Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

conspiracy of one

take me to the main page




The Offspring,
"Conspiracy of One" (Columbia)
***

Rock There are really two Offsprings. One is the obnoxious pop band that panders to the lowest common denominator and courts MTV's "Total Request Live" with frat-boy anthems and novelty rap-rock hits like "Come Out and PLay ( Keep 'Em Separated)" and "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)," which propelled 1994's "Smash" (1994) and "Ixnay on the hombre" (1998) to combined sales of some 20 million worldwide.

That Offspring is back on "Original Prankster," the single from the platinum punks' 6th album, "Conspiracy of One." As led by Dexter Holland, Offspring might be the most annoying band in rock today- a carefully calculated sellout that makes Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys look like artists of great integrity.

The other Offspring always has been an ultra-melodic punk band whose buzzsaw rhythms and sing-along choruses fit in a grand tradition that includes stoopid fun groups like the Damned, Sham 69 and even Chicago's Naked Raygun. If you use you CD player's program button to delete "Original Prankster" and some of the slower tunes, that Offspring is in ample evidence here on rip-roaring rockers such as " Come Out Swinging," "Million Miles Away" (not the plimsouls song), "Want You Bad" and "All Along." And it's good to have them back.


By Jim DeRogatis, from Chicago Sun-Times newspaper - November 14th, 2000