Review Summary: Splinter, The Offspring's seventh album, may be short, but it is certainly sweet
Splinter. An album that has had to absorb the weight of many angry Offspring fans, disappointed that a thin thirty minutes was the result of three years between it and the band's previous, somewhat bland previous effort,
Conspiracy of One. Not only that, but it has had to defend from the snide remarks of critics claiming the album is a sign of 'a band aging', 'running out of ideas' and other like tones.
As the most recent album, it's quite depressing to see it bashed by fans and critics alike, and oftentimes it seems no-one has much love for it, claiming their favourite albums to be
Smash,
Ignition - before they 'sold out'. It's unfortunate to see this album very rarely appreciated as one of The Offspring's finest works to date, containing at least two of their greatest songs.
Neocon runs the risk of creating an immediately corny atmosphere with the trance-like drum beats and defiant shouts of 'We are strong', 'We will fight' etc. Fortunately the minute is over quickly enough and we are rushed into
The Noose, an obvious album-opener and one of The Offspring's best songs of recent years. As a warning-like track with some fairly heavy lyrics and a frantic tune, I feel this sets the album better than Neocon does, to the point where I ignore Neocon completely and start from The Noose. The Noose is undeniably a great song and sets the standard for the ten tracks.
However, it is easy to forget
Long Way Home as a potential filler track after such a high-quality song. So the song doesn't hit you as hard as
Noose, but it does have some very nice drumming and can quickly grow on you. As one of the album's 'average' songs, it is nice to compare it to other album's 'average' songs -
Special Delivery, All Along for Conspiracy...,
Not the One, It'll Be A Long Time from Smash and see a marked improvement.
Next is the album's lead single,
Hit That. Though it is often criticised by the hardcore fans for being mainstream, it is interesting to see that it is less looked down upon than its obvious predecessors,
Pretty Fly..., and
Original Prankster (Pretty Fly 2). The Offspring have definitely found the right balance between what they do well in the chorus and some experimental keyboard effect in the verses, and this track is rightly respected, certainly a better lead single than OP and perhaps Pretty Fly.
Race Against Myself could have gone horribly wrong in lesser hands. A slow, heavy, yet determined walk of a song that comes very close to being a self-pitying whine but edges just past it. You'll either like this song or hate it. It's unlikely you'll love it. The song is, for me, one of the album's weaker songs that fortunately has a strong conclusion where Dexter changes the lyrics ever so slightly that is actually enough to win me over and make the song much more powerful. It's a small change, but I appreciate things like that.
Now, onto the undoubtable highlight of the album.
(Can't Get My) Head Around You - one of my favourite Offspring songs and definitely one of the best songs they have ever made. Dark lyrics and a frantic, yet somehow sinister, clean then heavily distorted verse make for a powerful song that can blow you away when the distortion sets in again for the conclusion. Powerful, clever, and the defining moment in both quality and mood of the album.
I don't know what they were thinking when they put
The Worst Hangover Ever in straight after such an excellent song. Easily the album's worst song as a ska chant that can expose Dexter's weaker vocals, and a definite theme and mood-breaker after the likes of RAM, Head Around You, and The Noose. It also suffers from the same fate as Long Way Home, in being placed after such a good song it seems inferior in comparison, something that doesn't help the song's chances. Three minutes that I would have had removed from the album, let alone put it right in the middle.
Suddenly we are lifted back to the heights of The Noose with the double-whammy of
Never Gonna Find Me and its superior following track,
Lightning Rod. Never Gonna Find Me is a quick punky race through defiant lyrics before the melancholy yet brilliant Lightning Rod that is what Race Against Myself wishes it could have been. Great, not good, but two great songs that make you see that the album as a whole is better than what many people might say it is.
Spare Me The Details is an acoustic, fun song that, believe it or not, could be the second best song on the album. Childish lyrics they may be, and it might not fit the theme of the album, much like 'Hangover', but the melody is undeniably catchy and it is easy to see why this was a radio hit in Australia. One small thing I like about The Offspring is their tendency to make later choruses and the conclusion more stressed - see 'The Kids...' or 'Smash', and they pull it off perfectly here with a conclusion that represents the narrators desperate sadness in the latter part of the song. Deep.
Da Hui can be either terrible or just good. If you're not used to The Offspring, you will hate this furious bad-mouthed punk sprint of a song. Even if you don't like it, it's short and definitely bearable. The album's final track, the mystic yet humorous
When You're In Prison is an obvious joke song, but a fine one at that - one you can find yourself listening singing along to quite calmly and jovially, and as the ending song, you can switch it off if you're not in the mood, happy with the ending of 'Da Hui', or perhaps 'Spare Me The Details'. This is more than can be said for 'Hangover', probably the album's only negative point.
Yes, only negative point. I honestly couldn't care less about the meagre length as this is a very high-quality album, definitely better than the previous album and in my opinion better than most others from The Offspring as well. I don't know what went wrong with 'Hangover', the song or its position within the album, but it is merely a splinter in an otherwise completely wholesome and enjoyable album. One of The Offspring's finest to date.
