The Offspring
Splinter

The intro is decent, reminiscent of 'Ixnay on the Hombre'. Perhaps the enlightenment on the road to Damascus was there.

The further hope is realized with the following "The Noose", fast and powerful at just the right point. The new drummer, (possibly permanent?) replacement for the old Ron, does well. "The Long Way Home" picks up the sounds that began with "The Noose", another good song. But with "Hit That" it falls low, a pop ballad with 80's style dance samples, a truly nauseating and overly sweet concoction.

"Race Against Myself" completely changes the sound, much more restless, sad, and rhythmic. "Can’t Get My Head Around" alternates slow parts with decidedly powerful outbursts, a typical two-faced song. Total rhythm upheaval. "The Worst Hangover Ever", a song about hangover aftermath, proceeds at a Ska pace. But this time the result is not bad, on the contrary, the song is ironic and unassuming, breaking the album a little halfway through. It is certainly the most emblematic song on the album. The pace picks up again with "Never Gonna Find Me", a song that is not particularly significant, but at least it doesn’t have that déjà vu note that "Lightning Road" has, with the song’s rhythm and structure being too done. Another stop with "Spare Me the Details", an acoustic ballad with Caribbean tones. The lyrics are really cute (enough to make you cry) and have a good rhythm. But it’s with "Da Hui" that it picks up again, 2 minutes of pure adrenaline, extremely fast and tight. One of the most beautiful. It concludes with "When You Are in Prison", a 30's song that just says "BAH".

In conclusion, a decent album definitely better than 'Americana', and tougher than 'Conspiracy of One'. But the best for now remains, in my opinion, 'Ixnay on the Hombre'.