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The Offspring

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The Offspring
Years active1984 – present
MembersDexter Holland
Noodles
Greg K.
Atom Willard

The Offspring is an American punk band from Orange County, California that originally formed in 1984, consisting of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, lead guitarist Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman, bassist Greg K. and Atom Willard on drums.

History

Early career (1984-1993)

The Offspring started in 1984 by founders Brian "Dexter" Holland and Greg K. The decision came outside of a Social Distortion concert, when both were refused entry. The Offspring started out as a small SoCal garage band dubbed Manic Subsidal. In those early times, they had multiple members filling in on other instruments. In 1987, newly dubbed The Offspring, they recorded their first ever release the I'll be Waiting 7" released on the ficticious Black Label. Black Label was an inside joke by the band, as they could not find a production company to release the single, to make themselves more tempting to future labels, they decided to name their record company after the cheap beer they were drinking while they were pressing the records. The line up for this single was Brian on vocals, Child C-2017 on Guitar, Greg on Bass, and James Lilja on Drums. In 1989, The Offspring brokered a recording deal with a small-time label, Nemesis Records. With Buddhist punk-guru Thom Wilson and a new line up, the band recorded the album "The Offspring". Their self-titled release, "The Offspring", was released in limited amounts by the label only in a 12" Vinyl format. The line up for this album was Brian, Greg K, Kevin Wasserman on guitar, and Ron Welty on Drums. This would be the band's line up until 2003.

In 1991, again with Thom Wilson, The Offspring produced the Baghdad 7". This single was paramount in the signing of the band with Epitaph Records. Thom Wilson had been trying to get The Offspring with Epitaph for a while, a label ran by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Brett felt that "The Offspring" was just not quite pronounced enough for his label, but the Baghdad 7" convinced him to give the band a shot. Wilson and The Offspring entered the studio again and created "Ignition". Although the album did not have it's first and only single, "Kick'em When He's Down", until in 1995, 1992's Ignition defeated all expectations by the label and the band. The band went on tour for the next two years with the likes of punk heavyweights Pennywise, The Voodoo Glow Skulls, and then ska band No Doubt.

Rise to fame (1994-2001)

When they went back into the studio, The Offspring's relations with Thom Wilson had began to strain. The darker atmosphere in the studio resulted in 1994's landmark album "Smash". This album holds the all-time record for most units sold by a minor label band at then 8 million records. Since that time the album has now moved 11 million units. Fuelled by hit singles "Come Out and Play, "Self Esteem", and "Gotta Get Away", The Offspring, along with punk band Green Day, helped revitalize the punk scene for another generation. "Dexter" Holland likes to also say that The Offspring and Green Day would not have had a chance were it not for a Seattle-based Grunge-Punk band called Nirvana.

A variety of things happened after the release of "Smash". With a new and large income the band elected to buy out the rights to their first album. "Dexter" and Greg then created their own record label, Nitro Records, and started signing bands. One of the first albums they released was the first ever CD release of "The Offspring". The only way to get "The Offspring" before was through rare vinyl dealers and very expensive import bootlegs that the band saw no income from. The band also signed a variety of their favourite local punk bands so they could be given the equal shot that The Offspring were given by Epitaph. The most well known of these bands are AFI, The Vandals, and Guttermouth.

After "Smash", Thom Wilson took on more of a managerial role, helping the band to keep from letting mainstream attention burn out the public approval of their music. After two years of touring, Wilson, who had been critical last time they were in the studio about how un-punk the bands music was getting, was told not to return for their future efforts.

Around the same time, the band announced that they were leaving Epitaph Records. Allegedly they were offended by an insurance purchase that Brett Gurewitz had made in case something happened to the band. The band signed with Columbia Records, who are owned by Sony, and both the band and the label were taken to court by Epitaph Records. The band had not fully fulfilled its contract with Epitaph and Columbia Records was ordered to compensate Gurewitz for this. The settlement was an estimated $2 million and the rights to all European single sales made by the band.

After three years outside of the studio, The Offspring released "Ixnay on the Hombre" in early 1997. Although the album was not as successful as Smash, the album still managed to move 4 million units. The album saw the band move away from the political-punk movement common with Epitaph Records bands and more into mainstream rock. The sales of this album were fueled by four singles: "All I Want", "Gone Away", "The Meaning of Life", and "I Choose".

A year and a half later, The Offspring released 1998's "Americana". The album was lighter than "Smash" and "Ixnay" in attitude, but still packed a lot of punch. Critically, the album was a success and easily out sold "Ixnay". The album's 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. The band was running on high, and touring the world as a mainstream act. The highlight of their careers may have been an electric showing at the Woodstock '99 Festival in Saugerties, New York.

In 2000, after much touring, the band released a new and drastically different album: "Conspiracy of One". After months of telling fans on their website that the band had excitedly recorded an album that was to be reminiscent of 1992's "Ignition", the album that was released was far from what anyone expected. The first single, "Original Prankster", was viewed as funny but not what most had hoped for. Sales reflected this assessment, although the album did go Platinum, it could not reach one-quarter of even "Ixnay's" sales -- let alone crack 10 million like "Smash" and "Americana". They released "Want You Bad" as the second and last single, but it didn't help much, as "Conspiracy of One" was viewed as a flop by both fans and by the band itself.

Post-success and departure of Welty (2002-2004)

When the band was on hiatus after the release of "Conspiracy of One", long time drummer Ron Welty, left the band for a side project called "Steady Ground". The band and the estranged drummer have not elaborated on the departure, but most speculate that it had to do with Ron not being happy with the direction of the band. "Steady Ground" has yet to bear fruit, but it is said to be more along the lines of mainstream rock than The Offspring have become.

After a three year hiatus from the studio, hopes were high for a new Offspring album. In their off-time the band recorded a rather popular original song, "Defy You", for the "Orange County" Soundtrack. The video was well received, and the single was enjoyed by most fans, many even believed that this was The Offspring try to pull itself out of the Pop-Punk genre. It was, and it wasn't. In 2003, the band released "Splinter". The album was first dubbed "Chinese Democracy", due to a long-running fued between Axl Rose of Guns n' Roses and "Dexter" Holland. Axl filed a cease and desist order against The Offspring, and to avoid a long drawnout delay on the album, the band elected to alter the name of the album. Although the first single "Hit That" is mildly scoffed at by the rock and punk community, the rest of the album, minus a weak ska song attempted by the band, is much stronger than their last effort. Their second single "(Can't Get My} Head Around You" is hard hitting, and various other tracks like "Lightning Rod", "Race Against Myself", "The Noose", and "Da Hui" show the band seemingly pulling itself back together musically. Catchy guitar riffs and less bubble-gum-punk make this album a worthy listen.

Two years of silence and future plans (2005-present)

In 2005, the band released 3 greatest hits packages. A CD, a DualDisc CD/DVD, and a DVD called "The Complete Video Collection". The Greatest Hits album holds 14 of the band's hits from 1994 to 2003, holding off all of the band's early material. The DualDisc is the same on the CD side, but on the DVD side it holds a bonus acoustic version of one of their greatest tracks from their early days: "Dirty Magic" from "Ignition". The DVD side also holds a variety of other interesting items. Both version of the Greatest Hits album have a bonus cover of The Police's "Next to You". "The Complete Video Collection" holds all 17 of the band's music videos, plus a variety of bonus features including band commentary on each video.

During the summer of 2005, the band played the Vans Warped Tour for the first time, playing several shows across north america. A European and Japan tour soon followed.The band is currently recording tracks for their currently untitled album, with a planned release date of summer 2006. As well there are rumors of the band releasing a rare/b-sides album.

Band Members

Current Members

Past Members

Discography

Studio Albums

Compilations

EPs

Singles

Year Song US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Main- stream Rock UK singles Album
1989 "I'll Be Waiting" - - - - The Offspring
1989 "Blackball" - - - - The Offspring
1992 "Kick Him When He's Down" - - - - Ignition
1994 "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated)" - 1 10 - Smash
1994 "Gotta Get Away" - 6 15 43 Smash
1994 "Self Esteem" - 4 7 37 Smash
1995 "Bad Habit" - - - 26 Smash
1995 "Smash It Up" - 16 - - Batman Forever Soundtrack
1997 "All I Want" - 13 - 31 Ixnay on the Hombre
1997 "I Choose" - 24 5 42 Ixnay on the Hombre
1997 "Meaning of Life" - - - - Ixnay on the Hombre
1998 "Gone Away" - 4 1 - Ixnay on the Hombre
1998 "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" 53 3 5 1 Americana
1999 "Why Don't You Get a Job?" 74 4 10 2 Americana
1999 "She's Got Issues" - 11 19 41 Americana
1999 "The Kids Aren't Alright" - 6 - 11 Americana
2000 "Total Immortal" - - - - Me, Myself, and Irene Soundtrack
2000 "Original Prankster" 70 2 7 6 Conspiracy of One
2000 "One Fine Day" - - - - Conspiracy of One
2000 "Huck It" - - - - Conspiracy of One
2001 "Want You Bad" - 10 - 15 Conspiracy of One
2001 "Million Miles Away" - - - 21 Conspiracy of One
2001 "Defy You" 77 8 8 - Orange County Soundtrack
2003 "Hit That" 64 - 6 11 Splinter
2004 "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" - 6 16 48 Splinter
2004 "Spare Me The Details" - - - - Splinter
2005 "Can't Repeat" - 9 10 - Greatest Hits
2005 "Next to You" - 37 29 - Greatest Hits
  • Videos were made for the songs 'Cool To Hate' and 'Da Hui', but they were never released as singles.

DVDs and Videos

  • The Complete Video Collection, July 19, 2005
  • Huck It, 2000
  • Americana (The DVD), 1999


Filmography of Songs

See Also

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Offspring.
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