Review Summary: The only DVD collection better than porno.
This is where all the effort went when The Offspring released their
Greatest Hits package. This DVD contains all their videos (with commentary), 10 live performances, 2 bonus video's (
Da Hui,
Cool To Hate), The making of
Da Hui, a "Where Is He Now?", documentary of Guy Cohen, the wannabe featured in the
Pretty Fly video. Original story boards from
Gone Away,
Pretty Fly and
The Kids Aren't Alright and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound.
The Offspring formed in 1984, known as the band Manic Subsidal. Dexter Holland and Greg K came to the decision to form the band once refused entry to a Social Distortion concert. Noodles was later added, for the fact he was 21, and can purchase beer. With the addition of Ron Welty, newly dubbed 'The Offspring' began recording their self titled album, originally released on Mystic records (home of early NOFX ep's). Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion was impressed with the 7" Bagdad single, so he gave them a shot on his label Epitaph. Once the release of
Ignition happened, The Offspring began to build a loyal fan base, playing with such acts as Pennywise and Voodoo Glow Skulls. Soon, they released
Smash, the most successful independent release of all time, selling eventually over 11 million records worldwide. Once some legal troubles hit, The Offspring split with Epitaph to sign to major label Columbia, where there is they're home today.
Ixnay On The Hombre was released over 3 years after
Smash and brought a new sound to the band, with exceptional critic reviews and mixed fan reviews alike, The Offspring traveled further away from their older, darker sound with
Americana. During the
Americana years, The Offspring enjoyed some of their most successful periods during this time. In 2000, The Offspring stirred up controversy by intending the release of their whole
Conspiracy Of One album free through their website, in support of free music downloading, but with threats of a lawsuit foiled that plan. The Offspring again reached controversy in 2003, this time with Axl Rose. Dexter announced the album title as
Chinese Democracy, but with another threatened lawsuit, plans was later dropped. The album was changed to
Splinter. Although Ron Welty left the band before production of the album, Josh Freese (The Vandals) finished recording of the album, later Atom Willard announced as Ron's permanent replacement. A
Greatest Hits package was released in June of 2005, and just a month later, this gem was released on DVD.
The first thing you will notice with this DVD is the fact that it includes all the bands video's, even those that were missed during the greatest hits, (including
I Choose, Meaning Of Life, She's Got Issues, etc..) Starts off at
Come Out And Play, taken from their record setting album
Smash. I love the fact in the very beginning, you can see that its all Ron making that little drum beat, by a few taps under the symbols. Also, looking back at these Epitaph video's, the fashion was raw, nothing like the way you see today from The Offspring. Dexter supports the long hippy braids, Noodles with the long flow-y hair in a baseball cap. In
Self Esteem, pretty similar feel to
Come Out And Play, Dexter wearing a vintage Sex Pistols tee shirt. The only thing I can really say is Holy Strobe-Light! This video can cause seizures, which would probably be my only criticism.
Gotta Get Away wasn?t as successful as the first two videos from
Smash, but it?s the first video (I believe) on MTV to feature mosh pitting. The cinematography is perfect here, as it shows the art of survival in an in-depth view in the heart of the pit. It?s a brutal video to fit such a dark song with, and a must see.
Ixnay On The Hombre is a classic by any means. Such energy and emotion poured in the experimental album. The first video from it is
All I Want, as it opens with a man running, throughout the entire video. Through my interpretation, he is running from his conformed life, to get away from his problems. Dexter cut the dreads in this video. Which is a good thing, considering looking back, they did look pretty tacky. The video ends with the man running, collapsing in a pile of mud. The video keeps with the intensity of the song, but a pretty average video.
Gone Away is dubbed as one of The Offsprings finest songs. The video captures the emotion of the song perfectly. No scenery, nothing fancy, just the band in an empty room with nothing but a dim lightbulb.
The Meaning Of Life is a confusing video for me, there are 4 guys (possibly the band, but not clear) on souped up wheelchairs, racing in a desert. Then you see Dexter hang upside down in a color heavy room. A terrific song, but I wish I can understand the video.
I Choose is just a fun song, and a fun video. It?s a take on airport security pre 9-11. You see dancing monks, dancing nuns, dancing old people, and some moshing. Noodles was brilliant as he came from under the baggage area. Although this wasn?t a video that MTV picked up on, its still quite a hootinanny to enjoy.
Americana is the album where people realized, this isn?t the same Offspring that gave us
Smash, and
Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) is the perfect "Love 'em or Leave 'em" video. The first big budget looking MTV video that had what they were looking for. Starring Guy Cohen, who beat out Seth Green to play the cheesy wannabe white guy. Well, after all these years later, the video lost the flair it once had, but still a great retrospective none the less.
Why Don?t You Get A Job is such a good video. It had the same feel as
Pretty Fly, but just how everyone is following the band as Dexter rants on one treating their significant other in a wrong way. It was quite humorous when Dexter presses the button at the end, scattering all of his followers. Guy Cohen makes a special guest appearance at the end, but just for a second. The cinematography on
The Kids Aren't Alright is nothing short from phenomininal. Its different than I've seen from just about every video I've ever seen. Its panning around in a broke down apartment, while images of jocks, cheerleaders, strippers, drug addicts, geeks and so on start to interchange with each other in a really nice way. The video for
She's Got Issues never struck me in any way. Then again it has an early Zooey Deschanel (Elf) who I absolutely adore.
Conspiracy Of One is probably Offspring's most underrated albums. Possibly the most experimental album of theirs to date. Although it doesn?t live up to
Ixnay or
Smash, it takes what they did with
Americana and took it further.
Original Prankster is got to be on a good amount of people's guilty pleasure list. And the fact that the song and video included Redman completely blew my mind. Fairly interesting video, Redman played a somewhat guardian angel who helps play pranks on people. The first part is when a boy makes a poo sandwich for his father, quite a good joke. The second part is where a student messes with a Bunsen burner against a teacher, then takes a Polaroid photo of the principal with two nude students and finally the guy on the computer shut the lights out of the entire city. Pretty decent, but nothing to jump buildings for.
Want You Bad is almost a perfect pop-punk song. The video however has a lot to deal with. The intensity of the video matches the song well, but the exploding Offspring brand beer was cheesy beyond belief.
Hit That is taken from
Splinter, and is the biggest disappointment as a video on here. Very boring and uninspired CGI. The song itself is terrific, but the video couldn?t live up to the song.
(Cant Get My) Head Around You is interesting, because there were 666 camera in the dome room. Whether or not that means anything is over my head, but this is a trippy video. The quick camera changes and effects can cause rippling effects to your mind. All kidding aside, it?s a great video, a breath of fresh air after the boring
Hit That trash.
Defy You was featured on the Orange County soundtrack. The video was nice, great cinematography when the song breaks down, and Dexter walks into the supermarket and gets a drink of water. Interesting during the commentary, the guys tried to link themselves to Kevin Bacon in 6 degrees, but fail miserably. Before I get too far off track, this is a great video to check out. The final video,
Can't Repeat, looks to be shot in the same room as
Gone Away. Pretty standard shot of the band playing. But a nice tune to include, since it was recorded especially for their Greatest Hits package.
The bonus video's are real nice to include.
Da Hui is on
Splinter, opens up with a Hawaiian feel and kicks you in the groin once the song starts. Some of it can wreek of cheese, but over and all, a nice edition.
Cool To Hate, from
Ixnay, is a student made video, about a guy in school who sick of it all and unleashes on the people he hates in the end. Very excellently done and a very funny ending. On the "Where Is He Now" with Guy Cohen. Dexter sits down with Guy and discusses Guy's time with the band, life after the band, and working in an improv group in NYC. The commentary is a great edition, but its obvious the band became bored. Because during
Hit That, they discussed current events, almost mentioning nothing on the video. The story boards are interesting if you are into watching the "how they do it" feel to it. Its also great to include the 5.1 digital surround sound. It sounds terrific. I would have been pissed if the hadn't included the feature. Finally, the live performances is what really caught my eye on this DVD. The sound is near production quality, almost too good. Mostly included songs from
Splinter, but adds to a great section on the DVD.
Well, the production on the DVD blew me away, considering I was expecting the lack of effort of the
Greatest Hits album. The video's are great, especially since they included all of them, and then some. Special features turned out pretty good. Commentary could get boring, but contains good story's behind the scenes. This is a definite pick up for anyone from a casual fan, to the hardcore fans alike.
