WOULD CERTAINLY RECOMMEND FIRST ALBUM OVER THIS DISAPPOINTMENT
Written: Jul 21 '04 (Updated May 10 '05)
Product Rating:
Pros: -Session is flawless
-Nice riffs
Cons: -Steals many riffs
-Hollow-sounding
-Gets very dull
The Bottom Line: This isn't very good at all, when compared with the albums that it's sandwiched between, but it's decent enough to complete your offspring collection.
ozzydirnt2002's Full Review: Ignition by The Offspring
This is a disappointment after hearing the first album, and Smash. Not a terrible disappointment, but a disappointment nonetheless. I first heard this after loving Smash and hating Conspiracy of one. I just wanted to like The Offspring. Not just respect one album. So I asked to borrow this album and "self-titled" off my friend, who told me that the first album is really good, but this....well isn't. He was right. I took home the albums, and plonked the first album on. Liked it a lot. Then put this album on. It opened with the awesome thumping beat of Session (which remains one of my favourite Offspring songs of all time, and easily outranks all the songs on this album). I also noticed the much-improved sound quality from the first album. I was hyped up for the next song, "We are one". The riff was decent, but the song was slightly hollow, which was followed by a "Territorial P******s" by Nirvana rip-off at the near-end of the song, which severely disappointed me. From here on, the album pretty much deteriorates, but to give the album a fair review, I will assess each individual track. Each rating is not compared with the rest of the tracks on the album.
-
Session- Good riff (not stolen, and totally original in other words). Awesome drum beat (I repeat....awesome, although you do have to turn it up for full effect).
Rating - 9/10
We are one - Quite an original, almost oriental opening to this one, followed by a nice riff, but the riff-nicking at the bridge is quite annoying (read from earlier in the review). Lyrics aren't bad and it's cool when Ron hits the middle of the ride cymbal for that cool tingy sound between verse and chorus.
Rating - 7.5/10
Kick him when he's down - Quite tight sounding, with a nice harmonics opening, but the stupifyingly skanky riff when it kicks in can be annoying, but it gets better after a few listens. This is the first slightly annoying song on the album. It has an air of amateurishness that many other tracks on this album have, that the first album does not have. Lyrics are pretty average throughout this album, and nowhere near the standards of the first album (check out the lyrics on "Demons" off the first album). Not a bad track really. It grows on you...not much...but some. The bridge in the middle also has exactly the same riff as Session, which is naughty. Now if they were Ramones, it would be ok, but they aren't and their riffs have far too many power chords to regurgitate the same riffs.
Rating - 7/10
Take it like a man - An infuriating track....the cheek of it all. I will now explain why. I started off liking this track and learnt to play it, cos I really liked it. Then...my sister's boyfriend noticed something which I was blind to see......it is VERY VERY similar to "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead!!! The song formation especially. Trust me. Avoid this track like the plague.
Rating - 4/10
Get it right - Yay this track is the first track on the first Offspring E.P. also, "I'll be waiting". For their first released track, it's pretty darn good. Very nice riff indeed, and so-cal as heck. BUT, the chorus also has the same riff as Session! It's ok though because this song was written way before 'Session'.
Rating - 7.5/10
Dirty magic - This is also an infuriating track, and even more so than "Take it like a man". Here's why. This track I loved when I first heard it, and I thought it was awesome with a haunting riff, and great lyrics...like a class version of "Self-Esteem". Then my MOTHER (of all people) noticed that the riff had been nicked from the Fleetwood Mac classic, "The Chain". Trust me. If you hum the memorable bass solo-bridge thing in the song, you will notice it's exactly the same, except slower; especially with the one-note playing that comes in that is also nicked from "The Chain". The chorus is totally original, but that certainly doesn't make it up.
Rating - 4/10
Hypodermic - A very unpopular track on the album by many, with poor lyrics, and repetitive-as-heck riffage over and over, while the end goes on forever, but the song does have an air of fun at the end (very much like Americana), which is kind of cool, but that's all.
Rating - 6/10
Burn it up - Quite good this one, and picks the album up again, with a VERY nice opening that is nice and tight, and has the same feel as "Bad habit", which is a very good thing. This is one of the best tracks on the album.
Rating - 8/10
No Hero - Nice opening riff, but once again the massively over-used palm muted-verse gets boring by this point, and you get a little fed up. Just because he says "F***in'", it doesn't make it a good song. Very much like the also dull Hypodermic.
Rating - 6/10
L.A.P.D. - Cool track this one, with a nice tight sound and a good riff. The chorus riff is especially good. Dark lyrics and solo, very much like the first album. Very political, and could have been considered very controversial is this album became popular on release.
Rating - 8/10
Nothing from something - Very weak track this, despite the fact that it doesn't steal any riffs (apart from themselves, as the main Get it right riff is the same as the chorus in this song). The track title doesn't make any sense, and very much like the majority of this album, it's a very hollow track that the first album did not have a problem with, since it was very erratic and fuller sounding, despite sound quality. Boring riff, while they attempt to repair the damage by putting the apparent sound of bones at the end...doesn't work I'm afraid.
Rating - 5/10
Forever and a day - The last track on the album, and it's pretty good. With a nice riff all the way through, and has a half-decent solo. It rounds off a poor album nicely.
Rating - 7.5/10
-
This is by no means a terrible album, but it has too many flaws to be up to standard.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.