixnay on the Hombre turned 20 back in February!

Gave this album a listen after a VERY long break, and it's like I never stopped listening to it. Granted I was so obsessed with the band back in the day that all their albums are basically engraved in my brain.

I really hope The Offspring can release one more album that I actually like before they call it quits. As I've said in the past, Splinter was the last album they did that had anything decent on it. I still haven't seen them live, but if they come this way, and they're playing Ixnay in its entirety, I have to find a way to make it to the show.

I have some Offspring on my phone, but Imma put their full albums back on. It's such a great feeling rediscovering old favorites.

[OpenYourEyes311]

They've copied themselves with pretty much every album. Never bothered me at all.

How so? By keeping the same style? They aren't prog. I'm talking about actually copying melodies and riffs from their older songs.

I know you said this about five years ago Zook, but since you were the one that brought this thread back, I figured I'd put in my two cents. Been a huge Offspring fan since Smash came out, and I really do LOVE every album, with maybe the exception of Co1. But, yeah, they've copied riffs and melodies since the beginning. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, in fact, I actually have always loved it when they do it.

Have You Ever - the melody of the chorus is the same as the melody of Dirty Magic's chorus
Change the World - guitar riff is a slowed down version of Genocide's main riff; this slowed down version plays as an outro to the Smash album
Pay the Man - the drum beat is the same drum beat as the acoustic Come Out and Play at the end of Smash

I think there are a few more, but I'd have to listen down to the albums. In any event, I can't believe the dislike for RAFRAG. I honestly think, with the exception of a few tracks, they've had three of their best right in a row. All better than Americana and Co1. Hmmm, that reminds me I could do a ranking!!

Ixnay
Days Go By
RAFRAG
Ignition
Splinter
Smash
Americana
S/T
Co1

That's probably right. Love Ixnay, Smash, and Ignition, but I really do think they've been very consistent their entire career, and hopefully they give us some more good ones

[Phoenix87x]

After all these years, smash is still on rotation. It was my 2nd CD ever and I still love it to this day.

Ixnay is cool too. Gone away is a stand out fav

[Zook]

They've copied themselves with pretty much every album. Never bothered me at all.

How so? By keeping the same style? They aren't prog. I'm talking about actually copying melodies and riffs from their older songs.

I know you said this about five years ago Zook, but since you were the one that brought this thread back, I figured I'd put in my two cents. Been a huge Offspring fan since Smash came out, and I really do LOVE every album, with maybe the exception of Co1. But, yeah, they've copied riffs and melodies since the beginning. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, in fact, I actually have always loved it when they do it.

Have You Ever - the melody of the chorus is the same as the melody of Dirty Magic's chorus
Change the World - guitar riff is a slowed down version of Genocide's main riff; this slowed down version plays as an outro to the Smash album
Pay the Man - the drum beat is the same drum beat as the acoustic Come Out and Play at the end of Smash

1. I guess I never noticed that. Weird.
2. Mentioned this already. The outro I assumed was a precursor. Funny enough, the riff reuse from Genocide never bothered me. OK, maybe a little.
3. The COAP easter egg I figured was an idea that they just saved for the future. It's not like that version of COAP is a real song.

The rehashes and rip offs are more prominent to my ears on the newer stuff.

[cramx3]

After all these years, smash is still on rotation. It was my 2nd CD ever and I still love it to this day.

Ixnay is cool too. Gone away is a stand out fav

yea definitely

They are touring the US with Sublime with Rome this summer so I will be seeing them again.  I still haven't really listened to any of their newer stuff though.

[wolfking]

Ixnay on the Hombre turned 20 back in February!

Wow.  I still remember discovering this as a kid and just being amazing by the whole thing, and trying to not let my Mum hear all the swearing haha.  Such a brilliant album and still my fav Offspring album.

[Zook]

Tried listening to RAFRAG. It just doesn't sound like The Offspring. Half Truism sounds like Nickelback, and Trust in You rips off Smash (the song). I got to the 3rd song and gave up. Now I'm listening to Americana, and Have You Ever is a million times better than those 3 songs combined. Hell, Pretty Fly is even better. I wonder how much Ron Welty contributed to the song writing. Maybe that's the problem.

I remember the first time I heard Pretty Fly. I was sick and stayed home from school. Pretty Fly came on the radio, but I was excited that Rock of Ages was on, and then I was just confused.

[Zook]

Almost done with Conspiracy of One, and I gotta say, there's really nothing wrong with this album. Back then during my obsessed days where The Offspring could do no wrong, I had to convince myself that Want You Bad was a good song, and listening to it again after all these years I can't believe I put myself through that. The song is poppy as hell, but harmless. I actually like it. Even All Along, the "So Alone" of the album really isn't that bad, and definitely better than So Alone. Original Prankster is stupid, but they've done worse. *cough*Hit That*cough*

Conspiracy of One actually got better with age. I really think Ron Welty's departure greatly affected their writing.

[Kotowboy]

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

[ariich]

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

Can't say I ever saw that - my friends and I liked both.

Conspiracy of One was fantastic, and I thought Splinter was another excellent album. It was after that where I lost interest.

[wolfking]

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

I was a massive fan of both of those bands, as was most in my school.

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

Can't say I ever saw that - my friends and I liked both.

Conspiracy of One was fantastic, and I thought Splinter was another excellent album. It was after that where I lost interest.

Same, Splinter is actually really excellent and I lost interest after that too, or more like that's when I discovered metal!

[Kotowboy]

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

Can't say I ever saw that - my friends and I liked both.

Conspiracy of One was fantastic, and I thought Splinter was another excellent album. It was after that where I lost interest.

They just seemed to get more and more poppy and after Pretty Fly I was like NOPE. And the album by Bob Rock I thought was total tripe.

[Zook]

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

It was 4th grade when I started to take interest in The Offspring, but I wouldn't become a fanboy until middle school. There was a girl in my 4th grade class who was what I would later become with The Offspring, but with Green Day. So much so that on our field trip to the grand opening of the Florida Aquarium, when she bought a plastic lizard from the gift shop, she named it Green Day. I couldn't stand them. They're still barely tolerable to me, and the stuff on American Idiot is acid to my ears. They won the popularity contest in the end though. Not to say The Offspring didn't get some major attention with Pretty Fly, Original Prankster, and Hit That in the later years.

Splinter has 5 songs I enjoy. One of them happens to be Spare Me the Details, which is so absurd it's enjoyable. I like the juxtaposition is features. I used to like The Worst Hangover Ever mainly for the bass line, but now it's pretty awful all around. The others I like are The Noose, Long Way Home, Race Against Myself, and Lightning Rod.

[ariich]

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

Can't say I ever saw that - my friends and I liked both.

Conspiracy of One was fantastic, and I thought Splinter was another excellent album. It was after that where I lost interest.

They just seemed to get more and more poppy and after Pretty Fly I was like NOPE. And the album by Bob Rock I thought was total tripe.

Because poppy is bad, obviously.

[cramx3]

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

It was 4th grade when I started to take interest in The Offspring, but I wouldn't become a fanboy until middle school. There was a girl in my 4th grade class who was what I would later become with The Offspring, but with Green Day. So much so that on our field trip to the grand opening of the Florida Aquarium, when she bought a plastic lizard from the gift shop, she named it Green Day. I couldn't stand them. They're still barely tolerable to me, and the stuff on American Idiot is acid to my ears. They won the popularity contest in the end though. Not to say The Offspring didn't get some major attention with Pretty Fly, Original Prankster, and Hit That in the later years.

Yea 4th grade was the year for me hearing Dookie and Smash for the first time due to radio airplay for both band's. I don't think it was ever one or the other for me or my school. Green day was definitely more popular but offspring had their hits at that time too. My parents knew Dookie had curses on it so they did t let me buy it but i manages to get Smash as the first CD I ever owned. I had only listened to cassettes up till that point. I remember blasting Smash on my walkman during a field trip to the liberty science center and a lot of the girls were interested because it had a lot of curse words in Bad Habit and also I had a walkman.   I eventually got Dookie a little later without my parents knowing. Those were the days...

[Kotowboy]

In school you were either a Green Day or Offspring fan. I obviously chose Green Day but I did like Smash and Ixnay... But then after that they lost me entirely.

Can't say I ever saw that - my friends and I liked both.

Conspiracy of One was fantastic, and I thought Splinter was another excellent album. It was after that where I lost interest.

They just seemed to get more and more poppy and after Pretty Fly I was like NOPE. And the album by Bob Rock I thought was total tripe.

Because poppy is bad, obviously.

Well they coupled it with shit songs.

[Zook]

I've grown to like poppier stuff as I get older. Everything pop was evil to me when I was a kid... Except that time in 7th grade when I liked "Backstreet's Back". Or when I drowned out the music so I could oogle over Jennifer Lopez in a swimsuit.

Nothing on Co1 is complete shit like on Splinter. If anything on that album didn't age well though, it's definitely One Fine Day.

[IDontNotDoThings]

The Offspring was the first band I really got "into". & right now I can still kind of go back to those times (actually it was like 3 or 4 years ago but whatever), but they've not aged the best in my opinion.

Here's my opinion of each of the albums:

(3rd) Self-Titled - Great album, though a little too one-dimensional at times
(1st) Ignition - Awesome
(2nd) Smash - Tied with ignition
(6th) Ixnay - Some pretty cool ideas here & there but doesn't add up to a whole lot
(Last) Americana - 50% good (Have You Ever, Staring At The Sun, Kids Aren't Alright, title track, Pay The Man), 50% terrible (everything else)
(8th) Conspiracy - There are no songs I dislike, but there's nothing I could really come back to (except the title track, which kicks ass)
(7th) Splinter - Could've been a great experience, but it's bogged down by two terrible tracks (Hit That & Hangover) & its short length
(5th) Rise & Fall - Loved this when I first heard it, but afterwards I realised how overdone the style was. I can still listen to it on occasion though
(4th) Days Go By - Actually pretty good. There's a few bad songs but I can ignore them with songs like the rest of the album, which I like quite a bit

[Zook]

End of the Line and No Brakes are terrible? I can understand not liking the goofy songs, but those two are solid. Personally I don't think Americana has a bad song on it. Even the silly songs are great. And I absolutely love Pretty Fly (Reprise).

[wolfking]

Ameicana is brilliant.  It's not far off Smash and Ixnay IMO.  That trio run of albums is just brilliant.

[Phoenix87x]

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/the-offsprings-dexter-holland-receives-ph-d-in-molecular-biology/

[Zook]

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/the-offsprings-dexter-holland-receives-ph-d-in-molecular-biology/

[cramx3]

The Offspring were great the other night.  It's amazing how they have such a strong collection of good songs that it felt like it was hit after hit with them.  Anyway, just wanted to share my video of them performing All I Want.  This song is kind of special for me.  I LOVED it when it was released back when I was in 7th grade.  In my English class, the teacher asked everyone to write the lyrics to their favorite song and then write a summary about your thoughts on the lyrics and music.  I had picked this song.  I wrote out the lyrics and left them on my desk in my bedroom.  My parents came in and read them, had no idea it was from a song.  My mom pulled me aside and was very concerned about my thoughts I had written out.  Wondering why I was such a rebel.  I still feel like those music/lyrics make some sense to how I feel sometimes about life.

The Offspring - All I Want Live

[Phoenix87x]

^^^^

That's funny about your parents.

I had a similar story, which when I was like 5 or maybe 6 I was listening to Ignition on a cassette walkmen and it was that part in Session where you hear "AH FUCK, fuck, fuck fuck fuck" and I was like "Mom listen to this" and her shock was classic. But since she was like 23 and a child herself, with really no interest in being a mother or parent, She just turned back to the magazine she was reading or whatever. And I continued listening to and loving offspring.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Man so much nostalgica hearing them play all the old tunes and it''s awesome how good they sound.

The Offspring - Hellfest 2022

[cramx3]

Man so much nostalgica hearing them play all the old tunes and it''s awesome how good they sound.

The Offspring - Hellfest 2022

They sound solid here (watched most of it yesterday), but I thought they were pretty much shit when I saw them last summer that I didn't even bother to go see them a month or so ago locally.

The new album just isn't getting enough live representation for me to want to see mostly the same setlist again. (which is mostly the same songs I've seen them played the other times I've seen them).

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Man so much nostalgica hearing them play all the old tunes and it''s awesome how good they sound.

The Offspring - Hellfest 2022

They sound solid here (watched most of it yesterday), but I thought they were pretty much shit when I saw them last summer that I didn't even bother to go see them a month or so ago locally.

The new album just isn't getting enough live representation for me to want to see mostly the same setlist again. (which is mostly the same songs I've seen them played the other times I've seen them).

I haven't actually followed them for ages and stumbled on that concert while browsing other acts from Hellfest so it was pure nostalgica for me. That's too bad they don't switch setlist and include more newer songs. Seems like something alot of bands struggle with.

[ErHaO]

Actually the first "heavy" band I was into ever, due to a classmate at elementary school being a fan of theirs. Now that I think of it Americana is probably one of my first memories of wanting an album. Linkin Park followed later.

Seems like a great festival band, they sound good there. And in that case I think it is a good idea to just play the classics.



There is also a Graspop set that was livestreamed. But the Graspop livestream was dogshit in general. No idea who does the sound there, but somehow most bands sounded really fucking bad and amateurish (and that was not due to the bands). Especially vocals sounded shit for many bands for some reason. Compared to Hellfest, Pinkpop and some other recent festival streams it was so bad. I will say the Devin Townsend stream of Graspop was great from what I saw.

[cramx3]

I need to check out that Devin one then

Offspring were also probably my first heavy band I liked.  They were also the first CD I owned with Smash.  I had it on cassette too, but that was the time when I first got a CD player.  They are very nostalgic for me. 

[Anguyen92]

Offspring is playing at the OC County Fair, this July, I might as well get that out of the way while I still can if I see a ticket on the cheap.  Plus, it includes free admission to the fair, so that's a bonus.

[twosuitsluke]

I'm right there with you guys with The Offspring being your introduction into music and the first CD you owned. I bought Americana probably in late '99. I remember Pretty Fly for a White Guy being played a lot on the radio in the UK, when it came out.

I was the kid who was big into computer games but wasn't actually really into music. When I discovered Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Crazy Taxi I started to realise how much I loved all this 90s American skate punk. I bought Americana not long after, even though I'm pretty sure all the Offspring songs on the Crazy Taxi soundtrack were from Ixnay on the Hombre.

My younger brother actually took my Americana CD and snapped it in anger because I played it so much. He really hated Walla Walla 

I saw The Offspring at the end of last year. It was only the second time I'd seen them, with a 17 year gap in between! They will always be a huge nostalgia trip for me, fucking good times.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I think that shows how big the 90s and early 00s skate punk bands were especially The Offspring because they made it mainstream. I can kinda say the same for me because I remember when they released Self Esteem, what a smash hit that was. It spread like a wildfire at my school.

Haven't heard the other livestreams but Hellfest had a proper livemix other livestreams just uses I think it's called pro-shot which is a pre-livemix with no editing I think or something like that.