April 8, 1994 - Smash

Eleven days after my last release and a year and a half since "Ignition", The Offspring released their third album "Smash" on April 8, 1994. The Offspring were still with independent record label Epitaph Records and this album is still to this day the most succesful album commercially to be released on an independent label EVER. "Smash" would send The Offspring from relative unknowns, to worldwide superstars and it was immensely popular and helped bring punk-rock into the mainstream in the 90s. It's also the first Offspring album to have Dexter Holland not just singing, but playing rhythm guitar as well. Let's see what all the fuss is about!

The album begins with a 25 second track called "Time To Relax" and we hear a soothing voice that sounds like some radio personality and he eases everyone into the album by telling them to kick back, get comfortable and enjoy the ride, because "music soothes even the savage beast". Then we're onto the first real track "Nitro (Youth Energy)" and Ron Welty starts us off with a fast drum beat before Greg K., Noodles and now Holland as well form a fast-paced, typical Offspring main riff. Dexter sings some long notes overtop in the short verse and it quickly moves into the "live like there's no tomorrow" chorus. After another quick verse and chorus they move into a new bridge riff that seems ti be setting the stage for something bigger, but nope, just another "ho-oh-oh-oh" and then back into the main riff. They play a final verse and chorus before slowly ending this short "opener". Track 3 is "Bad Habit" and Greg K. plays a slow but cool bass riff to lead the opening while Noodles adds some distorted guitar. Dexter opens with a "hey man you know I'm really okay-ee!" and things sound pretty epic as Welty starts up the light drums beat and Dexter follows with "the gun in my hand will tell you the same". The lyrics are all about road rage in this song as Dexter continues with "but when I'm in my car, don't gimme no crap, 'cause the slightest thing and I just might snap" and then the music starts to get a little louder. Dexter sings the next line and now we're in full gear with everyone playing a pretty cool and pretty fast main riff while Dexter nicely sings about wanting to kill people. The chorus is pretty damn catchy as well with Noodles providing some "yeah-ah, yeah-ah" backing vocals while Dexter nicely sings overtop some more fast guitar. He ends the chorus with some nice and catchy ohing and then they fire into another solid verse followed by another catchy chorus. All the music then stops as Dexter sings a short verse by himself that ends with him escalating and yelling "you stupid dumbshit, goddamn motherfucker!" and then Noodles fires into a cool little guitar bit in this pretty awesome part. Things roll right into the end of the verse and then to a final chorus to close out a pretty sweet song. The next song "Gotta Get Away" was one of the many succesful singles off this album and Welty starts us off with a cool and catchy drum beat and they build nicely off it with Greg K. playing a light but solid bass riff and then Noodles finally coming in with the catchy lead guitar. After nicely building this riff Holland finally starts to sing a slow verse to match the mood and things flow right into the simple but undeniably catchy chorus with Dexter providing some solid vocals. Another verse and chorus later i'm ready for a solo or something, but it's a pretty bland "oh-whoa-oh" part and this is very pandering and radio-friendly, especially after the last song! They finish up with a predictable chorus. Track 5 is back to more typical Offspring with "Genocide" and Holland starts us off with a pretty cool rhythm guitar riff, Greg and Ron form a fast rhythm section and then Noodles comes in overtop with some cool lead guitar to complete another pretty solid main riff. The guitars drop out for the beginning of the verse as Dexter sings quickly along to the beat, and then the guitars return for the second half of the verse and everyone yells a "1 2 3 4" and they kick into the fast-paced and catchy chorus with Dexter sounding great once again. Guitars drop again as they play another verse and catchy chorus Holland alone plays a simple but catchy guitar riff and then he sings a brief new verse overtop some nice drumming from Welty, and then it's quickly onto another catchy chorus. The song appears to be over, then we hear the same voice from the opening track say "mmmmmmmm, I especially enjoyed that one. Let's see what's next..." and up next is "Something To Believe In" and it's driven by another fast-paced and pretty catchy punk rock riff with some stop-and-start guitar and Dexter singing another solid verse overtop. The chorus is pretty simple with Dexter yelling the name name of the song while Noodles whoas in the background. After another verse and chorus the guitar falls away and Greg's bass drives the beginning of the next verse, but halfway through the guitar returns and we're back to normal to finish off the verse and end the song with a couple choruses before Welty plays is out. Track 7 is "Come Out And Play" and this would become one of The Offspring's most succesful songs and it's easy to hear why.  A quiet opening is followed by our first "ya gotta keep 'em separated" and then they nicely snap into a cool hard rock riff and they move very smoothly from here to an infectious new riff that just dances up and down the fretboard and is impossible not to like. Noodles switches to some more typical Offspring guitar as they kick off the first verse and Dexter sounds pretty cool leading the way. He segues nicely from the verse to the chorus and the opening hard rock riff turns out to be the chorus riff as they nicely jam and then suddenly stop for another "gotta keep 'em separated". Dexter finishes this extremely catchy chorus by singing the name of the song and then Noodles plays the infectious riff to start it all over again. Another cool verse and chorus later the infectious riff hits again, but they decide to not stray from this catchy main riff and just roll into a short verse followed by a final chorus to finish things off. Still a pretty cool and undeniably catchy song. Perhaps the only song more famous than the previous one is this one, titled "Self Esteem", and all four members memorably open the song by almost drunkenly singing together "la la, la la" before Noodles kicks into a simple but solid guitar riff that leads up to the first verse perfectly and then falls away. Greg K. plays a pretty cool and catchy bass riff to carry things and Dexter begins the first verse of a song that's all about a guy knowing he's being used by a girl, but he has no self esteem and won't stand up to her. Dexter delivers his lyrics very nicely overtop the catchy main riff and things flow right into a sing-along chorus with Dexter just singing different variations on "oh-ohhhhhh-yeah-heh-yeah-heh-heh". There's no real lyrics at all in this chorus, and yet it's still extremely catchy somehow. After another cool verse and another sing-along chorus Dexter moves into a new verse and he nicely yells this verse, singing "and I wonder why she sleeps with my friends" and ending it with "the more you suffer, the more it shows you really care. Right? Yeah-heh-heh" and then we're suddenly and perfectly right back at the main riff. They jam out a final verse and chorus and then move into another round of the new verse to nicely close out this iconic song. Track 9 is "It'll Be A Long Time" and they kick right into a fast-paced punk-y riff that is more like their older stuff and much less radio-friendly than the past couple songs. Dexter sings a solid verse to match the fast pace and things roll right into a very similar chorus riff with Dexter quickly singing "when will the world listen to reason? I have a feeling it'll be a long time" and I'm afraid he's right. They quickly jam through another verse and chorus and then Dexter sets the stage nicely with a short verse and we get a "guitar solo" that really isn't much, but it fits the fast-paced mood nicely. They roll right into a final verse and chorus and end the song on a solid note. The next song "Killboy Powerhead" is a cover of The Didjits and it's a short two minute track. This is some real punk as they squeeze the first and chorus in before thirty seconds has even passed! Dexter sounds decent singing a fast verse and he nicely yells the name of the song in the chorus, all overtop a nice fast-paced guitar riff. Greg K's bass is pretty good as well, and Welty's fast drumming is also nice making for a short but pretty sweet little tune. Track 11 is "What Happened To You?" and they kick right into a fast-paced and upbeat riff while Dexter sings quickly and nicely overtop. Noodles adds some "hey!"s to the background of the verse and he also does a solid "heeeeey-ay" in the chorus as Dexter continues to sing nicely overtop the catchy riff. They roll right through another quick verse and chorus and then Noodles delivers a short but solid guitar solo. This leads right into the chorus again and then they play a couple final verses before closing things out with a final chorus. A pretty repetitive but still pretty catchy short song. Speaking of short songs, the next track is just over a minute long and it's called "So Alone". They kick right into another punk-y main riff and Dexter sings a short verse before repeating the name of the song in the chorus overtop some cool dive bombing guitars by Noodles. After a few loud "hey!"s they run through the quick verse and chorus again and then instead of "hey!" we hear "kill! Buck up! Hey!" and finally a nice "diiiiiiie" to end this very shirt but still solid tune. Track 13 is "Not The One" and Noodles leads the way with another fast-paced and catchy guitar riff before they settle in and Dexter begins a solid verse. Things roll nicely into the chorus with Dexter singing loudly and sounding pretty good overtop a typical Offspring chorus riff. They continue to jam out several verses and choruses, never really straying from the path until the final verse of the song, which begins with just Dexter singing overtop of Welty's drums, until the bass and guitars return to close things out. The final song on the album is the title track "Smash" and it's by far the longest on the album at over ten minutes long! They waste no time kicking right into the first verse led by another cool guitar riff by Noodles and some more nice vocals from Dexter. In the chorus he sings "I'm not a trendy asshole, do what I want. Do what I feel like. I'm not a trendy asshole, don't give a fuck if it's good enough for you, 'cause I am alive" and it's an extremely catchy chorus that you can't help but sing along with. As Dexter sings the last line Noodles plays a cool little guitar segue that brings us back for another verse and after another catchy chorus they slow things down as Dexter plays a simple rhythm guitar riff, then Noodles builds nicely off that and eventually ramps into another verse and another couple sing-along choruses. At about 2:52 the song seems to be over and our voice who did the intro returns for a final sign-off. But then Welty cues up a catchy drum beat and the rest if the guys build a pretty cool riff around it, but that still only takes us a little past the 4 minute mark. Then we have a period of silence that lasts for just under 4 minutes and finally at the 9 minute mark Welty starts to play a light drum beat to kick off this little bonus track. Noodles and Dexter both play some guitar that has a bit of a Middle-Eastern sound to it and it sounds interesting. It's a weird way to end this high-energy album but it's certainly not bad at all.

That is the end of "Smash" and I thought it was a pretty cool album! The Offspring really brought their A-game throughout this entire album as there are basically no breaks from the headbanging or toe-tapping and Dexter Holland provides easily his best vocal performances so far. "Bad Habit" was probably my favourite of the bunch, but there were lots of really catchy songs on this album and it's no wonder this propelled The Offspring into superstardom. I think it's easily better than their first two albums and it's a going to be a pretty hard one to top, but I look forward to hearing them try!