The Offspring is an American punk rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1984.[2] Formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Greg K. and drummer Pete Parada. The Offspring is often credited—alongside fellow California punk bands Bad Religion, NOFX, Green Day and Rancid—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the 1990s.[3][4] They have sold over 36 million records worldwide,[5][6] being considered one of the best-selling punk rock bands of all time.[7]
The Offspring's first three albums for the independent record labels Nemesis and Epitaph earned them a following. The band's third studio album, Smash (1994), became their first commercial success, and has sold over 11 million copies worldwide,[8] setting a record for most albums sold on an independent label. Smash was also the first album released on Epitaph to obtain gold and platinum status.[9] The critical praise given to Smash garnered attention from labels, including Columbia Records, with whom The Offspring would sign in 1996. The Offspring continued to achieve success with their four follow-up albums, Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), Americana (1998), Conspiracy of One (2000) and Splinter (2003), reaching platinum, multi-platinum, platinum and gold status respectively.[10][11] Splinter was followed five years later by Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008), and then four years later by Days Go By (2012). The Offspring is currently writing new material for their next studio album, which is due for release in 2015 or 2016.[12]
Early years (1983–1987)
The foundations for The Offspring began with guitarist/vocalist Bryan "Dexter" Holland (who was a drummer at the time) and bassist Greg Kriesel playing music together in a garage in Cypress, California.[13] After hearing the T.S.O.L. album Change Today? at a party, and following a riot at a 1984 Social Distortion show, they decided to form a band called Manic Subsidal.[14][15]
Holland changed his role from drums to guitar, and the band was rounded
out by singer Doug Thompson and drummer Jim Benton. Marcus Parrish
briefly joined as a second guitarist, however, no recordings were made
at this point.[16][17] After Thompson was forced out, Holland took over vocals, and Benton was replaced by Clowns of Death drummer James Lilja. In 1985, school janitor Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman (also formerly of Clowns of Death) joined as a second guitarist, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase alcohol for the other members, who were under the legal drinking age.[14][18]
In 1986, after changing their name to The Offspring, the band released their first single; the 7" "I'll Be Waiting". They released the single on their self-made Black Label record company, named after the brand of beer. An earlier version of "I'll Be Waiting", which was then known as "Fire and Ice", appeared on the long-out of print Subject to Blackout compilation tape, which was also released in 1986[19] Also in 1986, The Offspring recorded a demo tape, which received a positive review in Maximum Rocknroll magazine.[20] Lilja left The Offspring in 1987 to pursue a medical career in gynecology,[21] and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was only 16 years old at the time.[22]
The Offspring and Ignition (1988–1993)
After recording another demo in 1988,[14] The Offspring signed a record deal with a small-time label, Nemesis Records. Then in March 1989, the band teamed up with producer Thom Wilson (of The Adolescents, Dead Kennedys, Social Distortion, The Vandals and Youth Brigade fame) to record their first album, titled The Offspring.[14] The album was released in limited numbers by the label, only in a 12" vinyl & cassette format. A CD release did not surface until 1995. A six-week national tour followed, but Noodles was later stabbed during their Hollywood anti-nuclear benefit.[14]
In 1991, The Offspring teamed up with Wilson again to produce the Baghdad 7" EP and a third demo tape. This EP and demo were instrumental to the band's signing with Epitaph Records.[23] In 1992, Thom Wilson and The Offspring returned to the studio to record their second album Ignition, which was released in October of that year. The band went on U.S. tours with Pennywise and Lunachicks, and a European tour with NOFX.[18]
Mainstream success with Smash (1994–1996)
When The Offspring returned to the studio to work on their third
album in 1993, the band's relations with producer Thom Wilson had begun
to strain. The band released what would become their biggest selling
album, titled Smash (1994). Fueled by the hit singles "Come Out and Play", "Self Esteem", and "Gotta Get Away", the album set the all-time record for most units sold by an independent label band at 16 million records. Smash
has continued to sell consistently well in the twenty years since its
release, and has also been certified 6x Platinum in the United States.
The album also sold very well outside the U.S., particularly in
Australia, where it debuted No. 1 on the ARIA Charts, and remained in that position for three weeks in 1995.
After the release of Smash, and armed with a newly expanded
income, the band decided to buy out the rights to their first album.
Holland and Greg K. then created their own record label Nitro Records and started signing bands. One of their first releases was a re-release of their first album The Offspring. The label also signed a number of punk bands including The Vandals, Guttermouth and Jughead's Revenge. Soon after, Nitro Records became solely Dexter's responsibility.
Ixnay on the Hombre, Americana, and Conspiracy of One (1997–2002)
The Offspring performing in 2001
The Offspring left Epitaph and signed with Columbia Records.
Epitaph retained its rights to release the next album in Europe, while
Columbia had it for all other territories. The band's attorney, Peter
Paterno, had issued a letter to Epitaph stating that the band had
"substantial and fundamental reasons" for wanting to leave the label and
that Epitaph had "breached its contract."[24] The band began writing and recording their fourth album, titled Ixnay on the Hombre,
in 1996. The album was released on February 4, 1997, which happened to
be Noodles' 34th birthday. This album was not as successful as Smash,
although it did sell four million units and spawned five singles. The
album saw the band move away from the political-punk themes common to
many Epitaph bands, and more into mainstream rock with songs like: "All I Want", "Gone Away", and "I Choose". The video for the last track was directed by Holland himself. Dexter commented that Ixnay probably wasn't as well-received as Smash because it was such a departure, and that many fans probably were expecting Smash Part Two.[25]
In 1998, The Offspring released Americana. Three of the album's singles: "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)", "Why Don't You Get a Job?", and "The Kids Aren't Alright" became the band's biggest hits and making the album the peak of The Offspring's mainstream popularity. "She's Got Issues" was also released as a single, and was a minor hit.
In 1999, the band appeared as themselves in the film Idle Hands. They played a cover version of "I Wanna Be Sedated" (originally by The Ramones) and "Beheaded" at a school dance before Holland's character is killed. They also appeared at the infamous Woodstock 1999, where their performance was broadcast live on pay-per-view television.
2000 saw the band release their sixth album called Conspiracy of One. The band intended to release the entire album online through their official website, to show their support for downloading music on the internet.[26]
However, under threat of legal action by Columbia through their parent
company Sony, only the first single "Original Prankster" was released on
their official website (the rest of the record was leaked to fan
sites).[27] The band also sold T-shirts on their website with the Napster logo on it and donated money to Napster creator Shawn Fanning with the profits.
The band also released a single "Defy You" exclusively for the film Orange County.
Ron Welty's departure, Splinter and Greatest Hits (2003–2005)
Longtime drummer Ron Welty left the group in 2003 to play in Steady Ground,[28][29]
a band in which he played drums and co-produced (they broke up in
2007). Neither Welty nor the remaining members have elaborated on the
departure.
In 2003, the band released their seventh album Splinter. The Offspring recruited Josh Freese to record the drums for Splinter and later announced that Atom Willard would be the official replacement for Ron Welty. The album's original title was to be Chinese Democrazy (You Snooze, You Lose), from the name of the long-delayed album by Guns N' Roses. As a result, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose filed a cease and desist
order against The Offspring, but eventually began to calm down when he
realized the date this was announced was April 1. The first single "Hit
That" enjoyed moderate success on MTV. "Hit That" used a variety of
electronic samples, different from what The Offspring has done in the
past.[30]
In 2005, the band released a Greatest Hits album in both DualDisc and regular CD editions. Greatest Hits contains 14 of the band's hits between Smash and Splinter, and two previously unreleased songs, "Can't Repeat" and "Next to You" (a cover of The Police) (a hidden track). The compilation does not contain any material from the first album or Ignition.
The DualDisc contains video of Dexter and Noodles discussing the band's
history and a bonus acoustic version of the song "Dirty Magic." About a
month later, the band released a video DVD with all of their music
videos, and some videos from a live show.
During the summer of 2005, the band played the Vans Warped Tour
for the first time, and followed that with a tour of Europe and Japan.
After the "Greatest Hits" world tour the band took a break from writing,
recording and touring. During the hiatus, Willard was recruited by Tom DeLonge for his band Angels & Airwaves and released an album, We Don't Need to Whisper, in 2006.
Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2006–2009)
In November 2006, it was reported that The Offspring were back in the studio recording their eighth studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace with producer Bob Rock
and "a fistful of demos". In July 2007, Dexter announced that the band
had finished two more songs and the album was being recorded in Orange
County, California.[31]
It was announced on July 27, 2007, that former Saves the Day drummer Pete Parada had been chosen to be The Offspring's new drummer, replacing Atom Willard, who went on to join Angels and Airwaves. The band's first shows with Parada were at the Summer Sonic festival in Japan in August of the same year.[32] It was during these shows that the band debuted "Hammerhead"
which would become the first single from the new album. Parada did not
play on the new album however; Josh Freese once again handled drum
duties, as he did with Splinter.[33]
The Offspring co-headlined the Australian Soundwave Festival during February and May 2008, alongside Incubus and Killswitch Engage.
On April 9, 2008, Dexter announced that the album would be called Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace and would be released on June 17.[34] The album's first single, "Hammerhead", went to radio on May 6.[35] Additionally, The Offspring's official site provided an MP3 download of the song to the general public on May 5.[36] Their second single from the album, "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", had topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks
chart, and had stayed there for 11 weeks, a record for the band. As
well, it is The Offspring's only RIAA Gold song, proving it to be one of
the most successful singles the band has released in their
over-twenty-year career.
Also in April 2008, Epitaph Records also announced that the label would be reissuing Ignition and Smash; both albums were remastered, and Smash contained a new 24-page booklet. The re-issues were released on the same day as Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, coinciding with the new album's release.[37]
The supporting tour for the album began on May 16 with a performance at the X-Fest festival in California. On May 28, it was announced on the band's website that Scott Shiflett (from Face to Face) would replace bassist Greg K. on current tour dates due to a birth in the family. Kriesel returned in mid-June.[38] In October, with the addition of touring guitarist Andrew Freeman,
the band embarked on a 3-week Japanese tour followed by a tour of South
America. On December 13, 2008, The Offspring headlined the nineteenth
annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. In an interview at the Almost Acoustic Christmas show, guitarist Noodles stated that The Offspring would be taking a break for a month or two and promised a US tour to kick off in 2009.[39] They toured North America on their "Shit is Fucked Up" tour from May through July with Dropkick Murphys, Alkaline Trio, Street Dogs, Pennywise, Shiny Toy Guns, Sum 41 and Frank Turner.[40]
Days Go By (2010–2013)
In May 2009, the band started doing preliminary work with Bob Rock
in Hawaii for what would be the ninth Offspring album. They recorded
sporadically through the next year. In June 2010 the Offspring headlined
two dates in Western Canada.[41] The Offspring took a break from the studio in order to join 311 on their summer 2010 Unity Tour. The 19-date tour was held in amphitheaters around the U.S., also featuring Pepper
as a special guest. Before the 311 and Pepper tour, The Offspring
played four West Coast dates in June, which were supported by Terrible Things.[42][43] At the Las Vegas show on June 18, 2010, they debuted a new song, titled "You Will Find a Way",[44]
which later became the song "Days Go By". After that the band started
working on the new album. In January 2011, session drummer Josh Freese
(who recorded drum tracks for the band's last two albums) mentioned on
his website that he was in the studio working with The Offspring again.[45] Ronnie King had also confirmed that he would appear as the keyboardist on the album, after performing the same role on Splinter.[46] The band interrupted their work in 2011 in order to tour and took the main stage at the 2011 Reading and Leeds Festivals.[47]
After the tour, the band started recording in earnest and it was later announced that the album was in the mixing stage.[48] They headlined the PunkSpring Festival in Japan, on March 31, 2012 in Tokyo and on April 1, 2012 in Osaka, with Sum 41, New Found Glory and All Time Low.[49] At one of the shows, The Offspring performed a new song called "The Future Is Now". They were also confirmed to play at the Rock am Ring/im Park and Novarock festivals in the summer 2012.[50][50][51] Prior to that, the band would be playing at the 20th annual KROQ Weenie Roast, which was to take place at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California on May 5, 2012.[52]
In March 2012, the band announced on their Twitter page that the album was finished. On April 20, 2012, Kevin and Bean announced that The Offspring's new single "Days Go By" would be premiered on April 27.[53] Three days later, the band announced on their website that Days Go By would be the name of their ninth studio album, which was eventually released on June 26, 2012.[54] On April 30, 2012, the band released another song from Days Go By, "Cruising California (Bumpin' in My Trunk)".
In early fall 2012, The Offspring toured with Neon Trees and Dead Sara. They were co-headliners of the Soundwave in Australia in 2013 alongside Metallica and Linkin Park. After this, they performed at the 20th annual WJRR Earthday Birthday on April 13, 2013, and at the Gulfport Music Festival a month later.[55]
The Offspring will spend much of the spring, summer and fall of 2013
playing shows in Europe, the United States and South America.[56] In November and December of that year, they will play Warped Tour for the first time in eight years, this time in Australia.[57]
On June 20, 2013, it was reported that The Offspring was working on a
live album with engineer Ian Charbonneau. Instead of a standard
release, the live album (which was recorded at in Warsaw, Poland at the
Orange Warsaw Festival held at Narodowy Stadium) will be available
online.[58] As of September 2014, however, the live album has not been released.
Tenth studio album (2013–present)
The Offspring was expected to begin work on their tenth studio album after the Days Go By tour,[59] and has considered releasing it independently as they have fulfilled their contract with Columbia Records.[60] Guitarist Noodles stated that he hoped they would enter the studio in 2014 to begin recording their new album.[61] Vocalist Dexter Holland stated in a May 2013 interview that he had written a "punk" song about "the government keeping you down."[12]
On July 16, 2013 Dexter posted 5 new photos of the recording process to
The Offspring's Facebook page titled "In the Studio July 2013",[62] indicating that the band had started work on their new album, which was scheduled for a 2014 release.[63] Like Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace and Days Go By, the new album will be produced by Bob Rock,[64] and is expected to be released in 2015.[65][66]
On October 23, 2013, bassist Greg K.
told May the Rock Be With You that The Offspring had been "working on a
couple of singles", but was unsure what they were "going to do with
them." Then he added, "As far as a full scale album there's nothing in
the works, if we do something it wouldn't be until at least next year,
but we're still moving forward and still going to keep trying to put out
new stuff."[67]
The Offspring spent the summer of 2014 on tour commemorating the 20th anniversary of their third album Smash. They headlined the Summer Nationals 2014 tour from July to September, with support from their former labelmates Bad Religion and Pennywise as well as The Vandals, Stiff Little Fingers and Naked Raygun.[68][69]
To coincide with the Summer Nationals tour, The Offspring released
cover versions of Pennywise's "No Reason Why", and Bad Religion's "Do
What You Want" and "No Control" on their YouTube account.[70] These cover versions were released on the EP Summer Nationals, which was released digitally in August 2014.[71][72]
On December 24, 2014, Radio Contraband announced on their Facebook page that they would premiere The Offspring's new single "Coming For You" on January 30, 2015.[73][74] "Coming For You" was posted on The Offspring's YouTube
account on January 30, 2015. It is unclear if "Coming for You" will be a
one-off single or will appear on the band's upcoming tenth studio
album, but a tweet from frontman Dexter Holland heavily implies the
tenth album is in an unfinished state.[75][76][77] The Offspring will tour in support of the "Coming for You" single, and perform their 1998 album Americana in its entirety at the Amnesia Rockfest on June 19, 2015 in Montebello, Canada.
Style and influences
The Offspring has been labeled under multiple genres, such as punk rock,[78][79] pop punk,[80][81] skate punk,[82][83] and alternative rock.[84][85] A signature style of The Offspring is their chorused "whoas", "heys", or "yeahs". NOFX
(who were labelmates with The Offspring from the early to mid-1990s)
poked fun at them for this in their song "Whoa on the Whoas". Several
tracks also incorporate elements of Eastern music, which can be heard on
the likes of "Pay the Man" and the verse hook from "Come Out and Play".
Their lyrics cover a wide range of topics, like personal relationships,
such as in their songs "She's Got Issues", "Self Esteem" and "Spare Me
the Details", and the degradation of the United States, politics, and
society in general with songs like "It'll Be a Long Time", "Americana"
and "Stuff Is Messed Up". The lyrics generally reflect a sarcastic
viewpoint, which, along with the language, can be offensive to some.
This is acknowledged in the first track from their album Ixnay on the Hombre,
"Disclaimer" - which is sarcastic itself. Like "Disclaimer", the first
track of most of The Offspring's albums are an introduction of some
sort, "Time to Relax" (from Smash), "Welcome" (from Americana), "Intro" (from Conspiracy of One), and "Neocon" (from Splinter) are also examples of this.
Growing up in Orange County, the band was influenced by local punk bands such as Social Distortion, Youth Brigade,[86] T.S.O.L., The Vandals, D.I., The Adolescents and Channel 3. Other influences include Dead Kennedys, Ramones, Sex Pistols, and The Dickies.[87][88][89]
Impact and legacy
With the mainstream success of Smash,
going six times multi-platinum and earning worldwide airplay, The
Offspring's impact persists to this day. As one of the most popular punk
bands of the 1990s, they are credited with reviving popular interest in
both punk rock and pop punk, as well as bringing both genres into the
mainstream. They have influenced younger artists such as Simple Plan.[90] The Los Angeles modern rock radio station KROQ listed The Offspring at No. 21 in the "top 106.7 biggest KROQ bands of all time" memorial,[91] and No. 8 at the "Top 166 Artists of 1980–2008" list.[92]
The Offspring's music has appeared in movies such as The Chase, Batman Forever, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty, Varsity Blues, Wanted , Idle Hands (which also features a cameo by the band, while Dexter Holland plays himself), Me, Myself & Irene, Loser, Tomcats, Bubble Boy, The Animal, American Pie 2, Orange County, The New Guy, Bowling for Columbine, Pauly Shore Is Dead, Click and How to Eat Fried Worms (for the trailer).[93] "Mota", "Amazed", "The Meaning of Life" (all from Ixnay on the Hombre) were featured in Warren Miller's 1997 documentary Snowriders II.[94] "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" can be heard in the King of the Hill episode "Escape From Party Island". "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" was featured in the 90210 episode We're Not in Kansas Anymore, while "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" appeared in the episode Zero Tolerance. In video games, The Offspring's songs have appeared in Crazy Taxi, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 and SingStar Rocks!. "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" appears in Guitar Hero: Van Halen. "Hammerhead", "Gone Away", "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)", "Self Esteem", "All I Want", "The Kids Aren't Alright", "A Lot Like Me" and "Days Go By" are downloadables for the Rock Band series. "Hammerhead" was also featured in the football video game Madden NFL 09. "Days Go By" was featured in NHL 13.
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