The Offspring’s career really began to take off after the release of this album. Prior to this release, the band was unknown, even in the USA. They were really struggling for focus and a bunch of hits. This album sparked some good fortune for the band and is their best album overall in retrospect, loved by both fans and some critics alike. Let’s hear this album and see if it stands up to its worth in the 21st century, sometime after being recorded and released.

Bad Habit begins with some clanging bass guitar melodies that are very groovy, yet odd. Some overdriven guitars then follow, and some rather pitchy singing enters. This is extremely suspenseful and different. Soon enough it launches into a song about driving fast cars and being outrageous in doing so. This is reasonably good, although this is somewhat Grungy in its appeal, rather than being Punk music per se. A good tune about youthful rebellion, this does sound really cool. An enjoyable listening experience, it breaks down into a lone vocal section with loads of profane swearing, before launching back into the music at hand. Not the most original styling here, but it works okay musically. The playing and sense of rhythm save this from being total mediocrity, and it concludes after a few minutes of intense music.

Gotta Get Away begins with some groove based and catchy drumming, more clanging bass guitar and a strange music atmosphere, even as the electric guitars enter. Some heavy guitar riffs follow in this piece. More whiny and nasal vocals enter from Dexter Holland, and this tune is very indebted to Grunge, more so than Punk anyway. The chorus here is really good and deals with mental anguish. Teenagers of all sorts should enjoy this sort of music, and it does have that youthful appeal. This is one of the better pieces of music from this album and is worth hearing if you are a fan of the band. A powerful statement in many different ways, but one can still appreciate this. A really enjoyable listening experience from this album, it does help if you are young and angry listening to this album.

Genocide begins with some nicely palm-muted guitars, thrashy drums and more of the same. Unfortunately, this album isn’t the greatest Punk album ever by this point, and all the songs sound a little too indebted to Grunge for some to enjoy. Having said that, this is another good listening experience about the nature and power of those in the public eye. A good piece of melodic music, this is okay as a tune, especially lyrically. Granted, this hasn’t aged super well, but it has some interesting musicality about it, including a breakdown and build-up that sounds psychotic. A social commentary on the human condition, some will love this, and others will not. Possibly enjoyable anyway. It has a twist at the end as well.

Something To Believe In begins with more Punk/Grungy guitars and has an unusual sense of melody about it. A better song that is more straightforward, but more of the same. The Offspring, even at their best could have done better at their craft. Regardless, another good but not great piece of music with hollered vocal harmonies. A loud, intense and more textural than musical tune, this has some interesting whammy guitar work and vocal breakdown over bass guitar playing. This music is a bit of a chore to get through at times, but still, nowhere near as bad as later work by The Offspring. That says a lot. The drumming at the end is good, however.

Come Out And Play begins with some unusual percussion sounds and some unusual guitar riffing, launching into a very quirky and weirdly melodic tune. It is an interesting listen that is a standout on this album for its musical weirdness. A loud, interesting and punchy tune about human nature, the melody played on the electric guitar is very weird. A very energetic sounding track, this is fairly limited in its appeal. Mind numbingly dull, even for a track like this, there is very little appeal in this music. It’s okay but barely passable. Enough to hit the snooze button, this is lame. Avoidable.

Self Esteem begins with some rather drunkened sounding chanting, followed by a heavy guitar riff. This is followed by some intricate bass guitar playing and launches into a piece of music about emotional issues with a woman. Weird tune and probably self-parody for The Offspring, it’s interesting listening nonetheless. A catchy piece of odd musicality, it is one of the better tunes about a one-night stand here. Great to listen to, and a good tune to hear at drunkened house parties, but aside from that, this is fairly naff when heard sober. Interesting music and plotline, but otherwise a four minute long drag. A naff tune.

It’ll Be A Long Time is a faster number with banging Hardcore Punk styled drums and less-than-inspired music present. Electrifying, trashy and annoying sounding, The Offspring aren’t the greatest Punk group ever. Still, this is an interesting tune to listen to about more emotional issues. In the second half, this tune slows down and gets more intense, and speeds up again predictably. This is interesting? It is enough to make one fall asleep. Another ordinary tune to hear.

Killboy Powerhead is an unusual sounding tune that, again, is more about sonic textures and sounds rather than an actual good song. A weird and odd tune, it sounds really out there. Another piece of music that lacks inspiration and is more of the same, this album probably can be stopped by now. A naff, throw away and rubbish tune that probably can be tossed away in the history of music, it is fortunately quite short at two minutes long. Ordinary.

What Happened To You? begins with a drum stick clacked intro, before launching into a lame piece of self-parody musically by The Offspring. This is supposed to be good Punk music? It doesn’t sound great at all for this style of music. The whole album comes across as a stupid and lame joke from the USA to the rest of the world. There is a weird guitar solo throughout before this tune resumes its mediocrity. An interesting listen to musically, despite the fact it is music for try-hards. Rubbish.

So Alone is a minute long. It’s just Hardcore Punk blah, with a Whole Lotta Love rip-off feel to it. Again, this is trite. Not worth your ears, just hit stop and go and do something better with your time. Pretty awful. The outro is shockingly bad.

Not The One begins with some clean Surf Rock style guitar parts, launching quickly into another song that is lame and stupid. This album really lacks anything decent about it by this point, and it is quite awful to hear. If you have sat through this whole album until now, you have patience throughout rubbish music. The guitar riffs are good, and that’s about it. Nothing else worth mentioning here, enough to put one to sleep. It is a “blame someone else” for society’s ills in a song, but the music is rubbish anyway, so who cares? Forgettable.

Smash begins with the sound of drumsticks clicking and enters into a 10 minute drag musically. It’s a slight improvement over the last few songs but still sounds extremely blah. Another song that makes zero sense to the listener, this is incredibly nonsense with some explicit lyrics throughout. This tune changes after a minute or so into something quite unusual, before speeding back up into the song at hand. A pathetic piece of music, this is enough to chuck the album out of your collection into the trashcan. The voiceover dude from the intro returns, and this is quickly followed by some drumming, guitar riffs and more mediocre music. A very dispirited listen, this musical section is gradually faded out. This is followed by silence for some time like we want to experience that. After the nine minute mark is a quiet drum and percussion part, followed by the melody part from Come Out And Play. This is played in different octaves and multitracked, with some variations on the original melody. Pretty weird, it is an unusual listen which doesn’t really need to be here. But it is. The album fades out here and finally concludes.

This isn’t the greatest album of all time, that is for sure. It may be the greatest album that The Offspring made, but even so, there is a very 2D-styled appeal to this musically. For fans of most musical styles, this will be very hard to get into or understand. Avoid this release regardless, there isn’t that much that is good about it, sadly. A great band on paper, a dull bore in reality. The less said about this album, the better.

Dumbed-down Punk music that you can fall asleep to.

3/10