whatever happened to: the offspring

whatever happened to _______? a question, these days often times answered by trustworthy dr. drew. it is also a fairly common question in the music world. from one hit wonders to freak balloon accidents to the limelight in your eye (it stings, okay?) - some bands just... burn out, while others fade away. these bands manage to keep their act together, but just seem to end up losing the public's attention. that's where the casino circuit comes in i guess. boyzIImen anyone? (maybe that will be the next edition?) well their fellow 90's icons, the offspring, have certainly done some kind of fading in recent years too. when was the last time you thought about them? or heard one of their songs? i'm not sure what it was that made the offspring first pop into my head last night.... maybe because i'm a pretty fly for a white guy? ...no. so maybe i was reminiscing fondly about the first, and only, time i saw them, at tony hawk's boom boom huckjam in 7th grade. i feel like that's a line that will definitely date me when i'm older. if it doesn't already.... anyways, with my curiosity piqued, and a fresh google page ready, i began to discover what really happened to those loveable punksters. keep reading to find out!

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with a lead guitarist name like noodles, i'm sure many of you are you scratching your heads as to why these guys ever lost their cool. their place in the spotlight. why aren't they already in the rock'n'roll hall of fame? how could we ever forget about dear ol' noodles?! or bleach-headed frontman dexter holland? whose voice is, to me anyways, is still the epitome of tween rebellion in the 90's. a notoriety that shall not be forgotten anytime soon... but seriously, with this stroll down memory lane, i began looking back at the offspring's track catalogue, primarily their greatest hits album. yes, they have a greatest hits album, a sure sign of music prestige - and often infamy. maybe not so needless to say, they certainly did have some hits, from the drunken la-la-la lead-in of "self-esteem" to the ya-ya-ya of "all i want", the offspring were clearly not only masters of syllabic lyricism, but also capable of crafting instantly recognizable smash hits. which is why it isn't any wonder that the offspring's real breakout came with their 1994 album smash. the follow up americana features several well known tracks to any child of the 90's. most memorably,  the extremely romantic ode to your girlfriend "why don't you get a job?" and the much loved whiteboy classic, "pretty fly (for a white guy)."

for a band that formed in 1984, the offspring has had a pretty good run considering. their last notably big single was arguably "(can't get my) head around you" and it received pretty substantial radio airplay in 2004. a solid 20 year span, going on 25 total, 15 since smash and no signs of stopping. the band has had relatively few personnel changes over the years, most importantly the departure of longtime drummer, ron welty in 2003 prior to the release of splinter. he would be replaced by future angels and airwaves drummer, adam "atom" willard. 2008 brought the release of rise and fall, rage and grace. the eighth album from the band was well-received by fans, but garnered mostly lackluster reviews from critics. the band recently finished up their north american "shit is fucked up" tour with well-known acts dropkick murphys, alkaline trio, and one of my other favorite 90's bands - sum 41. (on a side note, the tour also featured shiny toy guns which was rather surprising to me considering the rest of the lineup.) a ninth album is supposedly in the works according to interviews with both noodles and "dex", with plans to begin recording by the end of 2009.

so, it would seem that the offspring is certainly not down and out. looking at it, one could argue that they really haven't even faded away all that much from a money making point of view. still together, still booking spots on international tours, still working on another album, and most importantly, not having televised heart-to-heart's with dr. drew. which leaves me to ask - how come i never hear about these guys anymore? has this band somehow fallen into some weird quasi-fame? some realm of celebrity where everybody knows them and nobody cares? to be honest, i probably just stopped caring, and i'm sure i'm not the only one. after all, the biggest thing the offspring had going for them was probably was the 90's itself. with events like boom boom huckjam no longer the rage and a definite lack of all things "x-treme" - is there any place at the top of the heap for a band like the offspring? probably not, but that's just fine with me. i'm content to dust off the old cd player and go shred the board every now and then. and if anything this look back at the offspring reminded me of one thing - i can always use more cowbell!