Not sure how many will care, but here's my two cents on the newest Offspring offering.
The Offspring tends to be a love'em or hate'em kind of band. Their songs have always tended to be simple, nothing ground-breaking, a mix of pop blended with punk. However, I've always found them to be a fun band and have enjoyed all of their albums to date.
That said, Splinter is their weakest album to date IMO. The shift from punk to pop has continued even further (80's keyboards on "Hit That"...WTF?), and the attempts at more punk sounding songs are immature and lame. I've actually liked the simplicity in their older songs, but many of the songs on this album sound like they were written in 15 seconds.
The opening song on each album before now has always been a tune to kick your ass right from the start, but this time "Neocon" fails to do that...however, I could imagine it as a good way to pump up an audience if played just before the band hits the stage at a concert.
Musically, nothing stands out on this album in a positive way. Well, there is the funny closing track "When Your in Prison", sounding as if it were recorded in the 40's, scratchy record and all, until you listen to the lyrics...however, it's more of a novelty than anything that I would find myself listening to repeatedly.
I'm not much of a ska fan, so I wasn't crazy about "The Worst Hangover Ever"...however, the lyrics could have easily been my theme song throughout undergrad university.
Overall, this one is for hardcore Offspring fans only. Fans of the older stuff that may be hoping that they'll return to a more raw punk sound should continue to avoid them.
The Offspring tends to be a love'em or hate'em kind of band. Their songs have always tended to be simple, nothing ground-breaking, a mix of pop blended with punk. However, I've always found them to be a fun band and have enjoyed all of their albums to date.
That said, Splinter is their weakest album to date IMO. The shift from punk to pop has continued even further (80's keyboards on "Hit That"...WTF?), and the attempts at more punk sounding songs are immature and lame. I've actually liked the simplicity in their older songs, but many of the songs on this album sound like they were written in 15 seconds.
The opening song on each album before now has always been a tune to kick your ass right from the start, but this time "Neocon" fails to do that...however, I could imagine it as a good way to pump up an audience if played just before the band hits the stage at a concert.
Musically, nothing stands out on this album in a positive way. Well, there is the funny closing track "When Your in Prison", sounding as if it were recorded in the 40's, scratchy record and all, until you listen to the lyrics...however, it's more of a novelty than anything that I would find myself listening to repeatedly.
I'm not much of a ska fan, so I wasn't crazy about "The Worst Hangover Ever"...however, the lyrics could have easily been my theme song throughout undergrad university.
Overall, this one is for hardcore Offspring fans only. Fans of the older stuff that may be hoping that they'll return to a more raw punk sound should continue to avoid them.
