The Offspring is a punk rock band of the United States from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1986. Formerly known as Manic Subsidal, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Greg K. and drummer Pete Parada. Parada replaced former drummer Adam "Atom" Willard in 2007, during the recording of the band's eighth studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, and has been a member of the band since.
The Offspring was originally part of the punk scene in their early career. The band's first two albums for the independent record labels Nemesis and Epitaph earned them a following. Their 1994 third studio album Smash became a breakout success and eventually sold over 12 million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent label. The Offspring was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands Sublime,Green Day and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States. The critical praise given to Smash garnered attention from major labels, including Columbia Records, with whom The Offspring would sign in 1996. Their first album for Columbia, Ixnay on the Hombre was released in 1997 and was well received by critics. The Offspring continued to achieve success with their three follow-up albums, Americana (1998), Conspiracy of One (2000) and Splinter (2003), reaching multi-platinum, platinum and gold status respectively. Splinter was followed five years later by Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008), which was also successful, due to the album's second single "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" reaching number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for 11 weeks and becoming their only gold single in America to date. The band has been in the studio recording a new album, which is due for release in 2012.
The Offspring has sold over 35 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time, and many of their albums have sold over a million units.
History
The foundations for The Offspring began in 1984, when guitarist/vocalist Bryan "Dexter" Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel, who both met on their high school cross-country team, formed a local band called Manic Subsidal. The decision to form a band came outside of a Social Distortion concert when they were refused entry. Not long after their formation, Holland had changed his role from drums to guitar and vocals and James Lilja took over the drums. Doug Thompson was added for vocals, and Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman (formerly of Clowns of Death), 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 eventually 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 1986.
In 1986, the band released their first single; the 7" "I'll Be Waiting/Blackball". They released the single on their self-made Black Label record company, named after the brand of beer. An earlier version of "I'll Be Waiting", which was then known as "Fire and Ice", appeared on the long-out of print Subject to Blackout compilation tape, which was also released in 1986 (this version is also available for free to download from the European Offspring website). Also in 1986, The Offspring recorded a demo tape, which received a positive review in Maximum Rocknroll magazine. Lilja left The Offspring in 1987 to pursue a medical career in gynecology,and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was only 16 years old at the time.
Style and influences
While The Offspring are primarily considered a pop punk or simply a punk rock group, their music contains strong elements of 1990s grunge, and the occasional ska. A signature style of The Offspring is their chorused "whoas", "heys", or "yeahs". NOFX (who were labelmates with The Offspring from the early to mid 1990s) has poked fun at them for this in their song "Whoa on the Whoas". Several tracks also incorporate elements of Eastern music, which can be heard on the likes of "Pay the Man" and the verse hook from "Come Out and Play". Their lyrics cover a wide range of topics, like personal relationships, such as in their songs "She's Got Issues", "Self Esteem" and "Spare Me the Details," and the degradation of the United States and society in general with songs like "It'll Be a Long Time", "Americana" and "Stuff Is Messed Up". The lyrics generally reflect a sarcastic viewpoint, which, along with the language, can be offensive to some. This is acknowledged in the first track from their album Ixnay on the Hombre, "Disclaimer". Like "Disclaimer", the first track of most of The Offspring's albums are an introduction of some sort, "Time to Relax" (from Smash), "Welcome" (from Americana), "Intro" (from Conspiracy of One), and "Neocon" (from Splinter) are also examples of this.
The band cites their musical influences as Agent Orange, The Adolescents, Angry Samoans, Bad Brains, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Channel 3, Circle Jerks, The Clash, D.I., The Damned, Dead Kennedys, Descendents, The Dickies, Iron Maiden, Jane's Addiction, Bob Marley and The Wailers, Metallica, Minor Threat, Nirvana, Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sex Pistols, Sham 69, Social Distortion, Thelonious Monster, TSOL, The Vandals and Youth Brigade.
Band members
- Current members
- Dexter Holland – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (1986–present)
- Noodles – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1986–present)
- Greg K. – bass, backing vocals (1986–present)
- Pete Parada – drums, percussion (2007–present)
Discography
- The Offspring (1989)
- Ignition (1992)
- Smash (1994)
- Ixnay on the Hombre (1997)
- Americana (1998)
- Conspiracy of One (2000)
- Splinter (2003)
- Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008)
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