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The Offspring

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The Offspring

Template:Otheruses2 The Offspring is a popular American band from Orange County, California which formed in 1984. The band currently consists of Dexter Holland (lead vocals, guitar), Noodles (guitar), Greg K. (bass), and Atom Willard (drums). The band was brought to the mainstream with their 1994 album Smash, which sold over eleven million copies world wide. Smash would become the best-selling album with an independent label of all time.[7] In addition to Smash, the band's albums Ixnay on the Hombre, Americana, and Conspiracy of One have each received platinum certification.[8]

The Offspring has sold over 32 million albums worldwide, and are credited, along with fellow California punk bands Green Day and Rancid, with reviving popular interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid 1990s.[9]

The band has also performed at numerous famous rock festivals, including the 2005 Warped Tour, the first Dew Action Sports Tour, Woodstock 1999, and the 1999, 2002, and 2004 Leeds and Reading Carling Festivals.

Band history

Early career (1984-1993)

In 1984 guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland and bassist Greg K, two friends who met on their high school cross-country team formed the band "Manic Subsidal". The decision to form a band came outside of a Social Distortion concert, when both were refused entry.[7] Doug Thompson was added for vocals,[10] and Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman, the school janitor was welcomed into the band, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase alcohol for Dexter and Greg, both of whom were under the legal drinking age.[7] The band used Thompson's friend, Jim Benton, as their drummer. Thompson was forced out of the band, while Benton left. This led to Dexter taking over on vocals, and James Lilja joining as the drummer. The band changed their name to "The Offspring" in 1985.[10]

In 1987 the band released their first single; the 7" Blackball/I'll Be Waiting. They released the album on their self-made Black Label record company, which was named after the brand of beer named Black Label. Lilja quit shortly after the release to pursue a medical career in gynaecology,[11] and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was only 16 years old at the time.[12]

In 1989, The Offspring brokered a recording deal with a small-time label, Nemesis Records. With producer Thom Wilson, the band recorded the album The Offspring. Their self-titled debut was released in limited amounts by the label, only in a 12" Vinyl format. The CD release of the album would not surface until 1995.

In 1991, again with Wilson, The Offspring produced the Baghdad 7". This single was instrumental to the band's signing with Epitaph Records. Wilson had been trying to get The Offspring to switch to Epitaph, a label run by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Gurewitz felt that The Offspring was just not quite pronounced enough for his label, but Baghdad convinced him to give the band a shot. Wilson and The Offspring entered the studio again and recorded Ignition. Released in 1992, Ignition exceeded all of the label's and band's expectations. The band went on tour for the next two years with other punk bands such as Pennywise, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and No Doubt.

Height of fame (1994-2002)

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 darker atmosphere in the studio resulted in 1994's landmark album Smash. Fueled by the hit singles "Come Out and Play," "Self Esteem," and "Gotta Get Away," this album set the all-time record for most units sold by an independent label band at 8 million records. Holland credits Seattle-based grunge band Nirvana for creating the environment which allowed The Offspring to succeed.

File:The Offspring.jpg
The classic Offspring line-up, circa 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 AFI, The Vandals, and Guttermouth. Soon after Nitro Records became solely Dexter's responsibility.

After Smash and the subsequent two years of touring, Wilson, who during the Smash studio sessions criticized the direction of the band's music as straying away from punk, was fired. Around the same time, the band left Epitaph and signed with Columbia Records, allegedly because they were offended by an insurance policy that Brett Gurewitz had taken out on the band. Epitaph sued, claiming that the band had not fulfilled its contract. The settlement was an estimated $2 million and the rights to all European single sales. Not only this, but the move caused a fan backlash. Most fans of The Offspring thought that the move to Columbia was purely for financial gain; to this day the band still deny that charge.

The Offspring in concert

The Offspring released their fourth album Ixnay on the Hombre on February 4, 1997, which happened to be Noodles' 34th birthday. This album was not as successful as Smash, although it did sell 4 million units. 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 "I Choose" was directed by Dexter himself. The band believe that when Ixnay... came out that the fans were expecting "Smash Part Two" (in their own words) which is why they moved away from their former style.

In 1998, The Offspring released Americana. This album was musically lighter than Smash and Ixnay but lyrically darker in attitude, while still maintaining a punk-like sound. The album was a success both with the audience and with critics, and easily outsold Ixnay on the Hombre.[citation needed] The four singles: "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)," "Why Don't You Get a Job," "The Kids Aren't Alright," and, "She's Got Issues;" were all big hits on MTV and radio.[citation needed] This period is generally regarded as the peak of The Offspring's mainstream popularity.

In 2000, the band released a new 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[13]. However, under threat of legal action by Columbia through their parent company Sony, only the first single "Original Prankster" was released online[14]. 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.

Post-Welty period (2003-present)

Nearly three years after the release of Conspiracy of One, long-time drummer Ron Welty left the band in 2003 to start Steady Ground, a band in which he plays the drums and co-produces. The parties have not 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, however his name remained absent from the album credits. The album's original title was to be Chinese Democracy, the name of the long-delayed album by Guns N' Roses. As a result, Axl Rose filed a cease and desist order against The Offspring, and to avoid delaying the release, the band chose to simply rename the album. 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.[15]

In 2005, the band released a Greatest Hits album with a DualDisc. The Greatest Hits album contains 14 of the band's hits from 1994 to 2003, as well as "Defy You" (from the Orange County soundtrack) and two previously never released songs "Can't Repeat" and "Next to You" (a cover of The Police). The DualDisc contains video of Dexter and Noodles discussing the band's history and a bonus acoustic version of "Dirty Magic" from Ignition. About a month later, the band released a video DVD with music videos from all of their hits, and some videos from a live show. The album contains number-1 hits such as "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" and "Come Out and Play".

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. Atom Willard was recruited by Tom DeLonge for his band Angels and Airwaves and released an album, We Don't Need to Whisper, in 2006.

The Offspring is currently in the studio recording their as-yet untitled eighth studio album with producer Bob Rock and "a fistful of demos". Although an official title and release date have yet to be confirmed, the recording process has begun and the band hopes to have the album released around the spring or summer of 2007. There are also rumors of the band releasing a rare/b-sides album.

On January 13, 2007, it was erroneously reported that Atom Willard had left The Offspring.[16] However, Ryan Sinn of Angels and Airwaves, who was rumored to have initially made the allegation that Willard had left the Offspring, confirmed that the rumors were untrue, and that Willard has not left the Offspring.[17]

Music style and influences

While The Offspring is primarily considered a punk rock group, their music contains strong elements of grunge, metal and occasionally ska as well as some elements of pop punk[18][19] . The band cites their main musical influences as Agent Orange, Bad Brains, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, D.I., Descendents, Sex Pistols, Social Distortion and TSOL.

Band members

Current members

Live backing members

Former members

  • Doug Thompson - Vocals (1984) (never recorded anything with the band)
  • Jim Benton - Drums (1984) (never recorded anything with the band)
  • James Lilja - Drums (1984-1987)
  • Ron Welty - Drums (1987-2003)

Session musicians

Discography

Main article: The Offspring discography
Date of release Title Record label
1989 (original), November 21, 1995 (re-release) The Offspring Nemesis Records (original), Nitro Records (re-release)
October 16, 1992 Ignition Epitaph Records
April 19, 1994 Smash Epitaph Records
February 4, 1997 Ixnay on the Hombre Columbia Records
November 17, 1998 Americana Columbia Records
November 14, 2000 Conspiracy of One Columbia Records
December 9, 2003 Splinter Columbia Records
April 16 2007 Singing For Sympathy Columbia Records

Songs in popular media

Movies

  • The Offspring appear as themselves in the film Idle Hands where they play "Beheaded" and "I Wanna Be Sedated" at a school dance before Dexter is killed.
  • Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) is played in the theatrical trailer for the film Idle Hands.
  • "Take It Like a Man" and "Forever and a Day" are played in the movie The Chase
  • "Smash It Up" was played in the film Batman Forever which is a cover for the band, The Damned.
  • "Want You Bad" was featured in the movies Tomcats and American Pie 2
  • "Totalimmortal" was played During the film Me, Myself and Irene which is a cover for the band, AFI.
  • "Dammit, I Changed Again" was played in the film The New Guy
  • "Americana" was played in the film Bowling for Columbine
  • "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" was played in the film Loser
  • "The Kids Aren't Alright" was played in the film The Faculty
  • "Original Prankster" was played in the film The Animal
  • "Original Prankster" was played in the theatrical preview for the film How to Eat Fried Worms
  • "Nitro (Youth Energy)" was played in the film Varsity Blues
  • "Come Out and Play" was played in the film Bubble Boy and the film Click (instrumental only)
  • "Defy You" was played in the film Orange County
  • "Million Miles Away" was played in the theatrical preview for the film Orange County
  • "The Meaning of Life" was played as outro music in Tekken: The Motion Picture

TV shows

Videogames

  • "All I Want", "Leave It Behind", and "Mota" are featured in the game Jugular Street Luge Racing.
  • "All I Want," "Way Down the Line," "The Meaning of Life" and "Change the World" are featured in the game Crazy Taxi
  • "Come Out Swinging," "One Fine Day," "Walla Walla," "No Brakes," and "Americana" are featured in the game Crazy Taxi 2
  • "Want You Bad" and "Special Delivery" are featured in the game Crazy Taxi 3
  • "Blackball" was played in the game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
  • "Genocide" was played in the video game Jeremy McGrath Pro Supercross
  • "Self Esteem" is featured in the game SingStar Rocks

References

  1. ^ a b The Offspring on All Music Guide.
  2. ^ The-Offspring on Yahoo Music.
  3. ^ The Subgenres of Punk Rock, by Ryan Cooper of About.com.
  4. ^ Rotation The Offspring, by Chris Smith of the Houston Press, posted November 30, 2000.
  5. ^ Skate Punk on Rhapsody (online music service)
  6. ^ Skate Punk on YottaMusic.com.
  7. ^ a b c Band Bio on Offspring.com, obtained January 27, 2007.
  8. ^ The Offspring at Rockonthenet.com, obtained January 27, 2007.
  9. ^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. Pg. 357, ISBN 0-306-81271-1
  10. ^ a b Biography of The Offspring, from Lycos.com, obtained January 27, 2007.
  11. ^ Dexter on song: Beheaded, by Dexter Holland, obtained January 27, 2007.
  12. ^ Interview with Ron Welty, from Tama Drums and Hardware, obtained January 27, 2007.
  13. ^ Robert Menta, The Offspring to Release New Album Free Online (18 September 2000) MP3 Newswire Accessed on 24 November 2006 from Internet Archive
  14. ^ Robert Menta, Sony Forces The Offspring to Cancel MP3 Giveaway (26 September 2000) MP3 Newswire Accessed on 24 November 2006 from Internet Archive
  15. ^ Punk's Offspring is aging well, by Randy Lewis of the LA Times, posted December 21, 2003.
  16. ^ Atom Willard No Longer In The Offspring from Punkbands.com, posted January 13, 2007.
  17. ^ Angels And Airwaves drummer still pulling double duty from therockradio.com, posted January 23, 2007.
  18. ^ Amazon.com
  19. ^ Playlouder.com - "Kings of punchy Pop Punk"

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Offspring.
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