Editorial Reviews
Smash
Music Review:
Music Review
Ducommun: Invocations; Son Di Chiesa
Great Organ Favourites [Import]
Have a Cigar [CD-single] [Import]
Amazon.com essential recording
Call them the Nine Inch Nails of punk. Like NIN, the Offspring preserve the essential ingredients of their chosen genre--guitars grinding out three chords, shouted vocals, and plenty of vitriol--and layer them over a melodic base that packs considerable popular appeal. The singles from Smash, the Offspring's breakthrough album, still receive considerable radio airplay: "Gotta Get Away," "Come Out and Play," and "Self Esteem." With these and Smash's 11 other tracks, the band chronicles the adolescent experience with clarity and surprisingly incisive wit. That pretty much describes all of their albums, but this is the one to get. It's got more shape than their earlier material and isn't as disturbingly poppy as their more recent recordings; it's the perfect blend of riffs and rage. --Genevieve Williams
Amazon.com
Yes, they (along with Green Day) finally brought skate-rock into the world of John Q. Mallrat, but the Offspring were hardly spring chickens at the time of this breakthrough album's release. They'd been slogging away since 1987, a span that allowed them to amass all the clever tricks showcased here, most notably the Latino-rap/moshpit-riff mega-hit "Come Out and Play." Just about every track on the disc (the band's third, if you were counting) keeps that careful balance between... read more