The Offspring - Rise & Fall, Rage & Grace

Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace, the eighth studio album from the OC punksters, is an impressive new set of songs from one of rock's most exciting and enduring bands. The Offspring entered the studio with legendary producer Bob Rock (Metallica, The Cult) to record 12 new songs culled from the most productive songwriting period in the band's history. This is the band's first full-length studio release in four and a half years, the longest gap between The Offspring's studio albums to date. 'Hammerhead' the 1st single from Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace debuted at #5 on the U.S Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and #18 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks respectively. The Offspring has performed over 1000 shows and they have sold more than 34 million albums worldwide, including their 1994 release "Smash," which more than a decade after its release remains the highest-selling album of all time on an independent label. Album Description

Quality Music, Poor Quality MP3

In an effort to bring my music collection toward some level of legitimacy i purchased this album instead of downloading it. Mistake. The Music is excellent (*****), but it is encoded 256VBR w/a NON-LAME encoder. For the un-initiated, they used a third party poor quality encoder that cuts off most frequencies above 16khz. A proper LAME encoder would have kept all frequencies at least until 19khz. Next time i will download the uncompressed FLAC encoding via BitTorrent.

note: Amazon MP3 Downloads seem to vary; some have been encoded properly, just not this one. November 22, 2008

Rise and Fall... well, mostly fall.

Went to the BX a few weeks ago and bought this with Metallica's Death Magnetic, excited to see a new Offspring offering. I pop in the CD and talk about disappointment. I figured that maybe this CD would grow on me like Splinter did. When I first heard Splinter, I hated it, but actually was able to tolerate it after repetative listening. I thought this CD was going to be like that after a few listens- because we all know it's incredibly unfair to give low marks on anything based on just a casual listen or two.

What on earth happened to this band? What happened to the fast riffs, the cool bass or drum intros, the music that got your blood pumpin' and your fist shaking angrily in the air? What happened to the angst that made the Offspring the Offspring?

The impression I received from this cd was that this is the retarded love child of Linkin Park and Green Day. I'll come out bravely and say that I do like those bands' music. I do. But when I purchase an Offspring CD, I want to hear the Offspring. Now, when I want Ignition, or the Self Titled, or Smash or Ixnay, I'll bust 'em out. The disappointment primarily came when I read some reviews saying it sounded like a combo of Ixnay and Smash. This CD is NOTHING like those two let me tell you!

I think the biggest travesty of this album is what it's doing or going to do to long time listeners and how much fair weather fans will come out and play. I have listened to the Offspring since about '92 and I guess the good thing about this is since Metallica tossed Bob Rock, I've been able to get back to my roots! Throw them devil horns in the air! Master!

But in all honesty though, I pray that the Offspring make one more cd- that this is Offspring's St. Anger and the next CD will be their Death Magnetic- the Offspring can't end like this- they just can't.

I won't even touch sound quality- I'm no audiophile, so there is no room for my critique there. The beef of the review is that the first few songs are what's supposed to sell the album- it's supposed to dictate the flow and get the listener digging the album. As a long time Offspring lover, I found it extremely difficult to listen to the first few songs. Smash was nearly a spiritual experience- this was a painful and cringing experience if I ever heard of one- it was like a really bad acid trip let me tell you. Just do not buy this- unless you're in the mood for flavor of the week nonsense.

Dex, Noodles and the rest of the Offspring- I wish yall would read and heed the pains of your fans- I know, I know- make the music you want to hear- but it would be nice to have a glimpse of what used to be, instead of washing your hands of it for good. It's hard to be talking about Molotov Cocktails and Beheading your girlfriend and the LAPD this far into the game- but there's so much that famous Offspring attitude can be applied to with the way society is going right now.

This was a very hard review to write- I have a slim hope that if the Offspring record again, that they learn from the several falls of this album. November 17, 2008

Awesome!

I'm glad I bought this CD, the quality is great, the songs are awesome and it has the old good sound of The Offspring and a refreshing new touch. I think there's only one song that I don't fully like, but when I play this CD I don't skip any songs and that's what in my opinion makes a great CD! November 12, 2008

Best Offspring in a long long time

This is must own for any Offspring fan. It seems that since Smash/Ixnay each album was slightly weaker than the previous. Rise and Fall is making a serious run for favorite Offspring album. Dexter, Noodles and the gang (is there a gang?) have gone back to their roots and wrote the songs that made Smash the break out album it was.

What? You're still reading? GO BUY IT ALREADY! November 1, 2008

Awesome Album

The offspring has always been a great band and this album shows it! Another excellent album from the offspring. October 19, 2008

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