The Offspring
Splinter

THE REVIEW

After the disappointing sales of "Conspiracy of One," the Offspring were on hiatus for a good 3 years before releasing "Splinter"... in the meantime, longtime drummer Ron Welty left the group to focus on alternative projects (it's said he left due to disagreements with other members who were now too focused on a commercial end). From this album, longtime fans expected a return almost to the roots, given the promises of frontman Dexter Holland during the production.... What came out of it?

It was October 2003 when the enigmatic first single "Hit that" was released on the radio. Electronic sounds, keyboards, and decidedly vague lyrics... with this song, the Offspring wanted to experiment with electronic music, a genre that absolutely does not suit their musical path that began in the basements of Orange County where they gave birth to their (at least initially) raw, "dirty" and out-of-tune punk... (great masters were Social Distortion, their so-called "neighbors"...). However, this album has some surprises and perhaps Dexter kept some promises... indeed, following the initial uselessness of "neocon", an embarrassing intro made with stadium chants, the album officially opens with the fast and splendid "The noose", a great piece in their perfect style that perfectly paves the way for the next track "Long way home", which is also well done and well composed with a very catchy riff. Skipping the dreadful "Hit that", there comes "Race against myself", a track that recalls the rock vein of the Offspring that started in the previous album with "Denial Revisited".... despite the not bad lyrics, the piece doesn't fully convince and leaves a bit of a void, almost to the point of boring and making one skip to the next track. At number 6, we have "get around you", the second single (actually never released or promoted)... but the track is powerful, loaded with energy... something that calls back to the punk rock of Pennywise (probably due to the participation of the frontman in the track's backing vocals)... the ska experiment found on track 7 I would say is not well executed. Already from the title "The worst hangover ever=the worst hangover ever" the group shows they've completely run out of the inspiration from the times of "Smash" and "Ixnay on the Hombre," their two absolute masterpieces.

But here the album rises in level thanks to tracks like "Never gonna find me" and "Lightning'rod", particularly the latter, which is perhaps the most beautiful piece on the album both in terms of music and lyrics. We return to decidedly "pop" atmospheres with "Spare me the details" (third supposed single without a video clip), which deals with easy topics like betrayal, supported by light-hearted music and singing that doesn't even seem like Dexter's so particular voice. A piece not worthy of the Offspring... offensive toward their original genre and decidedly "commercial." "Da hui" is practically the last piece of the album.... a very tight song... fast and rather punk, recalling Dexter and Noodles' (longtime guitarist) passion for surfing. The album closes with the pointless "When you're in prison", an experiment on a '30s style base with "modified" vocals. A filler piece that makes no sense. Overall, "Splinter" proves to be a mediocre album with some very good tracks and others decidedly to be deleted from the Offspring's repertoire. It must be said that after 3 years of waiting and given the disappointments of the previous album, one expected a bit more from the group in both quality of the pieces and quantity of songs.

Doubts remain that the Offspring no longer have much to say given the last two albums not in line with the previous ones. "Splinter" remains somewhat a meteorite in the Offspring's discography, also given the poor sales obtained.. it is still worth listening to if you are a fan of theirs. But don't do it if you're looking to discover something new.. it's hoped that the Offspring will surprise us with the next album.. otherwise, I strongly advise them to close the curtains.. and not ruin too much of their career.