The Decline (but it's still damn good) (Conspiracy Of One - Offspring)

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Product:	Conspiracy Of One - Offspring
Date:	31/12/00 (40 review reads)
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Advantages: Best bad on the planet, Variation, Some cool drawings, and a CD Extra option.

Disadvantages: Not as good as some of their old stuff (but still better than "Americana.")

The Offspring have recently become very popular due to the release of both this album (their newest) and Americana (their 1998 album), which would usually imply that they had sold out. Well I'm afraid to admit that they have, although (as you will know if you've read my opinions on all their other albums) they are still my favourite band.

Their rise to fame after the singles "Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem" from their third album "Smash" charted made them well known to the general punk rock public as a damn fine band, as did their less popular (but possibly better) follow-up album, "Ixnay on the Hombre." But with "Americana" they decided to opt for a more pop-punk feel to most of their songs, and released the singles "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)"- a song that has a good riff but vocals that might as well have rapped, and "Why Don't You Get a Job?" (which is the absolute worst song the band have ever produced, and is worse than the stuff I scrape off my shoe). The album's less popular singles ("The Kids Aren't Alright" and "She's Got Issues") were both damn good songs, but were probably released through guilt.

By the time this album came out in late 2000, the band were widely known through many genres, and the single "Original Prankster" (possibly the worst song off this album) charted once again. The next single to be released came out earlier this year, and was "Want You Bad," which is actually one of my favourite songs off the album, and I have recently seen the video to "Million Miles Away," which is also fantastic. If you ask me, "One Fine Day" is a pretty good bet for the album's fourth single (which I assume will come out later this year). Although this album is one of the band's poorest, there are lots of great songs, and a lot of variation in songs which is something that was
(for the most part) lacking in "Americana."

The album runs releatively short at forty minutes, but since the average length of Offspring songs is under three minutes, and there are thirteen songs, this is good value for money, although I believe that since "Americana" the band have begun to decline in greatness, although this album is better than the previous one overall.

The intro lasts for a record five seconds (their shortest track yet), and features Mike Love from "The Beach Boys- the Lost Concert", announcing "When we're ready to sing we step up to the microphones, and it comes out something like this".

Track two begins fantastically loudly, and is the amazing song "Come Out Swinging." An amazing tune and some prominent drumming make this song one of the album's best. The song is about someone who denies socialisation to himself, and who keeps himself from the world, seemingly against his own will. ("Midnight, no sleep, Inside, you scream to, No-one hears you fall, Daylight, prove me today.")

Track three is the light relief of "Original Prankster", a rather poor song (that features rapper Redman) but that is good for when you feel like a change. It is about a pranking kid, but I can't dislike it as the single was the first Offspring song I owned, and it was played to extinction. ("Crime crime, rockin' like Janet Reno, Time time, eighteen and life in Chino...")

"Want You Bad" is a happy, energetic song, and one of my favourites of the album, if not my very favourite. A great guitar tune accompanies the lyrics about some guy with a mild fetish for his girlfriend to be clad in leathers, and to generally be bad. It's great fun! ("I want you all tattoed, I want you bad. Complete me, mistreat me, I want you bad.")

"Million Miles Away" has a cool riff opening before the main song begins
. The song is another of the best off the album, but isn't as good as "Want You Bad." The song is the tale of someone who has left home, and has now realised his folly, and wants to return. ("Been far and wide but that hole inside never really leaves. When I went away what I really left, left behind was ME."

The most popular song among owners of this album in general is fantastic, and is track six- "Dammit, I Changed Again." It's fast and exciting, and wouldn't be out of place as a Buffy the Vampire slayer soundtrack, or something of that type. The song has a great tune and great vocals, with one of the best Offspring choruses in existence. It's the story of a guy who notices the world changing around him, and who himself inevitably becomes affected every time. ("Start a fight I can't defend, one more time, dammit- I changed again.") Actually, I've just convinced myself of how great this song is- it's now my favourite off the album.

"Living in Chaos" (track seven) is an attempt to be different that I appreciate, but I don't think the song is amazing. It's a slow song that seems to be sung in Nirvana style, and is about... well, living in chaos generally, where nothing makes sense. ("Somewhere along the line things get chipped away. This place keeps going down- gets a little worse every day.")

Track eight is another different song, "Special Delivery." It has a great choris which causes it to be another of my favourites (in case you haven't realised, about half the album's songs are my favourites, but it is true). The riff is cool, as are the vocals, although there is a dodgy out take from Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling"- it's quite noticeable even if you don't know who they are. It's the weird caveman-style noises. The lyrics are about a demented man who watches someone every day, and is told by voic
es in his head to kill someone. ("It'll blow you away- you're gonna fall for me. And the voices told me to blow you away.")

Track nine is as happy as the album gets, with the incredibly fast-paced "One Fine Day," a tale about a football (or should that technically be "soccer?") game, and how to generally have a cool, law-evading day. It's a great song. ("On that day before we're through we could torch a car or two- then have ourselves another tall boy.")

Track ten is the most unoriginal song on the album, and is nothing we haven't heard before. It does have a cool tune though, and very good vocals, as well as "Smash"-reminiscent guitar squeaks. It's the tale of someone who kept quiet, even though what he knew could have prevented something from occuring. ("Deep inside secret's burning. Should have known all the while what's true.")

Track eleven is my worst on the album, and is very slow and sad. The longest song on the album at four minutes, "Denial, Revisited" is about some people who have recently split up. If you like Nirvana you should like this, even though it's not much like that band (but my friend's a huge Nirvana fan and he thinks this is the best song on the album even though he really likes regular Offspring style, so there must be some truth in my reasoning). ("And if you go I won't believe that it's forever. And you can go but I'll never leave, 'cause it's not over.")

Now if you want something that does sound like it's ripped off Nirvana, "Vultures"' excellent tune (it's another of my favourites by the way) sounds uncannily like the Nirvana hit single "Come As You Are." The riff is constantly in this grunge style, and it's one of the album's better "risky" tracks (that is, tracks that break from the tried-and-tested Offspring mediu
m). The song is about death, and about vultures waiting around for the inevitable. It's not a very happy song, as you can tell. ("And in the sun a loaded gun makes for conversation, all the while in denial it's too late for me to change.") I love this song's lyrics.

The final official song on the album, the title-track "Conspiracy of One" races into action with its cool riff and powerful vocals. if it were longer, it would be a candidate for my favourite song on the album, but as it is it only lasts around two minutes, if that. It's about a lone person causing corruption and anarchy at the highest level, with others powerless to stop him. ("Red over white, it's one last fatal scene, brought on by someone unseen, moving on their own.")

Track fourteen is apparently a "bonus track": bull poo, it's on every version of the album, and is to promote the Offspring's home video. Entitled "Huck It" (the same as the video), the song is quite good, and is the only event of proper swearing on the whole album. (If you don't count Original Prankster's "you know it smells like sh**" line.) It's alright, but the home video;s not worth buying unless you're a really dedicated fan (I bought it).

The artwork is even better than that of Americana, and each song has a page devoted to it, which is great. The drawings were produced by Alan Forbes, who kicks bottom at his job. I also love the front cover. The album is also the only Offspring album to have an "Enhanced CD" option, which means you can stick it in your computer for extra options. The best of these is the chance to see all four music videos (in full) off Americana, but it's definitely worth a look.

Although their older stuff is better, this album does appeal to a wide variety of people, and is definitely worth the money. A great buy.

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