Quick Facts:
Offspring - Smash. Released 1994, Epitaph Records, Rock/Punk genre. Contains "hit" songs - Come out and Play, Self Esteem. 14 total tracks.
Full Review:
I don't like punk. I'm not really a huge "Alternative Music" fan, nor was I during my teen years in the early 90's during the Nirvanazoic era. I wasn't into hip hop either, so it put me in the awkward situation of being a metal head in an era where Metal heads were becoming more and more rare. Luckily, toward the end of my high school years, Offspring released Smash, with the MTV played cut, "Come out and Play" spanning most musical cliques, and giving some common ground to the rockers and the punkers and alternative music fans.
After hearing the Come out and Play song, I picked up the album. I admit, it widened my musical horizons a bit, as I was more into traditional metal - and this was a punk band, but the sound had a definite hard rock/heavy metal flavor to it, with the licks and riffs coming out of 80's metal albums. Really, the vocals and the up-tempo drum beats, as well as the subject matter of the songs, are what kept this from being a heavy metal album. That hard edge made it easier for me to get into, and is as about as close to Punk as I got, or ever would get.
This album sounds good 10 years after its release. Not all the songs are GREAT, but none of them are bad - You never feel the need to press skip on the CD player. I think many of the themes have become a bit cliched, especially with the new wave of punk having hit the mainstream. But you have to put this album in perspective, in its place of really spearheading that next wave - at a time when Alt rock and hip hip were dominating the scene.
Here's the track listing (Favorite cuts are *'d)
1. Time To Relax (Voice track)
2. * Nitro (Youth Energy)
3. Bad Habit
4. Gotta Get Away
5. Genocide
6. * Something To Believe In
7. * Come Out And Play
8. Self Esteem
9. * It'll Be A Long Time
10. Killboy Powerhead
11. What Happened To You?
12. So Alone
13. Not The One
14. Smash
There are a few voice cuts in the album, giving you a "classical music masterpiece theater" feel, and they certainly give the album some flavor, and I definitely made heavy use of them during my time as a college radio DJ. The first actual tune is "Nitro", one of my favorite on the release. It's hard, its fast, it is short - and it is an anthem for living fast and living hard. Which, while might not be a creed I live by, certainly sounds good. And this song seems to be a template for several of the cuts on this album, but Nitro is clearly the best one.
"Bad Habit" is a song about Road Rage, and while not a bad song, never really rises above a level of mediocrity. The lyrics are the best part of the song, with lines like; "Drivers are rude, such attitude - but when they see my piece, complaints cease".
"Gotta Get Away" is a medium tempo song, more of a mix of Punk and Alt rock of the day than actual metal. A very solid song though, unfortunately it gets a bit repetitive.
"Genocide" picks up the pace, back to "Nitro" like levels. In fact, the song sounds a bit like Nitro, but simply isn't as good.
"Something to believe in" keeps up the punk rock tempo. However, the verses are a bit more subdued, then the pace quickens for the chorus. And while the song and its message are a bit cliched, any teenager who listened to this sort of music during this era will have a hard time not getting into this catchy tune about non-conformity. It remains one of my favorite cuts on the album.
"Come out and Play" - Many are familiar with this one, the rock/punk mix about school/gang violence, with an eastern influence guitar riff had most everyone singing along and playing air guiatar at the time of its release. Still a great song.
"Self Esteem" would get a lot of air play, and this song about being in abusive relationships sounds, to me anyway, like a bad hybrid of Jane Says and Come as you Are (Jane's Addiction/Nirvana). It was never one of my favorite cuts, and still isn't.
"It'll be a long time" brings the speed back up, but again, this song sounds a bit like Nitro and Genocide, and while the chorus is catchy "When will the world listen to reason, I have a feeling it'll be a long time - When will the truth come back in season, I have a feeling it'll be a long time" and easy to sing a long too, the chorus ends up being the best part of this tune.
"Killboy powerhead" I do like the title of this song. I like singing along to this song. But I think it has more to do with the silliness of actually singing "Killboy powerhead" than this being a great song. It's a medium offering, but fun nonetheless.
"What Happened to You?" is a song about drug abuse gone awry, that sonds like a Weird Al polka mix more than anything else. It's an interesting song with a very Ska type of feel - also interesting to listen to and fun to sing along to, but not a great song.
"So Alone" another Nitro/Genocide clone, very forgettable.
"Not the One" What happens when the Ramones do Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire" This song happens. Very politically motivated, "We're not the ones who started wars in far away lands" is an example of the sort of lyric you'll get from this tune. And while you admire the spirit of the song, it too comes off as decent, but unremarkable.
"Smash" is another "Ima do what I want, I don't care what you think about it" type of songs, very reflective of the punk attitude at that time. (I had a lot of friends who felt this way) This tune is also fun to sing along to, unfortunately songs like this sound cliched at this point.
RANDOM SIDE COMPLAINT: The CD Jacket has lyrics for SOME but not all of the songs. Why, why why do artists not include all the lyrics from all the songs. Please tell me why. Someone...
We are the ones who are living under the gun every day, You might be gone before you know - so live like there's no tomorrow (Nitro)
What I liked:
Good mix of metal and punk.
No bad cuts.
Pioneering in the newer wave of punk rock.
What I didn't like:
Some songs/lyrics sound a bit cliched today.
A few too many "Nitro" generic punk rock tune clones.
Not all the songs lyrics in the jacket.
Overall:
Unfortunately, time has worn on this album just a bit - but a few of the stand out songs still sound great today. I don't think this will be an all time classic album, but I think anyone who is into any of the "loud rock" hybrids of music available today would benefit from having it, and any punk fans will probably want to own it as well. High energy, political/liberal views, and a fast pace make this good driving music.
Mr_D
NOTE: This Epinion was revised 4/11/04. The original follows for comparison purposes.
***
Like many of you, I did not hear about The Offspring until "Come out and Play" became a popular song. "Smash" is actually the groups third release, but they burst on the scene like a newcomer, and the album does have all the positives that one would thing a "debut" album would have. Hard pop punk with fast catchy riffs and power guitar riffs. Right from the opening song "Nitro" (which is my favorite on the album) to the popular "Self esteem" and "Come out and Play", and the album also supports a great track called "It'll be a long time". Despite the fact that a lot of the tracks sound similar, the sound is good, and the lyrics are interesting enough to keep the music fresh. So if you are into anything that resembles hard rock, punk, metal or even early hardcore, this album is a great addition to any collection.
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