The Offspring - Americana

Maybe hanging out with Jello Biafra put the fun-loving spring in Offspring's step. Or perhaps it was just the royalty checks, hot babes, and fast cars. Whatever the case, the band's fourth record, Americana, is its most lively offering to date, replacing angst and rage with energy and sarcasm. The novelty single "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" matches infectious riffing and shout-along vocals with fly-girl chants of "Give it to me, baby" and lyrics about wannabe scenesters; and a storming punk-rock version of Morris Albert's "Feelings" sees the band hitting a new level of, er, (in)sensitivity. Elsewhere, the humor is slightly more subtle; "She's Got Issues" cops a new-wave guitar line from the Cars songbook, "The Kids Aren't Alright" opens like an Iron Maiden anthem, and "Why Don't You Get a Job?" is a blatant reggae-style spoof of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." Musically, Americana offers no real revelations, but the songs are a bit craftier and more diverse than the rest of the Offspring oeuvre, veering haphazardly between anthemic punk metal, blistering hardcore, and near-psychedelic experimentation. --Jon Wiederhorn Amazon.com

One of the Best Offspring Albums.

I loved this album. I would have given it a 4.5 if I could have. I can't give it a 5 just because of Why Don't You Get a Job. That song is awful. If you got rid of that song then this would be a 5 star album. Every song on this album is good, or even perhaps great except for that song. My personal favorites are The Kids Aren't Alright and Americana, but I also loved Have You Ever, Staring At The Sun as well as Pay the Man. These were all great tracks. I wish The Offspring still put out tracks like these. All I can say is this is a definite buy for any Offspring fan and possibly a buy for fans looking for good punk rock music. June 23, 2008

My View

This album is for true Offspring fans.People who hate it have lived a messed up life like me or others.This album has slang term normal people may hate.So this album is worth buying if you have a sad life. April 17, 2008

Change is good

This album gets bashed for being a sellout album, not like the old offspring but people don't seem to realize that bands change and that it is not bad. I own all of their albums except for Ixnay and I think all of their albums are different and that is what I like.

The diversity of their sound is good, maybe someone will like their old cd's and not their newer stuff, maybe someone will like their new stuff but no their old. Or maybe you can learn to appreciate all of their music because change is bound to happen.

This was the first Offspring album I bought in 5th grade and it was the first rock album I got. I really enjoyed it then and still enjoy it now, even if I don't listin to it for a few months. Each song is different, they range from humorous (Pretty Fly, Walla Walla) to serious (End of the line, Pay the Man).

This group has been around for over 20 years and I just love their sound, so different from all the other bands I have heard. If you own their newer albums (Splinter, CO1, Americana) I suggest you try their older stuff (Self Titled, Ignition, Smash) Their self titled and ignition are both really strong album.

Make sure you lisitn to the album all the way through and more than once because their are many times when you won't like a song right away. April 4, 2008

Hits excluded, another anonymous album

Offspring have made millions with a very simple plan done very very well and it's quite a minimalist plan. Ultimately the band have done it again as they have produced an album with nice production techniques, very concise songs that are perfectly edited towards the attention span of their audience and with a genuinely (mildly) amusing sense of humour proving that just because you sell millions doesn't mean you can't have a laugh which is quite refreshing - especially since this was the 90's remember.

The band here has unleashed a pop punk hard rock album with plenty of full bodied tracks replete with Dexter Hollands endearing non singing style cutting through with clarity which is important if you want people to actually get the jokes your sending forth. Production by Dave Jerden is fine, the band aren't exactly writing Bohemian Rhapsody here or the next album by Dream Theater. Once again all the lyrics are included along with the sort of mildy amusing cartoons we've seen on other Offspring album booklets.

As per most of their other albums this one is held together wholly and solely by the hit singles, it seems that the band only write a few good tunes per album and then proceed to fill in the gaps with noise that sounds appropriate without actually taxing their songwriting skills. Here those hits include the rather substandard-for-an-Offspring-single She's Got Issues and the genuinely amusing Why Don't You Get A Job. Some of the tracks like The Kids Aren't All Right and Feelings come close to hitting the nail on the head and of course there is the flagship single Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) which has a typically bouncy delivery and it resonates with a lot of people because we all know someone who tries so darn hard yet just doesn't get it. Which is perhaps why apart from it's fun aspect is why it became the albums signature hit.

All up another piece of hard rock fluff by a band who seem to have the midas touch as everything they release goes gold, or more like platinum. February 1, 2008

people just dont know

i actually work with people that think this is thier first album, it makes me think what if they had gotten to know the music like i did. the true angst and pure punk that they used to represent. this cd is garbage, if you really want to hear good offspring music please buy thier self titled track and ignition and truly appreciate these guys back when they had something to say, or just something extremely vulger but entertaining to shout. but if you really dig this cd those 2 might scare you. not mtv material. September 27, 2007

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