Offspring - Smash

Ready for take off

Offspring caught everyone by surprise with just how good this album was. It took off, quite literally blowing many other bands out of the way to get at the charts in numerous territories and it's easy to see why.

Firstly the band were one of the earliest to use the pop-punk schtick. And given there was some real abrasiveness in their wattage and Dexter Holland actually had a bit of the ol' nasal twang happening you sort of believed it. As opposed to Blink 182 (the Danger Danger of their generation).

Secondly the thing was propelled by the buoyant yet full bodied blasts of singles such as Come Out And Play which speaks at a simple yet highly effective level to the fire in the belly without totally submerging it's intelligence to suck up to the punter, the stupidity of much of the behaviour being sung about isn't glossed over. As for Self Esteem, this is an interesting piece of introspection wrapped up in a PG rated sense of fun.

Thirdly the body of the album apart from the couple of huge singles also feels good and sounds good. Nitro (youth energy) is an excellent way to start off an album and further songs like Bad Habit, Gotta Get Away and Genocide continue to batter the listener with tracks that feel full of intent.

Towards the end of the album things start to unravel a bit - the band should of cut two or three tracks off the album as What Happened To You, So Alone and Not The One are all fairly anonymous and by then your not really all that interested in the title track tacked unceremoniously onto the end of proceedings.

And that's pretty much why I can only give this four stars. The album has Offspring at their very best with energetic delivery of fresh sounding hard rockin' numbers that have more vitality in them than so many of the more offensive pretenders in the genre. One of the better hard rock albums of the 90's with easily enough middle finger to have you taking them seriously. For now. February 1, 2008

This CD Rocks!

This is the album that got me into punk rock. While this is a bit on the outskirts, it's definitely a great gateway record. The drums are incredible, the guitar is often playful and hard rockin', and Dexter's scratchy voice is a perfect fit with the rest of the band. "Nitro" and "Self-Esteem" are especially great. I would definitely recommend buying this CD. It's worth it. December 18, 2007

Sold Rock Fun

If you know the offspring at all, you know what to expect from this album. If you don't, here it is: above average rock hymns worth humming to yourself to psyche yourself up with. "Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem" are probably the two best songs the Offrspring have ever produced. Overall this album will not revolutionize your music library, but it will add some fun solid rock music worth listening to with the music cracked up. I don't think this album could disappoint you too much unless you're really expecting far too much from this band, but it might just entertain you a bit more than you'd expect. Relax, sit back, don't over think this effort and just enjoy the noise. September 30, 2007

good, but way too overrated

This is a good album, yes, but it is very overrated. Alot of Offspring fans like to defend this album and trash their new stuff without giving any reasons as to why or any constructive criticism of their new stuff. They are just telling me that they're just trying to look cool if they can't say anything better than "smash rulez amaricana/conspiracy of one/splinter SUCK". Well there are later Offspring releases that I like more than this, like Conspiracy of One. Don't like my opinion? Comment on my review, and let's see how well you can debate.
Anyways, I like this album, but I skip a few songs, while on albums like Conspiracy of One or Ixnay on the Hombre I can listen to the whole thing through.
Good album, but not a classic when it comes to what I think. July 23, 2007

Timeless

Arguably one of the most influential rock albums of the 90s by one of the best bands. Smash, easily Offspring's best album to date came out at a time when Nirvana's Nevermind and Green Day's Dookie albums rocked the radio. Definitely all classics, worthy of 5 stars. Smash is raw energy in every one of Dexters vocals and Noodles' guitar riffs. Relentless fast paced hard hitting tracks that can get you pumped for anything you do, not a weak song on the cd. A** kickers like Bad Habit (the whole thing is about road rage, you dont hear that much), the popular Self Esteem, and my favorite It'll Be A Long Time. Through and through an iconic masterpiece. If you dont have this cd, go get it, NO EXCEPTIONS. Anyways "it's time to relax and you know what that means a glass of wine your favorite easy chair and ofcourse this compact disc playing on your home stereo". April 6, 2007

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