The Offspring - Smash - 5/5
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BIG CARL'S BIG TOP 5 BIG MID-NINTIES AMERCIAN PUNK #1
FINALLY, we have reached numero uno of my top 5, and it's a sentimental one. Why? I grew up to this album (despite it coming out some 6 years prior to my listening to it), and I can almost place the honour (or blame?) of me being a music enthusiastic on this albums proverbial shoulders.
This album sums the scene up for me. It was a time when Nirvana were at their apex, and everything was all about Grunge and how brilliant and innovative it was. Enter Smash.
This album takes a raw sound, full of speed, melody and rage and thrusts it upon your ears. A nice sarcastic intro of a guy talking about how he likes to relax and listen to music followed by a drum intro not unlike that of Painkiller sets the tone. The guitars fuzz away furiously, with inventive plam-muting (for a Punk band) and full, penetrating (heh) chords. The riffs are fantastic, yet simple. The bass grumbles away, with just enough prominance in the balance. The drums are primal, and relentless. The iconic voice of Dexter Holland wails and cries with spectacular effect.
Everything about this album is just what I wanted from music at this point in my life. It sounds like it was recorded in a day on a tight budget, but the production is by no means bad or unbalanced. Down to the scraping of Noodles' fingers on his guitar strings, this is raw, but not so raw that it just sounds like a bag of preposterous noise. The lyrics are fantastic (I'll Be A Long Time is great, as is Smash) and the vocal melodies are nothing short of inspiring. The group vocals just give that feeling of unity, like they "get you" and they're with you all the way.
I would expect a good chunk of people who are reading this to have already listened to (and enjoyed) this, so much more description is redundant. If you haven't listened to this, then you really, REALLY should.
As a footnote, I'll ad that I couldn't give two shiney shites if The Offspring sold out. Same for any other band I listen to. If I cared, I'd be denying myself some great music, and that would be a cruime against humanity. I suggest people adopt something similar to this mentality, and just listen to good music, and seperate the politics.
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