The Offspring
The Offspring isn’t a bad moniker but it’s sure no Clowns Of Death. Now that’s a name!
Guitarist Bryan “Dexter” Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel (Greg K.), both ex-Clowns of Death, started Manic Subsidal with singer Doug Thompson and drummer Jim Benton.
Two things happened when Thompson and Benton bailed. First, Holland assumed singing duties and second, both guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman and drummer Ron Welty, only sixteen at the time, joined.
Signed with Epitaph Records, “Ignition” rolled out in ’92 and went gold – shipping 500,000 units.
“Smash” showed up two years later and generated a nice piece of legal action. It had sold over a million copies and Epitaph, figuring they had an iron-clad contact, wanted the band to record the last set of a three-album deal. The Offspring thought otherwise.
Epitaph held The Offspring’s royalties in an escrow account until the matter was resolved. The tactic was designed to virtually starve the group into submission.
Columbia Records eventually stepped in and signed The Offspring for (reportedly) $6.5 million and released their next recording, “Ixnay On The Hombre,” jointly with Epitaph.
Then “Americana,” containing the classic “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)” and the caustic epic fail of “Why Don’t You Get A Job” rolled out.
“Ixnay On The Hombre”” sold over a million copies but “Americana” chalked up three million in sales.
“Conspiracy Of One,” the band’s sixth full-length effort arrived in ’00. The album was the last to feature drummer Welty, who was fired in ’03.
It debuted at #9 on the Billboard 200, selling over 125,000 copies in its first week of release. Although not as successful as “Americana,” it was later certified platinum by the RIAA. Along with the mocking “Original Prankster,” “Conspiracy Of One” also held the straight-ahead “Want You So Bad.”
“Splinter” arrived in late ’03. Produced by Brendan O`Brien, the group’s 7th album featured drummer Josh Freese and was certified gold.
Though The Offspring released three more albums: “Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace” (’08),” Days Go By” (’13) and “Let The Bad Times Roll” (’21). All three fell short of the sales “Splinter” achieved.
Three years passed before the Offspring delivered their eleventh studio set, “Supercharged.”
““We wanted this record to have pure energy — from the start to the finish,” commented Holland. “That’s why we called it ‘Supercharged’. From the height of our aspirations to the depths of our struggles, we talk about it all on this record…in a way that celebrates the life that we share and where we are now.”
The lead single was “Make It All Right.”
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