Offspring - Conspiracy of One

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The Offspring, along with fellow punk rockers Green Day, made their mark on the music industry back in 1994, by introducing punk to mainstream audiences. The Offspring's third album, Smash, boasted by the hit radio singles "Come Out and Play", "Self Esteem", and "Gotta Get Away" Smash became one of the biggest selling independent records ever. The band followed with their 1997 major label debut Ixnay on the Hombre, which sold relatively poorly. The band wasted no time getting back into the studio and in 1998 released Americana. The odd ball first single "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" got heavy radio and MTV play and put the Offspring back into the lime light. With their newest disc "Conspiracy of One" seems to be made to keep them their.

The album was originally set to be released to fans free online, about two weeks prior to the release of the album, to prove to record execs that online mp3 trading, with The Offspring support, doesn't in any way hurt album sales. However Sony Music quickly stepped in and ended any hope of that happening, or so they thought, no sooner than the album was finished every song was available for download from every poor college students best friend: Napster.

The CD opens with a short spoken intro before ripping into the first song on the disc “Come Out Swinging” which is exactly what the track does, with it’s pummeling bassline and all out guitar attack lasting all two and a half minutes of the song. Next up is the first single “Original Prankster” which was offered as a free download on The Offsprings official website along with the download fans where entered in a million dollar give away contest. With it’s Latin-tinged percussion and horns it’s very different from the other songs on the album following novelty song trend of Americana single “Pretty Fly.” Next up is the power-pop of “Want You Bad” where frontman Dexter Holland sings about how he wants his girlfriend to have more attitude and be, well…bad. “Million Miles Away”, “Dammit, I Changed Again”, and “Living in Chaos” are more of the same basic predictable pop-punk, not necessarily a bad thing, but nothing that stands out. “Special Delivery” a song from the viewpoint of a stalker watching over his prey and how she is going to fall for him is a great song until about two minutes come samples of the "ooga chacka ooga chacka" chant from Blue Swede's 1974 hit, "Hooked on a Feeling” which for me pretty much ruins a great song. “One Fine Day” is the standard shout along three chord punk song with a guitar riff that for some reason or another reminds me of the theme song from the tv show “King of the Hill”.

The track “Denial Revisted” is another track that stuck out to me, it’s not a novelty song or a straight ahead punk song like most of the other tracks on the album. It’s a mid-tempo song about a couple in the midst of a break up and the subject of the songs denial of the break up. “Vultures” is the exact lyrical opposite. It tells the story of a couple trapped in a relationship neither is happy in, but either they don’t know how to end it or don’t want to end it. The title track “Conspiracy of One” is more of the same straight forward punk which The Offspring seem content on playing on this album which is a shame because when they decide to branch out on tracks like “Denial” and “Vultures” the songs turn out really great.

Overall the album seems like two types of songs done over and over, the goofy radio single, or the straight laced punk-pop that the band seems comfortable with, maybe to comfortable with.


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