Theres nothing 'Pretty Fly' about the Offsprings 1989 debut (The Offspring - Offspring)

Member Name: xchococatx

Product:	The Offspring - Offspring
Date:	08/07/01 (287 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Youthful and energetic, Unproduced and raw, Catchy but offbeat at the same time

Disadvantages: Dated sound, Different to the new sound

kay, so pretty much everybody under the sun who takes nay interest in music has heard one track by the OFFSPRING - The grunge kids all listened to 'Self Esteem' aswell as Nirvana, and the nu-metal fans have Americana nestled neatly next to Papa Roach in their CD collection. But contrary to popular belief the Offspring didn't just appear in 1998 with 'Pretty Fly'. Their earliest release was their self titled album ->

THE OFFSPRING.

Originally released circa 1989, this came out when the Offspring were touring their native Orange County playing to "10 people a night - mostly support bands and their girlfriends" (Dexters words). Originally featuring hideous schlock 80's metal-style artwork (some long haired guy complete with alien and band equipment exploding from his stomach - if you can find it cheap, pick it up!) which the band these days would rather forget, recorded on a pittance at South Coast Recording. When Dexter and Greg started their Nitro records label, one of the first released albums was 'The Offspring'. New artwork, 11 tracks of punk rock - not hardcore, not pop but old school style punk.

The sound is raw - dont expect the million dollar production of their recent smash albums, and Dexters vocals, trademark whiny, are nasal and show up his lack of vocal talent. The music is a sum of many of their influences - X Ray Specs, Bad Religion, Minor Threat and especially the Dead Kennedys (vocalist Jello Biafra who Dexter frequently wrote to, and later lent his voice to the intro for the 'Ixnay On The Hombre' album). But what the album does show is an early representation the Offspring characteristic ultra catchy choruses, Noodles' blues tinged solos (from which he gained his name, 'noodling' on his guitar) and their punchy energetic sound. Mistakes are present, but this adds to the dirty punk charm, echoing back to the '79 hey-day 'dont care' punk attitude. Nods
from the early straight edge hardcore punk movement with big gang choruses, and their now trademark 'whoa-oh' back up vocals are all belted out to add texture to the sound.

Lyrics wise, when I picked up the album (the first CD I ever bought!) there was a sticke ron the front:

"Warning: This CD contains lyrics which some might find habit forming"

Maybe this is a little tongue in cheek, but for a little 8 year old just having heard the new single, the lyrical content might be a bit disturbing: whether its comment on child rape ('Jennifer Lost The War'), devil worship and sacrifice ('Demons'), decapitation of everyone you know ('Beheaded') and killing the president ('Kill The President' suprisingly enough). The lyrics are standard punk fare from there on (hate your parents, stick with your friends, popular kids at school getting their commupance) but are competant, raw, youthful and complement the music well.

Track By Track -

'Jennifer Lost The War' kicks off with a heavy moody tribal drum beat with Dexter harsh opening lyrics 'Jennifer lost the war today, they'll find her burned and raped' before kicking into a powerful verse and a break down chorus. 'Elders' follows, a little slower but with a hard edged chorus, followed by the acoustic intro of 'Out On Patrol'- kicking in with a brutal modern day skate punk riff and dual guitar overlays, the Offspring showing their distain for war. 'Crossroads' nods to an early Megadeth/Anthrax which a spiralling verse, with pre-chorus after pre-chorus thats just gets better and better - musically one of the stand out tracks on the album. 'Demons' (A Mexican Fiesta) one of the best tracks on the album, beautifully level and Noodles lead guitar asides reallt completement the song well, never leaving a dull moment. 'Beheaded' recently re-recorded for the film 'Idle Hands'
(see what their early stuff sounds like wit a budget!) - fun, angry and youthful and (hopefully) tongue in cheek ("Watch my girlfriend come to the door, chop off her head, she falls on the floor, whatching my babys jugular flow really makes my motor go"). 'Tehran' was the first single released but origianlly called 'Baghdad' - written during the Gulf War, it shows the earliest attempts at the ethnic guitar riffs they later favoured with songs such as 'Pay The Man'. Quite possibly the best track on the album, with still one of the best intros to any song Ive ever heard. 'A Thousand Days' follows - probably on of the low points on the album, but by no means a bad song...just not totally world changing. 'Blackball' is a bit of an oddity reminds me of very old scool hardcore slowed down a bit with a chorus in which Dexter seems to try and cram as many words as possible. 'I'll Be Waiting' is another classic song starting wit an old school rock intro and pluging into an awesome verse riff with a brilliant chorus mouthpiecing teenage inadquacy and lifes day to day problems. The most simple, but effective song on the album. Finally 'Kill The President' finishes off te album in impecably style : first line "In a world without leaders, who'd start all our wars?" wether serious or not, the heaviest song on the album, featuring the big Iron Maiden solo and jarring intro/mid song crescendo: this is one song i would love to see them play on stage these days. "Kill the president, kill the president, kill the president, kill the president now!"



Final Comment:

So if your deciding wether to buy this album : do you like the offspring? can you listen with an open mind? If your Offspring 'Americana' CD is more at home with the likes of Ricky Martin and Britney Spears, this album is not for you. This album is gritty and dirty but still holds all their current
charm - just look past the 11 year old backyard production and you'll find a gem on an album - perhaps classic. And if you dont have much knowledge in this music, its a great start to old school punk aswell as new wave and the skate punk sound

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