Invidious link to listen for free.
It’s time for album club #2, and I’ve pulled another suggestion from the favourite album poll. The Offspring’s 5th studio album was released in 1998, and was the bands 2nd highest selling album, after their breakout hit Smash.
This post will stay pinned for 2 weeks, in order for anyone interested to leave their thoughts on the album. October 20 will see the launch of Album Club #3.
In my opinion, probably their most pop-forward record. The first 3 tracks, IMO, relatively weak/weird, but the rest is pretty good to excellent (with the exception of Feelings). 3/5
Ignition will always be my favourite.
This was the first time I actually sat down and listened to this album. After leaving Epitaph, I found Ixnay On the Hombre to be more miss than hit. After hearing Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) on the radio, I more or less wrote off the Offspring as a band I’d enjoy listening to anymore. I thought The Kids Aren’t Alright was a pretty solid song, but it wasn’t nearly enough to make me want to pick up the album.
That said, looking at it all these years later, it’s not a terrible album. I still wouldn’t put it in regular rotation, but it does have a few decent enough tracks. The Kids Aren’t Alright is still probably the highlight for me, but the opening track, Have You Ever isn’t bad, and No Breaks has a little of that old Offspring sound coming through. Overall, probably a 4/10 for me.
