| The Offspring |
Article Index for The Offspring |
Shopping Offspring |
Articles about The Offspring |
Website Links For Offspring |
Information AboutThe Offspring |
The Offspring (sometimes referred to as simply "Offspring") is a popular American band from Orange County, California which formed in 1984. The band currently consists of Dexter Holland (lead vocals, guitar), Noodles (guitar, backing vocals), Greg K. (bass, backing vocals), and Pete Parada (drums). Since their 1994 album ''," " Self Esteem ," and " Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) ". In addition to ''Smash'', their next three albums, '' Ixnay On The Hombre ,'' '' Americana ,'' and '' Conspiracy Of One '', have each received Platinum Certification . The Offspring at Rockonthenet.com, obtained January 27, 2007. The Offspring has sold over 32 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk acts of all time. The band is credited, along with fellow California Punk bands Green Day and Rancid , with reviving popular interest in Punk Rock in the United States during the mid 1990s.DeRogatis, Jim. ''Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's''. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. Pg. 357, ISBN 0-306-81271-1 BAND HISTORY Early years (1984–1987) The Offspring was formed in 1984 by guitarist , obtained January 27, 2007. and Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman , the school janitor was welcomed into the band, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase Alcohol for Holland and Kriesel, both of whom were under the legal drinking age. The band used Thompson's friend, Jim Benton, as their drummer. Thompson was forced out of the band, while Benton left. This led to Holland taking over on vocals, and James Lilja joining as the drummer. The band changed their name to "The Offspring" in 1985. In 1987, the band released their first , who was only 16 years old at the time. Interview with Ron Welty , from Tama Drums and Hardware, obtained January 27, 2007. Early releases: ''The Offspring'' and ''Ignition'' (1988–1992) In 1988, The Offspring signed a recording deal with a small-time label, Nemesis Records. With Producer Thom Wilson, the band recorded their debut album, simply titled '' The Offspring '', which was released in 1989. The album was released in limited amounts by the label, only in a 12" Vinyl format. The CD release of the album would not surface until 1995. In 1991, The Offspring teamed up with Wilson again to produce the '' Baghdad '' 7" EP. This EP was instrumental to the band's signing with Epitaph Records . Wilson had been trying to get The Offspring to switch to Epitaph, a label run by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz . Gurewitz felt that ''The Offspring'' was just not quite pronounced enough for his label, but ''Baghdad'' convinced him to give the band a shot. Wilson and The Offspring entered the studio again and recorded '' Ignition ''. Released in 1992, ''Ignition'' exceeded all of the label's and band's expectations. The band went on tour for the next two years with other punk bands such as Pennywise , and ska punk bands like No Doubt and Voodoo Glow Skulls . Mainstream success with ''Smash'' (1993–1995) When The Offspring returned to the studio to work on their third album in 1993, the band's relations with producer Thom Wilson had begun to strain. The band released what would become their biggest selling CD, titled '' Smash '' (1994). Fueled by the hit singles " Come Out And Play ," " Self Esteem ," and " Gotta Get Away ," this album set the all-time record for most units sold by an independent label band at 14 million records. Holland credits Seattle -based Grunge band Nirvana for creating the environment which allowed The Offspring to succeed. After the release of ''Smash,'' and armed with a newly expanded income, the band decided to buy out the rights to their first album. Holland and Greg K then created their own record label, Nitro Records , and started signing bands. One of their first releases was a re-release of their first album ''The Offspring''. The label also signed a number of punk bands including AFI , The Vandals , and Guttermouth . Soon after Nitro Records became solely Dexter's responsibility. Rise in popularity (1996–2002) After ''Smash'' and the subsequent two years of touring, Wilson, who during the ''Smash'' studio sessions criticized the direction of the band's music as straying away from punk, was fired. Around the same time, the band left Epitaph and signed with Columbia Records , allegedly because they were offended by an insurance policy that Brett Gurewitz had taken out on the band. Epitaph sued, claiming that the band had not fulfilled its contract. The settlement was an estimated $2 million and the rights to all European single sales. Most fans of The Offspring thought that the move to Columbia was purely for financial gain; to this day the band still deny that charge. After the ''Smash'' tour finally ended in late 1995, The Offspring began writing and recording their fourth album, titled ''," " Gone Away ," and, "I Choose." The video for "I Choose" was directed by Holland himself. The band believe that when ''Ixnay...'' came out that the fans were expecting "Smash Part Two" (in their own words) which is why they moved away from their former style. In 1998, The Offspring released ''," and " Why Don't You Get A Job ," became the bands two biggest hits, both charting in the ARC Top 40 and making the album the peak of The Offspring's mainstream popularity. In 1999, the band appeared as themselves in the film '' Idle Hands ''. They play "Beheaded" and "I Wanna Be Sedated" at a school dance before Holland is killed. They also appeared at the infamous Woodstock 1999 , where their performance was broadcast live on Pay Per View television. 2000 saw the band release a new album called '', posted September 26, 2000 The band also sold T-shirts on their website with the Napster logo on it and donated money to Napster creator Shawn Fanning with the profits. The band also released a new single "Defy You" exclusively for the film '' Orange County ''. Atom Willard period (2003–2006) Nearly three years after the release of ''Conspiracy of One'', long-time drummer Ron Welty left the band in 2003 to start Steady Ground, a band in which he plays the drums and co-produces. Neither Welty or the remaining members have elaborated on the departure. In 2003, the band released their seventh album '', posted December 21, 2003. In 2005, the band released a '' Greatest Hits '' album with a DualDisc . The ''Greatest Hits'' album contains 14 of the band's hits between '' Smash '' and '' Splinter '', and two previously never released songs "Can't Repeat" and "Next to You" (a cover of The Police ) (a hidden track). The compilation does not contain any material from the First Album and '' Ignition ''. The DualDisc contains video of Dexter and Noodles discussing the band's history and a bonus acoustic version of the song "Dirty Magic." About a month later, the band released a video DVD with all of their music videos, and some videos from a live show. During the summer of 2005, the band played the Vans Warped Tour for the first time, and followed that with a tour of Europe and Japan. After the "Greatest Hits" world tour the band took a break from writing, recording and touring. During the hiatus, Willard was recruited by Tom DeLonge for his band Angels And Airwaves and released an album, '' We Don't Need To Whisper '', in 2006. Recent events and future plans (2007–present) The Offspring is currently in the studio recording their as-yet untitled Eighth Studio Album with producer Bob Rock and "a fistful of demos". Although an official title and release date have yet to be confirmed, the recording process has begun and sources indicate that the album may be released in either 2007 or early 2008. There are also rumors of the band releasing a rare/b-sides album, however, on their official website they stated that all of the material is completely new. On July 18, 2007, Dexter announced that the band has finished "two more songs" and the album is now being recorded in Orange County, California. Dexter's Journal Entry for July 18,2007 It was announced on July 27, 2007 that ''. The Offspring Announce New Drummer Posted July 30, 2007 The band headlined the 2007 Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, making their first live appearance since mid-2005, and also their first appearance with Parada. Summer Sonic Festival In Japan Confirmed During their performance in Japan, they also debuted a new song called "Hammerhead". The new track, along with 13 other songs, is currently being completed for the new album Offspring plays club gig Posted August 15, 2007. On September 3rd, 2007, The Offspring posted a studio cam on their fan board. It shows the mixing room, and the recording room. You can see the band members and producers/mixers. It is in fact not a real video, just a series of pictures updated every 30 seconds. MUSIC STYLE AND INFLUENCES While The Offspring is primarily considered an alternative rock, skate punk, pop punk or (simply a) punk rock group, their music contains strong elements of Grunge , Metal and occasionally Ska . Their lyrics are typically sardonic and sarcastic and discuss wide-ranging issues from personal relationships to the degradation of America. The band cites their musical influences as, The Adolescents , Channel 3 , Dead Kennedys , Descendents , The Dickies , Ramones , Sex Pistols , Social Distortion , TSOL , and The Vandals . Americana: Soundtrack for a Declining Civilization Dexter Holland's Opus BAND MEMBERS DISCOGRAPHY See Also: The Offspring discography ACHIEVEMENTS RIAA Gold and Platinum certification
RIAA Gold and Platinum Searchable Database Type in 'Offspring' in artist box. Kerrang!
MTV
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|