Review Summary: A low release with a few fun or good songs that makes it average.
Twenty three years have passed since The Offspring released their first record (Self Titled). They started as a true Punk Rock band talking about politics and making great solos then evolved in a mainstream punk rock band they're known to be. I grew up listening to them and enjoyed most of their CDs until Rise And Fall Rage And Grace. The crew is still the same except for drummer Pete Perada who joined the band in 2007, although some of the drum tracks were recorded by their session drummer Josh Freese. They were recognized as the new wave of Cal Punk Rock along with Rancid and Green Day. Eighteen years after their commercial success with Smash, The Offspring released their ninth studio album Days Go By.
First thing you notice on this album is the artwork, it doesn't really feel like a Offspring CD... But whatever, the cover doesn't reflect the songs. Does it? Well kinda, the songs don't feel like Offspring too. I mean you can hear lots of influence from their past work in most of the songs. The opener Future is Now is a fine melodic punk rock song with a lot of energy, that starts with a riff you could have heard in Conspiracy Of One. It continues on the same path with Secret From the Underground
It feels like The Offspring have ran out of idea so they changed their style to a more mainstream melodic rock like Fall Out Boys, or like Sum 41 have been doing lately. Many songs sound uninspired, especially All I Have Left Is You which is the worst song on this LP along with I Wanna Secret Family. There are songs that you'll love or hate like California Cruising or OC Guns (an attempt to make a Long Beach Dub Allstar kind of reggae song). Cruising California sounds like a parody of what you can hear on the radio, but it will be ok for a summer song but nothing more than that, I mean there's autotune in it!
Songs like Hurting as one, Dividing By Zero and Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing And Rides The Bomb To Hell could have been great songs if they worked harder on them. They feel like they ran out of idea in the process of making them. The lyrics aren't really good especially after you hear Dirty Magic, a masterpiece from their 1991 Ignition.
The Offspring have changed... a lot! They are now Mainstream Rock kinda like their song You're Gonna Go Far, Kid! This album will be a disappointment to the hardcore Offspring fans although the remake of Dirty Magic stands as a message that they're still what they were eleven years ago. They might have hit a low with this LP but there are some songs that are fun.
The Offspring were on this album:
Dexter Holland: lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
Noodles: lead guitar, backing vocals
Greg K.: bass guitar, backing vocals
Pete Parada: drums, percussion
