Not As Fly As They Said They'd Be (Americana - Offspring)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Americana - Offspring
Date:	03/10/09 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A couple of big tunes

Disadvantages: Little variation

"Americana" came in 1998 as the fifth album from the Punk Rock band The Offspring (whose debut had come nine years earlier). As the one which would succeed it ("Conspiracy Of One") and their third ("Smash") it stood as one of the Dexter Holland-led band's most popular records, and was the Pop breakthrough for the act as they dropped "Pretty Fly", amongst a few other successful singles.

1. "Welcome" (Intro)

2. "Have You Ever?"

After a short introduction, you find that here they dive straight into things here, and I have to say that it didn't really come out with results anywhere close to what was expected as they come with a pretty typical Punk approach with an apparently over-crowded set and lots going on, but at the foundation level, things such as the off-beat vocal deliver annoyed me as I couldn't easily engage with the music.

**One Star**

3. "Staring At The Sun"

They adapt their style for this one as you see that they are able to escape a lot of what made the first one on the album to (as a I saw it flop) as with this one they come with one that sounds as if a lot more has gone into composing it as they can contain the raw power that they exert in the song to make for a tune that actually has something to say. It is a grower, and I felt that after some time, the catchiness forces you in.

**Three Stars**

4. "Pretty Fly"

They have to take things to what was the most popular tune with this one as they try out something a little different and ensure that their humour is made as prominent as possible and it seems that they can achieve this here by using what was fresh Hip Hop slang of 'keepin' it real' to compose a tune which centres around people who completely go against this whilst claiming to do so in an attempt to take on black culture in away they simply can't.

**Four Stars**

5. "The Kids Aren't Alright"

As the band move into another of the singles from the album, you find that there is more evidence of the sorts of adaptations you get into the music as they had gone from the pure Punk, to some material that has it watered-down with heavy Pop elements drilled into its basic structure. I felt that although this may pull in those who perhaps only feel for the thing that was found in the video to the lead single, it was bound to put off there true fan base.

**One Star**

6. "Feelings"

Here they perform a cover to Morris Albert song of the same title as a fun parody tune as another to show the types of things they are bringing to the table and the kinds of things they do to fit in with expectations of a Punk band, but really I can't say that there was actually anything in this song for me as very little of it said much to me at all and it reminded me of the kind of things found on the first track.

**One Star**

7. "She's Got Issues"

This one seems to flow from the track prior to it and it seemed to act in a way where you could feel the quality dramatically improve form one tune to another as the structure become much more rigid. However after a while, and once the chorus comes in (where Dexter Holland is seen to simply scream) it loses what it had going for it and makes it sits as another on the release without much of a purpose.

**One Star**

8. "Walla Walla"

The Pop elements return for this one as you find that on the tack you get a tune where the lead vocalist sings in some sort of a nursery rhyme structure to attract listeners through its apparent familiarity and from this point they take it to the powerful Punk backing to support it as they go along. It is a bit of a catchy one, due to the choices regarding the song's format, but wasn't really all that impressive.

**One Star**

9. "The End Of The Line"

This one was amongst quite a few on the album that you simply don't take notice of as it is so typical of them (when you take all of the other things that have gone into the album so far) and the offer very little to advance things any further with a track that has them performing in a high tempo and coming through with a style that has them taking on clear elements from the Metal scene at the time without much coming of it.

**One Star**

10. "No Brakes"

Finally there is an improvement in the material as they jump into this one, as if they've been jamming for a while before they came to record this one, and so it forces you into the fast pace of the recording and the feel of urgency as they get down to things and do one that takes on the catchiness of earlier songs and the general energetic nature of most of their music to create one of few I felt were decent.

**Four Stars**

11. "Why Don't You get A Job?"

You find that after a few intense tracks, there are seen to calm things down significantly on this one to bring a bit of variety to the album with this single. It is a tune that seems to come out of nowhere and doesn't seem to fit the direction of the album up to this point, as they are seen to bring in a little Ska to the mix, but I though that the confused mixture was brought together in a very poor manner.

**One Star**

12. "Americana"

The eponymous track to the album has them getting down to a fun tune where they seem to make a tune that brings all the essential elements of the album together in a manner that seems fitting to represent the sorts of things you get on the record for a song that isn't really of a massively-low standard, but isn't really all too good, but is sure to include their humour and extreme liveliness of the record.

**Two Stars**

13. "Pay The Man"

They end the album off with an epic track (lasting over ten minutes) and it sees that the band get another chance to experiment with a few other things, and give the listeners an opportunity to experience this too by bringing them into this jam session as they go through a variety of differing styles and approaches through the tune and do as many as you would expect, for a band who pack in short tracks with lots of energy, and then do longer and calmer tunes too).

**Two Stars**

I felt that really, there was very little for me as Punk Rock just isn't my thing, but others are likely to see this album in a different light. I could pick out a couple of decent tunes amongst it all, but really it all felt a bit samey and the experiments didn't seem to go well at any point during the record.

Summary: The Offspring's fifth album