The Offspring were a cheesy west coast USA Punk rock band. They had many hit singles and loyal fans to their name. This is their greatest hits, so let’s take a listen, see what we have here.

We begin with Can’t Repeat which begins with a bass riff and some electric guitars effects, before going into a loud and raw sound melancholy piece. It’s about the future, so to speak. It’s a fairly straightforward sounding song, good start to the record here.

Next is Come Out And Play (Keep ‘Em Separated) which is another melodic piece which is quite good. It has some somewhat Mexican sounding guitar parts in terms of melodic scales. It’s raw and uncompromising, which most music today is not. Good effort.

Self Esteem begins with some la-la-las before the riffs kick in, and is about relationship issues. It’s a fairly catchy tune, and is an interesting listen for a love centered pop song. The bassline throughout is well played and excellent. A good but not great piece about a girl who sleeps around.

Gotta Get Away begins with a drum riff and some basslines to match, before going into another jam based Punk rock piece. The music here so far is pretty uninspired, although the singing here is very good. It sounds pretty monotonous and ordinary. The lyrics are good, about dealing with personal demons at hand.

Next is All I Want is about the levers of dictatorship in the corridors of power. It’s an ordinary and pretty meh sort of song. To this point in the compilation, the music is pretty disappointing, sadly. Short and rubbish.

Following is Gone Away which is another mediocre sounding piece that just doesn’t sound really good. The chorus is supposed to be uplifting, but isn’t. It just falls flat. The melodies are okay, but that is about it. A terrible song, which gets worse to hear as it goes along.

Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) is pure cheese. It’s a better, if not serious, song about a dopey sort of guy who doesn’t just get it. It was a hit single at the time, and is a fairly memorable song. Apart from the notoriety of this song, it’s a laughable song to hear lyric wise. An okay pop song.

Why Don’t You Get A Job is basically a right wing sort of statement (ironically) about a guy’s partner who is lazy and doesn’t want to work. It has some good production to it, but is simply a joke of a song, literally and metaphorically. Good, but not great.

Next is The Kids Aren’t Alright which is an awful sounding piece from the start. It’s about the disappointments that life brings to others, and honestly sounds really bad. Worth skipping if you have time to do so, or avoid completely if you can. Depressing rubbish.

After that is Original Prankster which is actually quite good and catchy, likely the best song that The Offspring ever did. It’s a statement of intent by the group, and sounds pretty good. Some quirky lyrics are here, and this piece is very listenable.

Want You Bad is an uptempo piece about wanting a girl “bad”, so to speak. It’s an interesting song that is okay, but really good by The Offspring’s low standards. That’s the thing, these guys lowered the bar for music, not raised it. Another ordinary and fairly forgettable song.

Defy You is really bad from the start, and this is a semi-heavy metal groove that really doesn’t work. By this point, grabbing your head and banging it against the wall is seemingly what one must do to enjoy this music. Not good or memorable at all, just like the rest of the music on this compilation.

Next is Hit That which is pretty awful, particularly in the chorus. It’s about sexual desire, but honestly these songs are so ordinary, who really cares? There are some weird keyboard parts here as well, and just goes to show that extra production doesn’t make a song great.

After that (Can’t Get My) Head Around You is another ordinary statement by The Offspring. It’s nothing really good here, and the piece is just not good. Obviously The Offspring don’t really have a good ear for music, even if it is Punk rock. Rubbish.

The Kids Aren’t Alright (Full Mix) – The Wiseguys Remix which is a weird sort of remix of the tune earlier in this compilation. It just goes to show that, no matter what, you cannot improve an original song simply by remixing it on its own. The original was bad enough, this is just stupid. Depressing.

Next To You finishes this ordinary compilation and has some good singing in it, but aside from that, is another forgettable song. It sounds pretty horrible really. Fortunately, music like this can be easily avoided, and should be.

This…is not a greatest hits album that one can enjoy easily. It shows an ordinary sounding Punk rock band attempt to deliver something worthwhile and falling well short of impressing others. Never mind, Green Day and Blink 182 were much better at these sort of songs, so check them out instead.

Rubbish.

4/10