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Rise and fall, rage and grace.
10 years have passed since the "best seller" Americana, and nearly 5 years since their last work, Splinter. Now the Offspring have returned with this Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. I swear, I didn't know what to expect from this album and when you listen to the Offspring, you know what you're referring to when you wonder what songs they'll produce, because you can be horrified by episodes like "The Worst Hangover Ever" or thrilled by "The Kids Aren't Alright". So, I insert the CD into the player and wait.
"Half-Truism" is the perfect start; by the second listen, you're shouting it at the top of your lungs, even my neighbor knows it by heart.
What immediately stands out to the "ear" is that in this CD the Offspring abandon the "Californian punk" style that made them famous in many songs, in favor of more structured tracks with constant changes of rhythm. A clear example is the testosterone-packed single"Hammerhead", with a beautiful lyric about firearms in America and an unexpected ending. There is a continuous shift from "rage" to "grace," moving from the classic charged track "Trust in You" to the 2008's Gone Away "A Lot Like Me", truly beautiful. Also worth mentioning is the strange "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" with a super catchy chorus, one of the best of the batch. The first part of the CD is therefore extremely powerful and convincing. Then the surprises start.
Punctual as a speed camera flash, here comes the first acoustic ballad, "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?". What saves this song from oblivion is the beautiful lyric about a girl who has suffered sexual violence. Commercial and very "radio friendly," nothing to say. This song introduces us to the "grace" of the album, represented by catchy and fast pieces and tearjerker ballads. The best piece of the second part is "Stuff Is Messed Up", very fast, punchy, and hard enough.
In summary, it's nice to see the Offspring trying to "experiment" and not stay anchored to a single genre. I imagine Bob Rock sitting at a table discussing the album's tracklist with Dexter Holland, imagining making everyone happy.
Tracks that are truly indigestible are "Fix You", slow and frankly useless piece, and the concluding "Rise and Fall", practically a clone of "American Idiot" with inverted chords (I hope it's just a little Dexter joke on the Green Day, given their continuous rivalry...).
Rise and fall, rage and grace was said, never was a title more fitting. Their best since Conspiracy of One.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
04 Hammerhead (04:38)
I am the one, camouflage and guns
Risk my life to keep my people from harm
Authority, vested in me
I sacrifice with my brothers in arms
Through this doorway what’s on the other side
Never knowing exactly what I’ll find
Locked and loaded
Voices screaming "Let’s go!"
Come on do it! Here we go!
I'll take a life, that others may live
Oh that’s just the way it goes
I'll shut my eyes, it hammers in my head
Where it’ll end nobody knows
I'll take a life, ten others may live
Oh that’s just the way it goes
It’s playing over and over in my head
Where it’ll end nobody knows
Stay the course, reasonable force
I believe I serve a greater good
Smoke and dust, enemies are crushed
Nothing left where a man once stood
Through this doorway what’s on the other side
Never knowing exactly what I’ll find
Locked and loaded
Voices screaming "Let’s go!"
But I’m just doing what I’m told
I'll take a life, that others may live
Oh that’s just the way it goes
I'll shut my eyes, it hammers in my head
Where it’ll end nobody knows
I'll take this life, ten others may live
Oh that’s just the way it goes
It’s playing over and over in my head
Where it begins, and where it’ll end nobody knows
Yeah, go!
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Bang bang - it hammers in my head [x3]
In my head [2x]
You know I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I'll fear no evil for Thou art with me
Locked and loaded
Gonna find my truth
Now I’m busting through
All hell breaks loose
And you can all hide behind your desks now
And you can cry, "teacher come help me!"
Through you all my aim is true
My, my aim is true!
My aim is true
05 A Lot Like Me (04:28)
How does it feel?
When you have it all?
How can you live?
With nothing at all?
Where do you run?
Where do you go?
When the holes in your truth
Are starting to show?
And the rain comes
And the world is on my head
Crave the sun
But I can't get out of bed
How can you take?
Without giving back?
How does it work?
When it's really cracked?
How does it feel
...
And no wonder
Hearts and minds have been won
How does it feel...
And I wonder
How it's all come undone And the rain comes
And the world is on my head
Crave the sun
But I can't get out of bed
Want it You got it You're sorry You bought it You're sliding
Want it You got it You're sorry You bought it Can't hide it
Tell me who do you see
Cause you look a lot like me
How can you take?
Without giving back?
Who do you see?
Cause you look a lot like me
06 Takes Me Nowhere (02:59)
When the day begins
All the guilt sinks in
And I look on the wreckage of the night
Though I try to break free
The cycle breaks me
Am I ever gonna see the light?
All the friends I’ve lost
And the pain I’ve caused
Have never been enough just to make me stop
The lines I draw to look at myself
Are turning into somebody else
I know how this will end
But I’m starting up again
Turned around, inside out
Cause this way
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
It beats me up
When I go there – I know I could start again
When I go there – Oh no, here we go again
Takes me nowhere – Oh no, here we go again
It beats me up
Open on this scene
A familiar dream
Of you telling me what I already know
Though the truth seems near
You can’t get there from here
But you sure know where you’re gonna go
As the rumor wind blows
My infamy grows
Seeing friends above
And I hit another low
The picture I paint to look at myself
Is turning into somebody else
I know how this will end
But I’m starting up again
Turned around, inside out
Cause this way
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
It beats me up
When I go there – I know I could start again
When I go there – Oh no, here we go again
Takes me nowhere – Oh no, here we go again
It beats me up
But today, if I change
And stop digging my own grave
I will try, to set things right
Cause this way
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
Takes me nowhere – I can’t can’t see a way out
It beats me up
When I go there – I know I could start again
When I go there – Oh no, here we go again
Takes me nowhere – Oh no, here we go again
It beats me up
oooh
08 Nothingtown (03:29)
Letâ??s make this complicated
Thinking is overrated
Weâ??re busting out
Of this shitty little town
Green grass and colored lenses
Tear down these picket fences
Burn in our beds
While the city lies sleeping
Why oh why?
Are we starting up and going down?
My oh my
Just the two of us in Nothingtown
Our superhero play
Weâ??ll leave this town today
Hold on tighter
With my lighter
Shining through
These city streets are burning
Rose red your wheels are turning
Make me believe
Someday we could really leave
Blindfold a new direction
Stop asking better questions
Donâ??t figure out
That weâ??re never getting out
Why oh why?
Are we starting up and going down?
My oh my
Just the two of us in Nothingtown
Our superhero play
Weâ??ll leave this town today
And Iâ??ll row it if you steer it
Iâ??ll yell until you hear it
Hold on tighter
With my lighter
Shining through
Why oh why?
Are we starting up and going down?
My oh my
Just the two of us in Nothingtown
Our superhero play
Our dreams get in the way
And Iâ??ll row it if you steer it
Iâ??ll yell until you hear it
Hold on tighter
With my lighter
Shining through
Still stuck in Nothingtown
Still stuck in Nothingtown
Come on letâ??s go
10 Fix You (04:18)
She wakes up
Rage and grace
Pulling me closer, pushing away at me
The sharpest thorn on your vine
Twistin' and turnin', we're all intertwined
Broken wing
Empty glass
Words that scream and bounce right back
She says, "You know, we'd all like to rearrange"
I wish I could fix you
And make you how I want you
I wish I could fix you
And I wish you could fix me
I wish I could heal you
And mend where you are broken
I wish I could heal you
And I wish you could heal me
A beaming sunrise buries the night
The setting sun destroys the light
And she says, "Baby, I've gotta get going"
Cutting each other without even knowing
She sees a million stars like holes in the sky
All god's tears for her, they cry
And I am in her reign
I wish I could fix you
And make you how I want you
I wish I could fix you
And I wish you could fix me
I wish I could heal you
And mend where you are broken
I wish I could heal you
And I wish you could heal me
Broken wing
Empty glass
Words that scream and bounce right back
She says, "You know, we'd all like to rearrange"
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By Gallagher87
This latest work isn’t bad at all but presents formulas that have been tried and retried.
The band is, in my opinion, declining.
