So The"Offspring. What can I say? I'm not a fanboy. Can't tell you too much about them in particular. But what I can tell you is that their Greatest Hits Compilation is a great piece of work. It's"a great introduction to one of the sideshow bands of the Nineties. (And before you guys kill me for calling them a side show, do YOU think they ever beat Green Day and Weezer for Rock Supremacy? No.) As far as greatest hits go, it's not one of the better ones. I mean throw in one new song with a small group of 13 singles? I mean come on. Nirvana had the power to do it because their songs are diverse and much more difficult. But The Offspring have the same formula for each song. 4 chords, Dexter's signature flat voice, and a catchy hook. Therefore, while I like most of the songs on the album, it's a greatest hits, and not a very good one at that."Yhis album is an introduction to the Offspring, but"it's not at all special. Just average.
The album begins with the catchy as hell"with the new song,
Can't Repeat. Can't Repeat begins with with some bass for a change, then jumps right in with a fun guitar hook. Dexter's voice comes in with some hot Whoa-Ohs, then a Chorus similar to The Kids Aren't Alright, one of the best songs The Offspring"has ever done, IMO. The hollow bridge with no"guitar is excellent. The harmonies throughout the song give one the impression of emotion, something we all know The Offspring is not really all that capable of.."It's a good gimmick to get people to buy the album as a whole, but really, for a buck you could get it off the internet. """
You know the rest of the songs."
Come"Out And Play,"originally off Smash, is the big breakthrough for"the band. It's nifty guitar part leading into the verse is really quite cool, but the poor recording and Dexter's off key vocals don't cut it for"me."After that"is
Self Esteem,"a huge hit. Lyrically not the greatest song ever ("Hey-O, Yea-ah, Yea-ah-ah, Oh, Yea-ah,"YEA-ah") The bass in the verse is cool going into the upper ranges of the bass, so kudos to that. The bridge is much better with clever lines like "When she's saying she wants only me, then I wonder why she sleeps with my friends?""The Offspring have always had a definite direction for eveyr one of their songs."You always"know what the"song's about, and Self Esteem is about a guy getting screwed over by his girlfriend. The average
Gotta Get Away is not a favorite of mine. It has a catchy riff an all, but Dexter's voice gets on my nerves a tidbit. They're perpetually offkey, which is a definite turnoff for me.
I've never liked the Ixnay On The Hombre section much. It goes too fast with not enough quality. First is the really fast punk song"
All I"Want. It's a headbanger, but it seems too disjointed for me to like it. But it's"not a highlight of The Offspring's. After that is the... is it Christian?
Gone Away. It's got a nice guitar riff, but I feel it's cashing on too much on grunge, because the song isnt really punk at all. The chorus go out of Dexter's"range again, and"it doesn't make me tingle"or jump like the other great Offspring songs."Not like the ones on...
Americana. The overall strongest section of hte album, Americana has the most catchy and well known songs on the album. First is the fanboy shunned
Pretty Fly For A White Guy. There are a million reasons to hate this song. The beginning, the spanish counting,"the"snapping girl voices in the backround, and Dexter's UH-HUH's! But, as Christopher Walken would say, It Needs More COWBELL!!! I like the cowbell in the song, and the catchy as hell chorus, and Dexter's verses make this an undeniable guilty pleasure. This is followed by the even better
Why Don't You Get A Job?. It's slowly growing musical backround is a lot of fun. Some gentle acoustic guitar underlies the verses. Then there's that fun bass-filled chorus, "I won't pay, Now why don't you get a job?" Dexter's voice is the best here, right in his range, that is until he tries to jump octaves, which is extremely painful, but even then, it still has a little bit of charm of "Oh, they're trying" to bring a smile to your face. But nothing compares to the marvelous, punk-tastic,
The Kids Aren't Alright."The Kid's Aren't Alright is the perfect"punk song. It starts out with some stuttering guitar, then some powerful kick drum hits, then it explodes into Offspring perfection. Dexter's words are most definitely excellent, as is Noodles' guitar work. The Whoa-oh's give the song the edge it needs. The solo done by Noodles' shows that he has a little bit of talent, which is good. In the final chorus, some sliding guitar provides some mosh-tastic guitar. That's what gives the song the overall feel of perfection.
So after the three greatest songs on the album, we start to head into the poppy section. This begins with the singles off the Conspiracy Of One album, the one fans claimed made The Offspring sell-out. The first song here off it is
Original Prankster. There are some truly bad lyrics, all playing on cliche, down with "The Man", etc. Original Prankster is a catchy song and worth a couple of listens, but it's gold compared to the truly terrible
Want You Bad."It has a retarded generic"pop-punk opening riff, then some happy-go-lucky lyrics with the same kind melody. And Dexter's I Want You Bad, Bad, Bad's really kill me. It's pure pop, no punk here, except for maybe the beat, but as the members here know, black clothes and a punk beat doesn't make you a punk.
Defy You comes off a movie soundtrack, and it has a cool hard rock opening. It's got a solid beat, even though it follows the generic method of down with the man lyrics. It's chorus is not memorable, but the bridge that rips off alt-grunge is cool, with echoing word effect. The solo is nice even though it's quite simple.
The last two tracks come off the Splinter Album. The first is the odd sounding"
Hit That. I like the song, even if instead of guitar, it uses synth-keyboard. It's very catchy, one to make you head bob, with some solid Offspring verses. The chorus is nice with it's I know You Wanna Hit That lines and it's Ramones-esque Oy Oy Oy's. The album ends with the softest"beginning"track, which isn't saying very much,
Can't Get My Head Around You. It's got more catchy chorus with it's "I know You're fakin/Get Up Get Up". This is a very punk song in the end. Magnificent guitar work done by Noodles, so he gets some respect as a guitarist (But really not all that much.) Dexter screams on the bridge which is strange, but I take it. Overall not a bad song at all, on the upper half on the album's quality.
OVERALL
This is a perfect introduction to one of the best pop-punk bands of the decade. However, that's not saying the album is good. First off, it's a greatest hits, and the work's already done. But on top of that, some of the songs are not good at all. But if you want to be a cool little punk, don't buy Simple Plan, stick with the good ol stuff: The Offspring.
Recommended Tracks
Can't Repeat
The Kid's Aren't Alright
Why Don't You Get A Job?
PROS:
Perfect introduction to a great punk band
The Americana Section.
CONS:
Some tracks get annoying
The Conspiracy Of One section
For A Greatest Hits, it really could have used more unknown songs, like International Superhits.
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