Hair bands all had been exterminated. And the gloom-fuelled grunge movement was losing its lustre. What we now needed was a fresh record — a fun record — a ROCK record. And 25 years ago this week (April 8, 1994) those kids from Orange County, the Offspring, filled that prescription perfectly with the release of their third offering, Smash. From Ron Welty’s rib-cracking snare fill intro to Noodles’ initial heart-stopping guitar riffage on the opening track, “Nitro,” it became clear in very short order that this record was exactly what the doctor ordered. Then came the distinctive vocal of frontman Dexter Holland — holy crap, this is amazing!
Overseen by perennial producer Thom Wilson (Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion, Social Distortion) and energized by the infectious FM staples, “Come Out and Play” and “Self Esteem,” Smash was a “smash,” indeed — becoming the first million-seller for famed indie punk label, Epitaph Records. In fact, peaking at #4 on the Billboard chart, the 14-track disc would go on to sell an astounding 11 million copies worldwide. Credited for paving the way for today’s popular pop-punk genre, Smash sounded brash and honest, yet at the same time, it somehow felt friendly. Even when Holland becomes seeming consumed by road rage in “Bad Habit” and proclaims, “You stupid dumb shit goddamn motherfucker!” he comes across as less than threatening. The equally hooky “Gotta Get Away” and “Something to Believe In” combined with the ska-flavoured “What Happened to You?” and the crunchy record-closing title track added fire to one of the most irresistible sensations of the steamy summer of ‘94. And although the Offspring continue to enjoy massive success, Smash still stands tall as arguably the band’s quintessential set — a self-contained “Best Of” collection.
Christopher Long
Ripped to MP3
1. Time To Relax – 0:25
2. Nitro (Youth Energy) – 2:27
3. Bad Habit – 3:43
4. Gotta Get Away – 3:52
5. Genocide – 3:33
6. Something To Believe In – 3:17
7. Come Out And Play – 3:17
8. Self Esteem – 4:17
9. It’ll Be A Long Time – 2:43
10. Killboy Powerhead – 2:02
11. What Happened To You? – 2:12
12. So Alone – 1:17
13. Not The One – 2:54
14. Smash – 10:42
Nice post A.J. and great writing! You beat me to the punch as I have been collecting a few of their CD's from Goodwill for a post. I still vividly remember playing my one and only 'Paintball' games with a bunch of folks my age from work at a US location of a German engineering product small company that steamy 94 summer and "Come Out And Play' started the shooting match with our shipping clerk in red hair buzz cut looking like someone in the band getting so damn excited when that song came on that the paint balls were flying left and right as the game began staining our puny cover walls. I'll kick back and see if I can find more at Goodwill as I go most days on my lunch break. Cheers@
ReplyDeleteAny FLAC copies will be most welcome ;-)
DeleteI don't like FLAC because I have to turn it into MP3 for my car. Do cars play FLAC now? Just curious..
DeleteI doubt the car CD player will tolerate FLAC. I have a bunch of their early tapes in MP3 along with their debut album, if you want them
DeleteThat would be cool to add to the post if you had time, I can check back here for the link. THanks AJ
ReplyDeleteYou'll be able to add a further nine albums/tapes plus SMASH in mp3 > https://www.mediafire.com/file/jj872nsst4cauxg/The+Offspring.rar/file
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