Here comes my massive tirade:
The Offspring were "the" band for me back in middle school. It was catchy, but still heavy enough to satisfy the little metalhead I was quietly nursing before I went to high school and went full-on metal. I told a kid at school who knew how to download music that I really wanted the album "Smash" because my Dad had played some of it for me and Bad Habit was the funniest god damn thing I'd ever heard in my life.
To my surprise, he came to me the next day with a data disc of their ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY (though this was still up to Splinter). I was extremely impressed that he was able to get it all, and that opened up a lot of doors for my future downloading habits. Most importantly, the music kicked some major fucking ass.
I kind of look at The Offspring in phases. Their first two were really great for what they were, but to me The Offspring are a better pop-punk band than they are a punk band. Beheaded, I'll Be Waiting, Jennifer Lost the War, Burn it Up, and LAPD are all fantastic songs though. Smash, Ixnay, and Americana are the golden era for me (and pretty much everyone else, it looks like). CO1 and Splinter are both pretty good, but I much prefer CO1. When they're all said and done, Splinter will be viewed as the one that started the downward spiral. There's just way too much stupid shit on that album, and the real songs don't match up to anything they did in the past.
Now for the curveball, I honestly love the fuck out of RAFRAG. It's samey, poppy, and the soft songs are pretty jarring at first, but it's superior to Splinter in every way. The dance track (You're Gonna Go Far, Kid vs. Hit That) is way better, and there's no stupid intro tracks or extraneous outro tracks that serve absolutely no purpose to the album (Just a disclaimer, the intro/outro stuff from Smash-Americana was fucking brilliant, but Splinter's were an embarrassment).
I'm very curious to see where they go with their new one. I'd like them to maybe back off on the softer songs next time (Fix You is pretty bad, I know) and get back that vibe they had on Americana.
Oh yeah, and Feelings is a great song.