Smash

This was a fun and energetic album to listen to. I really liked the guitar playing in a lot of the songs. Come out and play is an absolute banger. Despite all this, I don’t really see myself listening to this album again

Great!

This is okay I guess. It just doesn’t do much for me

I did not think I was going to like this in the slightest but here we are with further affirmation for my enjoyment of pop punk. A lot of good songs here, Nitro (Youth Energy) and Gotta Get Away are personal standouts. Settling on a 4 for now but this could go up or down with time.

Even if it's hard to differentiate one from another, I'll always have a soft spot for a bit of good skate punk.

It's a good time

Solid punk album. I enjoyed hearing this one, as it was my first time hearing a full Offspring album, I’ve only ever heard their hits. It’s got some angst energy attached to it that I just love.

2.5

Pretty solid 90s punk album. Poppy, some ska, feels somewhat of it's time and also timeless.

Great album, guitars on fire, power riffs and many many many things to jump and train :)

Favorite Track: Come Out and Play

Hay 3 canciones de este álbum que me gustan mucho y ya las había escuchado. Las tengo en mi playlist "Sweat it out"

I just don't like The Offspring. I can't say it's a 1star album, cause there is some half-decent alternative stuff, but man. I hate "Self-Esteem".

6/10 I prefer it when the drums aren't going at thrash-speed - it's exhausting. "Self-esteem" is still a great track. It might have been Nnirvana-lite for MTV peeps, but who cares? A great tune

Took a while to get into it on hearing it for the 1st time, but it was OK, not great. Lots of filler.

It only gets 4 stars and not 5 because it's not Americana. Otherwise a nostalgia banger.

4/10 Favorite: Self Esteem

Edgy

3.5⭐️/5 03.30.2026

enérgico, ideal para escucharlo mientras se hace deporte.

Not looking forward to this. I can’t stand “self esteem”. I do love “bad Habit”. And other than come out and play I don’t know anything else. “Nitro” is pretty good. These vocals grate on me pretty quick. So I read up on the band. I had no idea the singer had a phd in molecular biology. I may not like the vocals, but have to respect him as a person, songwriter, and scientist. This guy makes me feel like I’ve wasted my time. 😂 I expected to hate this album. I’m enjoying it. I skipped “self esteem”. I think it was just radio that killed it for me.

Not my kind of music, but they are very good songs.

4.5/5 stars, i really liked the pop punk style and it reminds me a whole lot of green day Dookie! album. top three: (1)What happened to you? - dude this one ROCKED. I loveddd to the instumental "What in the world happened to you 🎸🕺" (2)Nitro - FUN WAY TO START AN ALBUM!! AHH (3)something to beleive in - this one was good as well! liked the guitar. songs i didn't save: (1)bad habit - idk why, didn't like this one (2)not the one - idk why either. i didnt rock w it.

It’s ok, don’t Ike a singers voice

Not bad

Interesting, not for me. Nice intro and outro. 4.9/10

SE VE QUE LE DEDICARON MUCHA PASION

Beautiful sound of the 90's.

Fun album, upbeat classic punk rock. Clean production. 3+

This is just too sanitized and clean to me, but honestly better than I expected. So not sure, probably 2 or 3 stars, if I am feeling very positive today.

had a talking stage with a guy who was obsessed with the offspring. i think i get it now.

I loved this album. The energy was amazing. It reminded me of songs I heard in my youth that I have forgot about and it really gets you hype. The one caveat I would say is sonically a lot of it starts to meld together and sound very similar.

Better than Coldplay

Favorite songs: Come Out and Play (Keep ‘Em Separated), Self Esteem

absolute banger of an album and i cannot get enough of it

Not bad, a bit over the top at times but still worth a listen.

mencanto la cancion smash, el resto del album esta diver pero no se si lo volvería a escuchar. PERO LAS LETRAS ESTAN UNA CHIMBA!

Rise and fall is so much better than this album. It’s fun but ngl this feels like douchebag post-punk. A little to whiny and a little to cucky and a little too loser

Misheard "Genocide" Thought he's singing "Donkey Kong" Does that matter? No

このアルバムは何もかも陳腐に聞こえてしまったけど、運動会で流れるクラシック音楽のようにあらゆるところで使われ過ぎたせいかもしれない。

I love the intro to this song it's so fun. I love when albums have intros like that. All of these songs are super entertaining and fun to listen to and I like how fast paced they are. I guess punk is kinda all fast paced but it doesn't change the fact that I like this bands fast pace-edness. GAH I LOVE SELF-ESTEEM. "i may be dumb but im not a dweeb. i'm just a sucker with no self esteem." PEAK LYRICISM. I love this album more than I thought I would honestly.

Smash was part of the soundtrack of my teenage years. For sheer nostalgia, I wanted to rate this record five stars. The re-listen was a great joy. I was tgis close to shouting out ‘stupid dumbshit goddamn motherfuckers’, but luckily I realized I was in a public place. The energy is still off te charts, but lyrically and musically, it hasn’t aged that well. Smash is not as timeless as I hoped. Still, four stars

It’s fine. The hits are fun but it’s all very uniform and not exactly groundbreaking

I have to be in a particular mood to enjoy this one cover to cover, and there's better options when I'm in that mood.

I never engaged much with The Offspring, but I liked a lot of this. Self Esteem was a standout. Kinda loses steam in the last 3-4 songs, but I read they wrote those in like 2 days so not surprising.

Never listened to this before. Loved bad habit, come out and play and self esteem. Found myself foot-tapping the whole way through and thinking about how cool it would be to be a skater in 90s California "/

This album, anthems of my youth. This was on repeat many, many times. For SoCal pop punk, it's generally fun. Dexter's voice always struck me as compellingly sonic. That said, I don't think the album was particularly groundbreaking -- maybe it hasn't aged well for me, I guess. I think there are others in the genre that would get more listens from me these days. Nothing particularly wrong with the album, and I enjoyed reminiscing as I listened again, but not one I think stands out versus others. I'd play it from time to time but not in my main rotation.

Kinda enjoyable. I do feel like the socal bands on this list are a bit soulless. Low 3

It was fun

just hootin and hollerin... but i know the gotta keep em separated song at least?

I can tell that this is a good genre album, but it's not my typical favorite.

This sounds like Nirvana and/or Green Day. I like Nirvana and Green Day. This isn't as good. Sure, there are a couple of tracks that played over and over on the radio in the mid 90s. They are ok. The rest is a bit too shrill and a bit more too annoying.

Rating: 9.5/10 Ridiculously catchy, both vocally and instrumentally. What a pleasant surprise.

Solid, some good hits. Singing is kinda monotone though.

Four stars for the music. Minus two for Dexter's voice. I've never been able to listen to The Offspring, his voice just makes no sense for this type of music.

new to me, few good songs added. drums good throughout

Yesssssss

My seventh grade anthem!

I didn't like it for the most part, but I also didn't think that it was absolutely terrible. I did like the song What Happened to You? and could see myself listening to that one.

Que buenos recuerdos de niñez, sigue soñando en las radios que bestia este chiquipunk noventero no envejece

Pose les fondations du punk-rock

Some catchy stuff.

Yeah, it was fine.

Too loud and metal for me, gave me a headache. Good music though

Come Out and Play is a classic but the rest of the album is a bit repetitive. American pop punk has never really been my thing.

Simpatico che questo album sia uscito dopo dookie, diversi ma simili

This is the shit my sister would bump in her Pontiac growing up. So punk and edgy 00’s teen. Tony Hawk pilled. I didn’t realize I’d heard this band so much before, just never knew em by name. Will definitely be bumping this band more. MGK really thought tickets to my downfall hit like this

There’s a lot of interesting things to record. It is Green Day adjacent but they both came out around the same time. What makes this unique is the voice over that makes it seem like a cool radio show, it’s pretty dated in its jokes but that’s fine. It’s also very ska which I think is cool and it’s a party record and definitely would be lit in concert and live. The music itself was samey a bit but the guitar work was amazing and I very much enjoyed.

Makes you want to skate

i thought i’d like this cus i like some of their most popular songs but its soooo noiseslop i feel like i have to say somethingpositive 😭 so its cool that they have a really distinctive sound. like a lot of these songs i could hear you’re gonna go far kid in them (the style of vocals) even though they sound nothing alike. and if i had to like one song it’d be what happened to you

Really enjoyed this album, it feels like a blend of punk, metal and grunge, I’d give this a 4.5/5, I’m debating rounding this up to a full 5 as I can see this just sneaking into my regular rotation. Favourite track: Gotta Get Away.

Liked: Bad Habit, Gotta Get Away, Genocide, Come Out and Play Added: Gotta Get Away, Come Out and Play, Self Esteem (already added)

Review - this made me realise I've never really listened to The Offspring, I've just tlietneee to Americana 1,000 times. I'd say that was a smart move. This album was ok. Some decent riffs, a few decent songs, but it's no Americana. And Offspring of the era weren't the best pop punk going, but I can see why they're the band that caught on with mainstream audiences. This album sounds a bit like Bad Religion for people who don't do politics. Rating - 6/10 Need to hear? NO

Dexter? My molecular biology professor?

niet mijn muziek

Not my cup o'tea

brought me back 3 stars

It’s a pretty typical dad rock album. Most of the songs sound the same to me.

Has some fun songs but not really an album I need to listen to before I die ngl!

So... Here's one I'm nervous about. This was on heavy rotation in my youth, but I haven't given it a listen in a long, long time and that automatically puts it on shaky ground. Why haven't I? Isn't this a "classic" from my angst-riddled teenage years? Like Green Day's "Dookie", isn't it a timeless blast of punk rock for 90's kids? I don't think this will have survived the passing of time as well and it's because it was only a decent offering in it's time -- and despite that it was important to me. There are better bands, albums, and examples of this music from that time. I knew many (all?) of them. My tastes have grown and changed. After a thorough listening: I can honestly say, I'm pleasantly surprised it's held up really well. The first half of the album is an absolute banger, with a frenetic pace. It's the second half (after "Self Esteem") that I feared the most. It is a bunch of filler, but even the filler is at least fun and short. It's not timeless. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but I enjoy it (a lot) and am glad it has held up. (4/5)

Somewhat overlooked and a little underrated, The Offspring dropped radio hit after radio hit. Punk mingled with classic rock and pop sensibilities, their sound was accessible and their lyrics were poignant social commentary without sounding preachy. It's a album with several bangers, a few solid B sides, and a little filler. 3.5 that I'll happily round up.

Variety: 2 Adequacy: 4 Listenability: 3 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 2 = 2.6 rounded up to a 3 "Teenage angst has paid off well / Now I'm bored and old" This is one I have fond memories of from high school. I was a million miles away from the California punk scene, and had likely never heard Dead Kennedys ( unless by accident on MTV) or the like, so this was foreign material. It's obvious radio-friendliness being at odds with the punk ethos and idea of "pop-punk" in general was also a concept way above my head. Going back and listening though I think a lot of the original punk bands doth have protested too much and were very clearly making music they wanted people to like. Offspring, Green Day et al were just more transparent and canny about the process. The hits off this ( and there were more than I think I recall) are going to be the obvious standouts I think, but I do recall it having quality deep cuts as well. Freshman me certainly had much shallower well do draw from when comparing music, so curious how much of this, if any, is going to have ne rolling my eyes. Music designed in a lab for 14 year old boys just might hit different to the middle-aged dude with back problems. THE TRACKS "Nitro [Youth Energy]" - After the introduction we get a solid high energy opener tells us exactly what we're in for. "Bad Habit" - Would have to go back and find some interviews, but wonder if these guys were heavily influenced by Minutemen. That omnivorous blend of influences I'm hearing on here. The cowpunk beat, the chainsaw guitar, the "yeah" chants all come together into what feels like a tighter, shorter song than it is. Good stuff. "Gotta Get Away" - And we're into the hits two songs in. Catchy as anything on the radio back then, but I recall paying closer attention to the lyrics in most of their songs compared to other bands. Not that they were that deep or anything, but I think they were very direct and unabashedly targeted to that disaffected youth demo. Holland's voice I know turns a lot of people off who might otherwise admit how damn catchy their stuff is, but it works for me. It's not quite a growl, and yet it's gruff enough that he gets away with some very emo stuff without sounding "emo". "Genocide" (Followed by spoken word) - Not bad but hopefully as far as the band strays into generic cynicism. In my mind this band was funnier. The energy is still pretty high. "Something to Believe In" - "The more cynical you become/ The better off you'll be". Ok, maybe not...lol. I swear I didn't peak ahead at the lyrics there. Starting to get into some sameyness here. The isolated bass/ vocals section and the build back up saves this one from complete mediocrity. What we could really use at this point are a couple of undeniable great in a row... "Come Out and Play" - Well what do you know. Despite the serious subject matter here, this song has always felt a little bit satirical to me. Maybe that's what I'm thinking of when i think of this band as being "funny". Maybe it's also the goofy tone of the delivery of the title line. "Self Esteem" - Self pity as never been so sarcastic and catchy. We have the laziest of choruses here ( that many bands have resorted to) with the non-lyrical "YEAAAAAH" belted out, but the melody and the emotion in the delivery sells it, which is a feat. "It'll Be a Long Time" - Ad the energy levels get ramped way back up. More of the same though, without too much to separate this from the other stuff. "Killboy Powerhead" (Didjits cover) - Never heard the original, but then I never got very far into 80s American punk. The relative briefness of this one works in it's favor and puts it a step ahead of some of the other stuff. "What Happened to You?" - We get a welcome bit of ska flavor here, with a nice little guitar solo, and even some background vocals. Would like to have heard a it more like this to break things up a bit. "So Alone" - And we come to the audience participation section with some chants. This is what I imagine their earlier, less radio friendly stuff would have sounded like, and I'm down for it. Surely they had a mid-80s punk journeyman phase, right? "Not the One" - This one was pretty forgettable. In fact I became momentarily distracted and hadn't noticed we moved on to the final track. Went back for a re-listen, and not anything awful, but nothing to mark it as anything special either. "Smash" - Decent enough closer and can easily seeing this being the live show closer as it lends itself very well to a sing-a-long. The extended silence with the middle eastern flavored refrain from "Come Out and Play" feels like the bartender flipping the lights off and on and I can see the audience filing out to the parking lot. Kind of a wet fart of an ending. HIGHLIGHTS - "Bad Habit" - "Gotta Get Away" - "Come Out and Play" - "Self Esteem" - "What Happened to You?" - "So Alone" MIDLIGHTS - "Nitro [Youth Energy]" - "Genocide" - "Something to Believe In" - "It'll Be a Long Time" - "Killboy Powerhead" LOWLIGHTS - "Not the One" - "Smash" FINAL THOUGHTS Find myself appreciating this much more than I thought I would having not heard it all the way through in a good 25+ years, but it's definitely trapped in the amber of high school for me, and the sameyness ( which comes with the territory with this kind of music in my opinion) hurts it more than anything. Aside from the two tracks that were called out, the only other big complaints I have are that I'm not sure this one would hit the same in any other era, and Holland's voice is such an acquired taste. I quickly moved on to the poppier, power pop inspired stuff like Weezer and the like, and so never investigated further into the scene that spawned The Offspring. I can't say that I'm that regretful about it either. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - I'd be fine with the radio hits and letting the rest fade into the mists of 1994, though I wouldn't change the channel if they popped up - I'd throw in their cover of The Damned's "Smash it Up" though off the Batman Forever soundtrack for good measure :)

"Sittin' on the bed and I'm lyin' wide awake There's demons in my head and it's more than I can take I think I'm on a roll, but I think it's kinda weak Sayin' all I know is I gotta get away from me" Oh man! It makes me so happy to talk about The Offspring. This band and particularly this album hit me at the age of 14 and they were a musical pillar of my teenage and high school years. Dexter, Noodles, Greg K., and Ron Welty (the classic band make-up) sure knew how to appeal to goofy teens like myself. As I've aged they have slid down from a top 3 personal to more of a legacy top ten band of mine. Still, I could probably do this rating from memory. A lot of these tracks remain on a few of my playlists, but some have grown hazy from disuse. Track Highlights I appreciated the running gag of the hoity-toity listener which is juxtaposed with the crashing noise that follows it. It never gets old to me. Nitro [Youth Energy] - Is a 2 and a half minute opening mission statement full of piston drum kicks and relentless riffs. Keep up loser! Bad Habits - Road Rage build up to one explosive punchline. Gotta Get Away - Best track on the album. Has aged the best. Playlist staple of mine. Come Out and Play - Punk rock that descended from surfer rock. The Offspring show off that Southern California flavor with a Dick Dale inspired riff. Was ready for radio and MTV from the first moment. Probably helped too, when Quentin Tarantino reminded the world of surfer rock by opening 1994's Pulp Fiction with "Misirlou" by Dick Dale himself. 1994, we remember you well. What a year! Self-Esteem - May be the track that has aged the worst, honestly. At 15 this was a perfect expression of my own awkwardness and disaffected self. Now it is much too whiny and contains more self-flagellation than I want to indulge in. Part of me can still relate to this song, but like a bad memory of a situation you eventually resolved. Conclusion.: My god this album remains a helluva lotta fun to listen to. Heavy but playfully-in-your-face-riffs that bring boundless amounts of nervous energy. A reminder that "Smash" unlike its 1994 Pop Punk counterpart, Green Day's "Dookie," was made while The Offspring were on independent label Epitaph. Sidenote: Smash is the best selling independent label album ever. There is less polish on this production; it still brings the heat. Its got all the elements of punk; blowing off steam catharsis (Nitro [Youth Energy], Bad Habit), an abundance of anxiety (Gotta Get Away; Self-Esteem, Not the One), simply expressed sincere concerns with social issues (Something to Believe In, Come Out and Play, It'll Be a Long Time), and bouts of hyperbole (Genocide, Killboy Powerhead). It makes me feel quite old to know that The Offspring have been an active band for 4 decades. Sometimes that youthful punk energy burns out quick, but sometimes it keeps you young by being a constant source, a reminder, of youthful energy you can return to over and over, over the years. Solid 5 from me.

Ahhhhh, it's time to relax, and you know what that means, a glass of wine, your favourite easy chair, and of course this compact disc playing and your home stereo. So go on, indulge yourself, that's right, kick off your shoes, put your feet up, lean back and just enjoy the melodies. After all, music soothes even the savage beasts.

if u told me theres exactly 1 offspring album on this list and i had to bet it all on which one it is i'm choosing americana every time. its not my favourite, but it's a solid album and it's the one everyone knows. and i guess i'd lose that bet cos for some reason whoever put this list together chose smash instead??? ive been trying to avoid criticising the list in my reviews so far but im baffled by this one. its ok tho cos smash is hands down my favourite offspring album. raw skate punk. punchy & pure. i love this shit. the loose doubletracking on dexter holland's vocals always hits perfect and compared to their later albums the guitars and drums are driving at their most forceful here imo. there's a lot to like in this album, with "bad habit", "something to believe in", "self esteem", "it'll be a long time", "not the one" and "smash" being my favourites (although at that point i've listed half the damn album), and fans of offspring's later sound will find themselves right at home with "come out and play", which feels almost like an early preview of "pretty fly for a white guy". but the stand-out track for me is "genocide". im not gonna fuck around with fancy words this track just goes crazy hard, to the point that the main riff breached containment and reappeared on their next album during "change the world". hell, the first half of it even popped up again on americana where it forms most of the vocal hook on "end of the line". what a banger. damn. i fuckin love music! hmmm. i especially enjoyed that one. let's see what's next....

I love the album, so raw and fun!

Was 13 when this came out and probably haven't listened to the whole thing since but it was still a fun album to listen to. Brought back memories.

Not gonna lie I was kind of dreading this one... I think I got enough of The Offspring as a teen to last a lifetime. The last album we reviewed was a debut (also 1994), and while this one is early along in the discography, I'm not observing much of an "early" sound to the band. It's The Offspring. Completely and undeniably. Which I suppose is a credit to this being their breakout album. That said, the album has an interesting shape. The first block of songs are focused with their punk revival sound which gets broken up by the playfulness of the major hits right in the center, and then back into a bunch of short and sweet high energy punk songs (along with a ska-like) which ends on a nearly 11 minute song that is mostly silent in the middle until finally ending on some riffs from Come Out and Play. I do like that move after the thesis lyrics of "I'm not a trendy asshole." Similarly to CCR, the main vocals carry such a distinctive sound that songs kind of meld into each other in spite of varying themes. Hang on -- Oh God. Oh Jesus. Spotify just pulled up the thumbnail for the Hit That music video. I forgot about that beast Oh God. I must look away now. Goodbye. See you tomorrow.

Too loud for me

Pass.

This was okay but it was nothing awesome, I guess. Everything just sounded very similar. While I did like the speed and energy in the beginning, this lack of variation made it a bit less enjoyable towards the end and overall did not make it very memorable for me. I knew "Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem" already and I think those were my favourites from this album as well.

Enjoyed 4*

Bratty, loud, sometimes annoying but not without merit. I feel kinda weird for loving this as a teen and definitely don’t think it aged as well as say Dookie, but guitar parts are pretty good and I had fun relistening. Half a point for nostalgia and for the secret “song” at the end.

pretty fun, aber pls eimol kei rock & co album

I had this in my CD collection. It was great.

Always liked The Offspring but never loved them. Solid album. Some iconic early pop punk songs

Instrumentally, it's some great, colourful, energetic punk that should absolutely be my thing. It's a shame then that, vocally, these guys have never been my thing. The guy just can't really sing and drives me up the wall.

This one is kind of a mixed bag. Some of the songs have excellent guitar riffs and basslines, and the whole band seems very cohesive. Then on other songs it seems like the singer and drummer are not even in sync. Some songs like "Come Out and Play" have thoughtful and meaningful lyrics, and others like "Bad Habit" are just edgy for the sake of being edgy. Overall there are some good tracks on this album, but the I'll pass on the whole thing.

Probably a lot of nostalgia in this, one of the first albums I remember hitting me, but you know exactly what you’re getting and it delivers all the way through.

I'm giving this an extra point for nostalgia. This is one of the two albums I bought for myself when I decided to venture out to newer and edgier music. The other one was Green Day's Dookie, which has already been on this list.

Voi jeeveli, tämä kun tuli, se oli kaikkialla. Se soi kaikkialla ja kaikilla. Ja olihan se vieläkin ihan jees. Parempaa punkkia.

Paikoitellen tuttu levy, hyvää humppaa ja toimi ainakin auton ratissa oikein mukavasti. Hölmöt välispiikit ja hölmö 10min outro missä oli joku 'salabiisi' roskiin, muuten jatkoon.

Ouhhh was ein Intro Schon solid auch, aber jetzt auch nicht auf meinen Playlisten stark vertreten

awesome

not for me

high energy and packed to the brim with classics, great baseline for The Offspring.

I've always kinda liked the single from this "Come Out and Play" - the cute little guitar lick, the way the other guy comes in with "gotta keep 'em separated." It was fun to hear on popular radio at the time, felt a little transgressive. Unfortunately, the rest of the record doesn't do it at all for me. It all seemed kind of insincere, like they wanted to be badass but weren't able to pull it off. I think my problem with pop punk is that I'm not 14 years old. 3 stars though, because I do like that one song. Too bad the rest of it is so vacuous.

Ready for a good sound, loved this album like a trip that take you at point A and leave you at point B.

Grating throughout the album, but really not bad.

3.5

Ooh 90s Punk , fun to listen to . Not as ground breaking as real punk :) more grunge than the Rammones but fast, loud and overall fun

Nice

So many bangers! Love the energy of the early Offspring. I really enjoyed this even if the last few songs were a little bland. The rest was great! Favourite songs: Genocide, All I Want, Come Out And Play, Gotta Get Away and Bad Habit.

The year of my marriage - not quite my scene, but acknowledge this musical period.

First listen after at least 20 years and it still kicks. This is one of the albums I grew up with and I still like it. Although I doesn't have the same feelings than back then, it gave me a warm feeling of nostalgia. Fav: Smash

Nah. Not for me (except for the bassline on "Self-Esteem"). Has a lot to answer for in terms of the godawful unlistenable "pop" "punk" that followed, but at least that one song I really hate isn't on here.

I don’t love rock

Ahh, good ol' pop-punk. Soothes even the most savage beasts. Probably not for everyone and that's OK. This kind of music always clicked with me, however, mainly stemming from playing all of the Tony Hawk games and getting into skateboarding back in the day. The longevity of a group like the Offspring is impressive too. But "Smash" really signaled a breakthrough for the group and played a role in the pop-punk "surge" of sorts. For that, I give many thanks. Tracks such as "Come Out and Play", "Self-Esteem", and even "Genocide" are great examples of the Offspring's no frills and "in your face" style that they bring. All of this on a $20k budget too. Pop-punk will always be my comfort music and I wish that there was more representation on this list to be honest.

As a 90s punk rocker this is bringing me back to my roots, although I liked NOFX and Green Day better. Still, absolutely solid album, and the sound of my youth - it was good to revisit

Fun (at times)

some of my all time favs on this album, crazy i havent listened to it before

I have no idea why this band became as popular as they did, Because after listening to this I can honestly say that there's nothing that makes them stand out from nearly every other wannabe pop punk band of the era that was trying to ride the coattails of Green Day's success. There are a couple of songs on this album that stick out for sounding different than the rest, but the singer's voice is just so grating that it ruins pretty much every song.

The blows. But also it rules. Come Out and Play is an all-timer.

Come Out and Play followed by Self Esteem is a great one-two. Solid album. Grimier than the newer stuff, angrier.

A classic from the golden age of skate punk. Fun and high energy, well worth the listen front to back

It was cool, a little loud but still cool

Solid album, banger tracks, at times surprisingly deep lyricism

Album Review 085 Smash by The Offspring (1994) Rating 1.5/5 Call me cynical, but here we have a band whose main songwriter is clearly a very intelligent person (PhD in molecular biology no less), but decided to cash-in with diluted pop-rock cos-playing as punk. Sure, the drumming is powerful and fast and the distorted guitars are there, but Smash is lacking in any sort of spirit or substance. It’s performative, entry-level noise, manufactured by a 30-year who's target market is middle schoolers with faux anger and a skateboard they don't know how to use. And the lyrics are crap too.

Goos stuff

Solid punk but vocals give me a bit of fatigue.

it was good just lots of repeated drum patterns throughout the album making it all sound quite similar, if i had to describe it its like spontaneous grunge

Punk music of a very particular moment. Both personal and political in ways that are now classic to punk. It's melodic, has the classic, unpolished vocal delivery of punk rock and several other hallmarks -- the rapid, palm-muted, down-stroke based guitar playing; frequently toms-heavy drum grooves an fills; a dry bass tone that moves and walks around just enough. It's archetypal. Add in Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman's fondness for melodies in his fills (the vaguely Middle Eastern hook from 'Come Out And Play' calls back to Dick Dale's 'Miserlou', which originates with Dale's Lebanese grandfather) and you've nailed the Offspring formula. It's also 12 songs (not counting the intro and outro) and about 45 minutes. You might well want to play it again immediately. It's an icon of the middle 90's, an important landmark in the continuation of the punk scene -- and part of a decadal revival -- and it's catchy as hell. 5/5, listen twice.

Not much to say other than it's just really good punk

Yeah just a little iconic. Last if their best years (not that the successors were bad mind you). Love the energy.

Classic pop punk 5/5 probably paved the way for the pop punk explosion

I miss when life sounded like this album. Life used to be so simple, even with the angst, life was so full of optimism and excitement for the future. Life is still cool and all now but this album reminded me how much I took my "younger youth" for granted.

Finally a punk rock album that I don't hate. The instrumentals are energetic, and most importantly the vocals aren't bad. I guess this is the era when punk rock starts moving away from that annoying 70s singing style, and we start getting some decent vocal performances. Leaving in the minutes of silence in the track "Smash" is silly though.

Best part were those last 6 minutes: pure silence and instrumentals that sounded nothing like The Offspring.

Bien para dejarlo de fondo. 3/5

Great album!

honestly liked it more thsb i thought i would. the outro in ladt track was great

I have mixed feelings about pop punk, and Offspring in particular. Like, you’re from Orange County, what are you doing here? The 90’s and 00’s were over saturated with this stuff. But now in the fullness of time I can appreciate it more. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find myself nodding while listening to this.

90s rock is so dear to my heart.

Given a three for nostalgia. I was born just after The Offspring got famous, but their music was the background to much of my early life when I could decide what to listen to. Good thing I listened to them when I was so young, because if I didn't, I don't know how much I would have enjoyed this album. It's juvenile and uncomplicated, either riffs that sound less Offspring at times and more Bad Religion, an obvious influence now that I've listened to the latter. It's not a complex album, and at times is too simplistic. They made better songs as they continued as a band, so if it weren't for the nostalgia I would have probably given it a 2. That being said, there is something also nice about listening to people, in uncomplicated and direct lyrics, tell you that the system is messed up. That level of honestly probably didn't have much cache at the time of the album's release, but as time has gone on it's only become more relevant. Turns out uncomplicated is what people need at time. And may be necessary for others. Highlights include Gotta Get Away, Come Out and Play, and Self Esteem.

This is a smash!

The energy is definitely there but the mix feels muddy and the nasal vocals are not really my thing. It clearly suffers from budget constraints that were not turned into a creative choice and compared to their later polished records this one just feels technically lacking and uninspired.

Being into a lot of Epitaph/Fat Wreck at exactly the time that this was blowing up, you would think that I love this record. This exercise would be the first time I’ve ever listened to it all the way through. Most of these have not aged very well and the hits just benefit from being super familiar. Plenty of other bands and albums within range of this genre that are much better and probably deserved the success these guys had.

Post Green Day alternative rock was weird. Labels tried to make punk a thing. Not sure that leaning into Epifat bands was the right decision. This is another part of the list where Dimery made some choices. If he wanted to ad SoCal punk to the list he could have done better by putting Suffer or Living in Darkness or Milo Goes To College or the Adolescents Blue Album. Anyways this is SoCal Epifat alt rock that ripped off Agent Orange and kinda ripped the Breeders. Not essential.

#292/1001. I think Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic nailed it by saying: "solid record, filled with enough heavy riffs to keep most teenagers happy". For me Offspring are just one another offspring of Bad Religion.

I've tried to get into them before and it's never really stuck. There are some songs I do really like, I think they're cool, and don't really dislike their stuff but just not really my thing. I group I appreciate more than I want to listen to.

I didn't know what to expect coming into this project. I've heard the name 'Offspring' before, but when I thought of it, no music I knew came to mind. I love punk, stuff like the Dead Kennedys and Bad Brains are so fun and catchy, so it makes sense why I would love something like this. I'm glad I was able to check this project out because it has such a clean sound while still dabbling in the murkiness of skate punk. I really felt like I was in California on these cool Minnesota days listening to it.

3,5

OK I had Blur yesterday (the "lesser" of a who's better rivalry between them and Oasis) and now Offspring who (at least in my circles) were compared to Green Day. I'm expecting a Megadeth album any day now. For the curious, I'm team Oasis (barely), Green Day (though I like a lot of Offspring singles) and Metallica. I guess I'm just basic that way. Anyway this is a 2.5 bumped up to a three because 2 seemed too low. So a 2.55 really. Again, I like the singles, and the other parts were palatable enough but made me sort of wish I was listening to Insomniac or something.

Not for me. Couldn't finish.

This was fun. I'm glad to have come across this one

This record does one thing, and it does not do it very well.

Admittedly cheesy, but I’m here for this nostalgic bubblegum punk pop.

As a 90s kid, Offspring is always a fan favorite. Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated) is played often for a reason.

Fine

I’ve never wanted to recklessly drive more. 3.5/5

This is the type of rock i want. Amazing. More please

It is 2004 and I am playing Tony Hawk's pro-skater 4 on the gamecube. I am playing the colour tag game against my 7 year older brother and am severly losing. I am hoping for my favourite system of a down song to come on so I can use the morale boost to hopefully beat my brother. Instead Blackball from the Offspring comes on and my brother proceedes to score an infinite amount of points by doing a trick I don't understand with my 6 year old brain, locking down the key point on the map. I lose, but it's fine, the music is good and I want a rematch.    I love skater punk. 9/10

A fun skaterpunk album, it is short but great.

This is a very good album a lot of energy and catchy tunes but towards the end it's too much of the same. Has to be a 4

Carino

A lot better than I anticipated. I've dabbled in Offspring here and there, but never turn into them. I was worried that they would be harder or crasser than I would usually like. But I liked this album!

9.5/10

While Self Esteem is a great song, overall I found the high-speed punk riffs to be overdone and a little annoying. Not every song needs a high-octane, nonstop wall of grungy guitars at the expense of any variety in instrumentation or dynamic range. There is very little variety on the album, and the only mood seems to be “overexcited and vaguely pissed off.”

I'd encountered the Offspring in the early '90s via compilation that had a song of theirs. It was bad, so I was baffled when they suddenly started getting a ton of airplay on MTV in 1994. My bafflement continued, even though I could recognize the catchiness of "Self-Esteem" (which I heard roughly 3 billion times 1994-1995). I never listened to this album, and it's exactly what I expected: by-the-numbers BroCal punk with a few novelty flourishes. For a smart dude, Dexter Holland has nothing to say, and his double-tracked vocals are grating. I'm clearly in the minority though, because this album sold a zillion copies.

Self-Esteem will always bring me back to driving through Westerville Ohio with a new drivers license, the windows rolled down, stereo blasting, and smelling like pizza from my pizza hut shift. The rest is not that great for me. Also when their next album came out that pretty fly for a white guy song was inescapable on the Pizza Hut jukebox, nearly rivaling Hotel California for PH jukebox dominance.

I used to LOVE The Offspring, then I turned 15.

Smashingly fine 7/10

Good, rock mood.

Tiene buenas rolas, voy a seguir escuchando este álbum!

I like how The Offspring's albums are all so different while also all being the same.

stupid dumbshit goddamn motherfuckers... this album is DOGSHIT

I do quite like The Offspring, but I dont think I could ever describe them as goodd. They also really shouldnt be in this list.

i did not enjoy that 👍

Was okay first but got so repetitive

classi c for 13 year old boys and competitive hot dog eaters. if you broke your front teeth skateboarding or suffered a non athletic-related CTE, you probably heard this one already 6.7/10

come out and play is good and some parts of songs here and there i could appreciate. the ending hidden track made with the riff from come out was also fun. if i were a skater boy i would love this album. alas, i am no skater boy.

A couple tracks were alright. Most of it feels like an angry 12 year old child of divorce got the Tom Hanks’s “Big” experience. And also, hidden tracks suck! Songs that I didn’t dislike: keep em separated, self esteem (this has bad romance intro).

In one ear and out the other

(98/100)

a thrashy nostalgic sound, it's consistent all the way through. I would have liked to have heard some range from song to song. I enjoyed it, and it brought back some memories

Easeist 5 so far

Minnen, minnen, minnen.... Varenda låt på det här albumet är kopplat till minnen. Älskar detta! Sjunger med och dansar runt. Bra!

Whatever

Poppy alternative that gets boring

At times this band sounds like a polished punk band that’s been together for a decade and at other times they sound like teenagers that just figured out how to play and want to be angsty. Take that for what it is. But overall, I just couldn’t get into it. Didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it either. I’m more su surprised that Self Esteem on this album has more streams than Pretty Fly For a White Guy

Punk Rock Chaos

Energetic and quite fresh sounding, but nothing really grabs me. I’ve always found the vocals a bit annoying as well. Not an unpleasant listen though.

Based on my first listen, this was a very good album. I grew up listening to punk from my dad, so listening to this album reminded me of when I was a kid listening to my dad's music in the car. There really wasn't a dull moment in this album, and even tho this isn't the type of music I currently listen to, I very much enjoyed each song. It does get slightly repetitive over time, but it's not too overbearing. This album may have opened the doors for me when it comes to punk rock. Hate to say it, but sometimes my dad can be right.

Hooray! Corporate “punk” rock. Fuck this bullshit. Why is this even on the list? The Black Album is way better than this crap.

every song is the same

Harder than I remember! Some of the songs get a little boring.

..

No es mi estilo

I'm not 14 anymore. :(

I grew up listening to The Offspring. It’s very much teenager music to me which can be very fun to revisit. I had no idea so many of the songs I grew up listening to were in the same album, so that was a cool surprise. This listen made me go on their page and play Pretty Fly for a White Guy. Nostalgic and fun but also repetitive frequently.

Self esteem and smash were good, everything else sounded the same

I think this is their best album. The voice can be annoying sometimes but I love the homages to punk and ska. Incredible lyrics too.

J'ai trouvé l'album vraiment excellent. En effet, c'est une très bonne surprise pour moi n'ayant jamais écouté Offsprings auparavant. L'album reprend très clairement les sonorités Grunge de l'époque en tirant à certains moments vers le Pop Punk grace à la voix qui rappelle un peu le style de Green Day, et ça fonctionne très bien. Les sons sont énergiques, pas tous excellents mais marchent très bien et sont très énergiques et expressifs. Ce que je trouve le mieux dans l'album sont ses vraies prises de risques, avec un narrateur qui suit l'auditeur tout au long de l'album, amenant du rythme et retenant constamment l'attention ce qui est vraiment très efficace et bien pensé. De plus, il y a le silence de plus de 5min sur le dernier son. Ça pourrait paraître vraiment ridicule mais dans le cadre d'écoute que j'ai eu, cela m'as vraiment surpris et fait rire, j'en ai tiré une vraiment bonne experience. En résumé, vraiment très bon album, pas parfait mais je pense qu'il mérite amplement son 5

Good album with some absolute bangers. I think this band is underrated. They deliver straight forward rock mixed with some humour at times.

not terrible but why so shouty & whiny

Hit the spot on a bleak Monday morning.

Heavy metal easy to listen to fav track what happened to you. Much better than I thought. I’d recommend.

Een energiek, herkenbaar punkalbum dat vooral werkt als tijdsdocument van de jaren 90. Come Out and Play en vooral Self Esteem springen eruit, maar verder voelt het album vrij eenvormig. Leuk om weer even in die jeugdige punkvibe te stappen en herinneringen op te halen, maar inhoudelijk en emotioneel pakt het nu minder dan vroeger. Ontgroeid, maar met plezier teruggeluisterd.

Great for nostalgia, still not much of a fan of the songs that’s aren’t ’come out and play’ and especially ‘self esteem’

The early parts of the album sound more old school like Bad Religion maybe and Gotta Get Away sounds inspired by Nirvana. Ultimately enjoyed this I think but the second half of the album is a lot less interesting…

first listen to this and I think it will have to be played a few times

Smash delivers a classic punk sound, which was a bit unexpected but works well. The album is energetic and direct, with strong, punchy guitars throughout. “Nitro” stands out as a highlight, and the riff on “Come Out and Play” adds a cool, slightly oriental touch that makes it memorable. While the energy stays high from start to finish, the album can feel a little repetitive at times. Still, it’s a solid and enjoyable listen with plenty of drive.

It's bog standard for teenagers with long hair and smelly armpits, I just got too used to the vocalists groaning manner (probably derived from Kurt) to the point where it becomes draining. Not that consistent of a tracklist for me and the intro and outro skit is a little cringe.

Phew, that's easy

Got a teeny bit samey at times, but overall pretty fun. I suppose some of this energy branched out into what is now pop punk and some of it into what is now ska? Also I'm sorry but he sounds so much like Weird Al Yankovic it really threw me

Jorå, det är definitivt The Offspring

The Offspring har väl aldrig varit så speciellt bra, men det här kändes ändå som ett trevligt återseende och hitsen håller. Grejen med ett sista långt spår med hemliga låtar är helt klart något som kanske var en kul grej under CD-eran men känns mycket oklar idag.

Känner ändå att dom gör sån här musik som ingen annan. Inte deras bästa album men jävligt starkt ändå!

Verkligen 90-talspunk!

håller förvånansvärt bra idag!

Offspring легенды

Oke

Not super impressive but when it rocks it ROCKS

🎧Good punk rock is great. Bad punk rock is horrible. This pretty firmly in the latter category.

This isn't the greatest album ever, but it is fun. It is just straight dumb fun. Come Out and Play is their greatest song as far as I am concerned, that riff is just so much fun, but Self Esteem is a close 2nd. This isn't the most sophisticated album ever, but I enjoyed it. Low 4.

7/10

Mon Secondaire et Cégep...

Pas mal plus hard que ce que je me rappelais! Je me rappelais plus du côté punk disons, mais c'est assez grungy et assez 'punch in the face' du hard rock/metal. J'aime bien.

Classique punk 90s. J’aime le punk, j’ai juste pu autant l’occasion d’en écouter. Je le connaissais deja par coeur. Ça donne hâte à Green Day, Rancid, Bad Religion!

Pretty generic with a couple of bangers.

Nostalgic. Brings me back to my childhood.

Love the punk sound, as it is my fav genre. Slaps hard

fun

It's... okay.

Solid songs all the way through. I can see why people would say they ripped off nirvana at times, but all the songs are great and i enjoyed them!! Two thumbs up from me

I vaguely remember really liking The Offspring when I was younger. I no longer do.

I thought I liked the Offspring. Turns out I liked one song, and only a little bit.

Is "mainstream punk" an oxymoron?

Ver good album

Fun pop punk album. Made me feel like I should be paying crazy taxi or Tony hawk.

Easy 5 for me

Easy 5

- PUNK AND HARCORE but it’s still good and for what it is, it’s definitely fucking awesome. Most songs are pretty motivated by hardship, freedom and world issues, along with some really sharp riffs, and it’s amazing, kind of like the setup for more pop punk and more melodic hardcore in its near future. Definitely have a soft spot for really edgy and bouncy punk. Some tracks are quick and some are ska, super duper sick, super duper punk.

Super fun 90’s punk rock.

I think I like this now more now than when it was first released.

Super solid punk rock album.

nostalgia

This album was the 2nd or 3rd album I ever bought with my own money. I heard it at a friends house who had it while we were playing Nintendo and I loved every second of it. Every single track on this is good. Maybe not all of them are great, but every one of them is a wonderful example of the line between pop punk and actual punk and it's done with so much energy that the line barely exists. The singles are radio accessible while having a message at the same time, and the other tracks are all pretty much in your face, high energy, and a blast to listen to. None of it has to be complicated; you could play this whole album a month after learning how to play guitar. Even "What in the world happened to you", which leans in to that ska-punk crossover genre, is simple yet exciting. I have a lot of love for this album, if it isn't obvious. It's great fun. The extra "track" at the end is so 90's, and makes me sort of miss the CD era. Funnily enough this album got so scratched over the years that I don't think my CD is actually playable anymore, so that's one negative of the time.

If not my favorite album, It's at least in my top 5. The frenetic energy and catchy hooks really pull you in for the ride. Every song on here is a banger. Lol, 90's secret tracks.

Early 90s punk rock.

This record got so much play during our parties. The sound was everything we hoped for—pure bliss, exhilarating.

I know it. I love it. It doesn’t get old.

Early pop punk with a few well known songs.

OK

Nicer than expected

Offspring. Punk for early 90's 14 year-olds. I suppose I was too old for Offspring when they surfaced. I certainly wasn't into their brand of fast food punk. I'm a lot older now and a lot more forgiving. I still don't like Offspring, but I understand the appeal. And this even holds a couple of decent tracks. Gotta Get Away is really good. Come Out And Play still stands up and is a rare Offspring track I always rather liked. Good fun. Self Esteem is a decent single. Not one of the 1001 albums I personally had to hear.

Very angsty, really fun. I don't know if I can listen to a full album of the Offspring. just a song or two. But it was fun to see a secret track at the end!

Liked in high school but doesn’t have the staying power as other albums. Probably just under a 3.

We used to play Come Out and Play in marching band 😂 Anyway, punk isn’t really my thing, but this was pretty decent. 6/10 Pretty Good

Forgot how good this album was! Amazing tunes.

Oh man just seeing this cover makes me go right back to middle school. Everyone had this album. I haven't heard it in a long time and didn't really care for The Offspring back then so it'll be interesting to see how this goes. Well I'm still not a fan of Dexter's vocals. He's always been kind of grating to me. And throughout this whole album, all I can think of is Crazy Taxi. Remember that game? It was super fun. This album sounds very dated listening now. The 'secret song' was a big thing from this era of music and now it's just kind of irritating. Especially when your preferred streaming platform has a final song of 10+ minutes with a silence of 8 minutes in the middle just to hear some bullshit 'song'. I can see why a lot of people would still like this album but I don't think it's quite for me. I still really hate the vocals. Music is fine, but I wouldn't listen to this again. 2.5/5

Offspring get better as they go on. It's weird. In fairness I can't rate this album too low it's fun skate punk and I have a weakness for these morons, but not the best.

Top 3: 1. Not the One 2. Genocide 3. Self Esteem Least Favourite: Killboy Powerhead

love the offspring

Good but a little bit samey.

I expected to hate this record but I actually found it more than listenable. Sure, it's punk rock as much as I am Marylin Monroe, let's call it pop rock, but who cares?

Individually, I like some of these songs. The songs all sound exactly the same when listening to an entire album though.

Album was really good most of the songs were really good. This album felt like the word adrenaline it was fire

Eh fine

Made me feel like a cool kid.

Really dope guitar tone throughout and I really enjoyed the punk vibe. Many songs were somewhat indistinguishable from one another but the ones that stood out were pretty fantastic. I recognized two tracks from the radio and I will for sure be listening to a few others in the future. Nothing especially my taste but really solid stuff and music I can appreciate.

Das habe ich ewig lange nicht mehr gehört. Ich war ja mit 15 auch eher Team Green Day - Dookie. Ich weiß auch wieder warum, denn manches war und ist mir irgendwie zu yeah yeah, yeaheher (nicht das GD das nicht auch waren…). Anderes davon ist mit heutigem Ohr überraschend stabiler US-Punk, der gar nicht so weit weg ist von nicht so poppigen Varianten. Wenn das nicht Teil meiner Jugend wäre vielleicht einen Punkt weniger, aber so 4.

This record is older than I remember. Super listenable nostalgia bomb though.

Meh. What a tepid album. I was curious if it's inclusion meant it might be better than I anticipated, but no. It didn't speak to me when I was 17 when it came out, and it doesn't speak to me now.

My dad was at my house on this day and he said he remembers listening to this album on his Walkman after losing his last football game ever.

Best Track - "Self Esteem"

3,5/5

I love Self Esteem, but not much else grabbed my attention.

All killer no filler. Forgot how amazing this album is. It’s not quite weezer blue album…but even the deep cuts are great on here.

Really enjoyed some tracks of this record. Not the biggest fan of the punk genre but I liked how accessible this was. However again the biggest downfall is all the songs sound nearly exactly the same. Some even in the same key as the last. Put maybe that’s just punk. I can pick out a few songs to listen but won’t be doing a full album listen again

Coldplay left me well, cold

I prefer Ixnay, but this is still one of their best

Trying to ignore the screechy vocals is difficult, but I actually enjoy the instrumentals. There are times when the singer tries to hit high notes and, uh, fails.

Pass

Day 177 Pretty fun pop-punk album. Highlights Gotta get away Self esteem

HULK SMASH!!! Hell yeah brother, het is tijd voor OG pop-punk / skate-punk. Mede dankzij het succes van eerder gereviewde Nirvana, konden punk outfits die hun muziek net wat meer mass-appeal wisten te geven ook doorbreken, zoals The Offspring en Green Day. Smash is het meest verkochte album dat uitgebracht is door een independent record label. Het is een explosief album met energieke drums en aanstekelijke riffs, vol met maatschappij-kritische teksten, met hier en daar wat meer persoonlijke. Het is non-stop, vol-gas, turbo (of nitro :p), wat de "Time to Relax" introductie van John Mayer een grappig contrast geeft. Inhoudelijk spraken Come Out and Play en Not the One mij het meeste aan. Come Out and Play gaat over het gescheiden en vijandig houden van de massa's, om ze beter te kunnen overheersen. De teksten hinten vooral naar gang violence in de VS, maar de over-analyser in mij denkt dat het stereotypisch 'Arabisch' klinkende gitaardeuntje een subtiele hint kan zijn naar dat de VS deze strategie ook veelal buiten haar eigen grenzen toepast. Not the One vind ik heel krachtig. We worden allemaal 'onschuldig' geboren, maar toch dragen we de zonden van het systeem waarin we bestaan. En wat kunnen we eraan doen? Oogkleppen op? Ons schuldig voelen voor dingen die we niet gedaan hebben? Zelfs als we ons best doen de wereld ietsje beter te maken, zullen onze nabestaanden nog steeds een vergelijkbare ervaring hebben. Eigenlijk een best pessimistisch perspectief. Maar dat is soms wat punk is, de 'hurt' benoemen, en het samen even kunnen vergeten door gek te doen op de muziek. Die samenkomst zie ik mooi gereflecteerd worden in het einde van het album. Na 40 minuten non-stop turbo, eindigt het album met 4 minuten onafgebroken stilte. Dat is precies genoeg tijd om op adem te komen, de mensen om je heen - waarmee je het afgelopen uur in de pit een muzikale verbinding mee hebt gelegd - de hand te schudden of een knuffel te geven, en weer terug te keren naar het 'echte' leven. Na de stilte spelen ze een akoestische, instrumentale versie van Come Out and Play. Omdat de teksten en de agressie van het nummer nu ontbreken, symboliseert het voor mij het tegenovergestelde van het origineel: De samenkomst tussen mensen die zojuist heeft plaatsgevonden. Liked songs: Gotta Get Away Genocide Come Out and Play Self Esteem Not the One

This was an interesting listen from my post-college years. Seb and I used to lift weights to this music. Kmart grunge. Clever ideas about road rage and school shootings but not something I choose to seek out these days. I am always happy to hear The Offspring if they are on the radio but I would not choose to put this album on the turntable. I also wonder to what degree the self-pitying low self-esteem of this era led to the emo stuff about 10 years later? A highlight for me was the road rage tune Bad Habits - found that funny and enjoyable. All this said, I am going to be more assertive in giving 1 or 2 stars and keeping room for music that appeals to me in the 3 to 5 range. Learning how to calibrate here. If I could give it 2.5 I would but since I have to choose on a whole number I plan to grade down a half point so this is a 2 for me.

I recall reading a review of Led Zeppelin (1969) where the reviewer questioned why the band was still so popular—or even relevant—suggesting its appeal was mostly older listeners clinging to their glory days. The same argument could probably be made for Smash and Gen X/early Gen Y. My daughter was quick to tell me this music was awful, and that she wasn’t surprised The Offspring were never as big as Green Day. Although they weren’t my favourite punk rock band at the time, there’s no denying they helped bring the genre back to the forefront. That said, I personally always enjoyed this album. There’s definitely something to be said for nostalgia, and revisiting Smash was a welcome reprieve from a lot of the junk we’ve been subjected to lately. A solid 3.5, but I’m rounding up for old times’ sake.

Come out and play is a good song and the whole album brings good nostalgia vibes but I wouldn’t say it’s *great*

Listened to it a lot back in HS.

I hated this when it first came out and that has not changed in any way with time

I was never a fan of this genre Offspring Green Day Blink 182 Sum 41 But you couldn’t get away from it in the late 90s. Some songs are good. Some are just yelling and the same. I don’t feel better for hearing this today. 3 for the good songs.

Ridiculous album cover. Sounds like rock, but there is nothing that really makes it stand out, but not bad. Also weird inclusion of the five-ish minutes of silence in the last track

I’ve always enjoyed the popular songs by The Offspring. Listening to this album led me to listen to several other albums in their catalog. Turns out, I’m a fan!

Een absolute classic

You gotta keep em separated. 5/10

The only song I know by this band is 'You're Gonna Go Far Kid.' Which is kind of a surprise after listening to this album because it doesn't even sounds like the same artist. It's still angsty, perhaps a little more than I prefer now that I'm older. However, I still found this pretty enjoyable for the most part. There are some great riffs in here that are worth noting!

OVERALL: 2/10 Not my type of music Nitro (Youth Energy): Strong intro. Didn’t resonate with me though. Bad Habit: Nice rage song. Gotta Get Away: gym song. Genocide: not catching my attention, sonically. Something to Believe In: same as the last. Come Out and Play: ok. Self Esteem: Eh. It’ll Be a Long Time: Not my type of music. Killboy Powerhead: Wow, I do not like this type of music 😃. What Happened to You: Nice guitar. So Alone: Lowkey sounds like the last song. I like that it’s short. Gym song. Not the One: I think I like this one. Glad I saw it through. Smash: :/ yea nah

Some bangers, but I hate the narrator guy. Really took me out of the listening experience

A lot of the same. I know some Offspring songs and obviously they are super influential, but this just doesn't do it for me. Dude's voice is rough too