Search - The Offspring :: Greatest Hits

Pop-punk Mainstays Bundle The Hits

Andrew Lueken | Louisville, KY United States | 06/24/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The temptation to title this review "Come out and play, the Offspring still do" was tempting if a bit obvious. For a pop-punk quartet that hails from the late 80's and found fame in the mid 90's, this band has done quite well for themselves. Most of their brethren have quit, died, or jumped ship to new bands. The Offspring however, remain largely intact (their founding drummer left prior to "Splinter"). Several acclaimed independent records including the dark and wily "Ignition" and the propulsive "Smash" which broke every independent album sales record known, are considerable achievements. The fact that the band managed to hit pop-pay dirt with "Americana" should come as no surprise, "Pretty Fly" was blasting out of every stereo in every car for monthes.



So at this juncture the band (or record label) has seen fit to release a hits package. Though most Offspring fans will tell you their hits pale to their darker, faster, and just as catchy non-radio tracks, this is the album to buy if you are new to the Offspring.



While the buyer misses out on their clever, high-speed and dare I say thought provoking songs from their self title debut and

"Ignition" they do get nearly every radio hit to date. The striking but off kilter hit "I Choose" is strangely absent as well as the turbo charged "The Meaning of Life" both from "Ixnay on the Hombre", their most diverse and compelling album to date. Also missing is the AFI cover of "Total Immortal" which was a short term radio mini-hit.



But nearly all the songs that made a splash on Mtv and rock radio are bundled here for the casual fan. The brooding and hook filled "The Kids Aren't Alright" and "Come Out and Play". The slow paced pop sing alongs "Hit That" and "Why Don't You Get a Job" and the giddy high-velocity "All I Want".



The Offspring are most represented by their medium paced straightforward rock songs on this collection. "Gone Away", "Can't Repeat" "Defy You" and "Gotta Get Away" is the aspect of the Offspring many radio-listeners are most familiar with. This album is the sure way to go if you like even one Offspring song. If you find you like this entire hits collection I would strongly suggest picking up "Americana", "Smash" and then "Ixnay on the Hombre". If those prove worthy get them all, The Offspring have yet to let me down."

A definitive Offspring sampler...

M J Heilbron Jr. | Long Beach, CA United States | 08/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc works as a definitive Offspring sampler. You get the majority of this band's career highlights on one remastered disc, and if you like what you see here, you will undoubtedly seek out the remainder of their catalog.



The Offspring are punks in the way Def Leppard are rockers. They're a bit glossier, a bit poppier, a bit more intelligent, and do not take themselves too seriously.



Diehard punk enthusiasts may bemoan their crossover appeal, but by injecting a healthy dose of pop melody into some primal punk beats and chords, they've simply made themselves easy to like.



Offspring songs fall into two categories: those whose tempos are of such a speed that you make yourself dizzy bopping your head along to the tune ("Gone Away", "Self Esteem") and those where you cause an intracranial hemorrhage doing so ("All I Want", "Want You Bad").



Lyrically, there's not a lot of variation here...but there really isn't any need to, if you know what I mean. Why does great punk/pop have to be deep? Instead of insight, you'll get plain-spoken but often humorous or witty lines that'll have you singing along in no time.



"Why Don't You Get A Job?" is a blatant swipe of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", with the megaphoned-in back-up vocals from "Yellow Submarine" added for good measure. (If you sing the end of "Submarine" to yourself, you'll remember the guy in the background singing..."sky of blue...sea of green" etc. THAT'S what I'm talking about...)

It's so blatant, it's a gas.



I love their slightly-Middle Eastern, serpentine guitar licks, like those found in their first big hit, "Come Out and Play", as well as "Original Prankster" and others.



The drummer sounds like he's having the time of his life on each and every track. It's like somebody gave the guy this big drum kit, two sticks, and said, "OK...go. Fast."



The new song, "Can't Repeat" is actually one of the weaker tunes on the disc. And as other reviewers have pointed out, there are at least a half-dozen other songs off their albums that could have made this record...



...which if you don't already have, listening to this will make you seriously consider expanding the "Offspring" section in your library.



As for the Dualdisc portion, the casual interview with Dexter and Noodles is a sweet addition, and well worth your attention. However, the disc's DVD side still does not play in my Acura TL DVD Audio system."

Dexter, I apologize.

The Mandrew | The Dub-V | 10/25/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Not that you would care about a negative review in the first place, because I suspect that most of the songs you HAVE released from the abovementioned albums were simply commercial moneymakers, and never had the true Offspring sound. Gotta pay the bills, I understand. Unless I've completely missed the mark and "Hit That" is the culmination of over 20 years of work. God, I hope not.



Anyway, I own every Offspring album. I love every album (mostly). There are tracks that radio listeners have never heard, and never will, because they are Offspring signature brand of punk, which is unique and completely hard-driving and awesome. No one else sounds like them, and no one else rocks in the same way.



However, several of these songs are radio candy. The stuff most of us Offspring fans never liked the first go 'round. These are the tracks that get released? These are the "hits"? I'm sorry, but if this compilation doesn't include "No Brakes", "Gone Away", "Genocide", "Dirty Magic", or heck, even "Race Against Myself" (the best track on Splinter), I can't support it, its not "Offspring". Nevermind, I don't apologize, if the band wants to keep their true awesomeness a secret, than who am I to argue. I'll just hunker-down with "Ixnay on the Hombre" and smile to myself as the rest of the world listens to "Pretty Fly For a White Guy" :-)"