 conspiracy of one
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 Conspiracy Of One Of course purists hate them. But what do purists know? Over 20 million record sales in and The Offspring have sneaked up and become one of the worldıs biggest bands. They've managed this with an increasingly confident set of albums released since '95's breakthrough third album 'Smash', which has gone on to become the biggest selling independent selling album of all time. There was '97's relatively flat 'Ixnay On the Hombre' which "only" sold 4 million and then 'Americana', the record that reestablished them as the kings of the punchy pop punk anthem and sent them soaring back to the big mega bucks league. On 'Conspiracy Of One' The Offspring have further consolidated their grip on the three minute fuzzbox salvo; the record is stuffed with great songs from the current single 'Original Prankster' (which is 'Pretty Fly' revisited, only better) to a machine gun series of fast yet daytime radio punk pieces. On 'Prankster' they've got that zig zagging riff, killa chorus thing nailed down now and have nicked a few flavours from seventies street funk maestros War to give the whole damn track a real cool feel. This eclecticism is what serves the band well. It gives them a multi cultural LA street vibe, a hot, sunny, good time swagger through the City Of Angels only this time from a punk rock perspective channelling the city's multi ethnic booming soundtrack through a fuzzbox and a brash punk rock swagger. This is what The Offspring are great at, cross pollinating their muse with different styles but still holding true to the key principles of pop punk, you know...power chords, great melody, tons of energy and a powerful sound. They still remember to bring along some great tunes, Dexter Holland's voice has never sounded so good, track after track oozes hit potential but still packs a pogotastic punch, every tune will be blowing venues apart on whatever never ending world tour the band embark on in the next couple of years. By John Robb, from Playlouder - November 6, 2000 |
