The Offspring
Conspiracy of One
Label: Columbia
Genre: Rock
File Under: One is the loneliest number
Rating: 62

The Offspring tried to get this one out to the public early by allowing the album to be downloaded on the Internet — in its entirety — for free, but, not surprisingly, Columbia put a hasty end to that tack. Instead, Offspring faithful whetted their appetites with the free download of the song "Original Prankster" (which also netted downloaders a chance to win a $1 million prize).

If only the album were as intriguing as the machinations behind it. There's not much fat here, but there's not much meat and bone, either. If the Offspring, still the most successful of all the latter-day Southern California punkers, once had interest in teasing and amusing its fans, it has largely hidden those qualities this time around.

Seven years ago, singer-guitarist Dexter Holland and the band made their mark with a double-barreled blast of fun. Sporting a razor-sharp guitar riff and the simplest, and catchiest, drum fill ever, "Come Out and Play" became a party-brawl anthem, while the self-deprecating "Self-Esteem" showed just how funny and clever punk rock can be. On its last album, Americana, the hit single "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" took the group's ability with humor and added a whole new musically snide element to it.

Here, though, the Offspring step back into angry kid territory, with the shades drawn, headphones on and cranked, and prospects grim. Its guitar-bass-drums attack remains lean and potent, as on the opening "Come Out Swinging" and the galloping "Dammit, I Changed Again," but the prospects for fun are somewhat limited on this disc. Only the double entendre of "Want You Bad" ("Complete me/ Mistreat me/ I want you to be bad") and the riot-as-party, polka-punk explosion of "One Fine Day" really offer cause for celebration.

Over the years, Holland has become a more controlled singer, which may be good for his vocal cords, but it has led to drier, less character-filled performances from him. The rough, slightly out of tune charm of "Come Out and Play" has been replaced by the straightforward yelp of "Special Delivery," and it's not as interesting. Ultimately, Conspiracy of One, while strong in spots, is best left for hardcore fans.

By Bob Remstein, from Wall Of Sound