Days Go By Appreciation Thread!

[Llamas]

A lot of people have been comparing All I Have to Fix You... but I'd compare it to Denial. I really like both those songs, too.

OC Guns seems to be the best joke song they've done in ages. Probably the best one they've done since Get a Job, which is a good song but just got really old due to being a massive single.

Hey, you know what, if some random person actually likes Cruising California because it sounds like other crappy radio songs and buys the album based on it... I want their reaction filmed. That is all.

In 1998, I was a good little Backstreet Boys and NSYNC fan. I listened to Cher and Jewel (I still listen to Jewel, but not ONLY Jewel) and Alanis (same there). I went to the store on my bday to get the Dixie Chicks album (who I also still like!) I couldn't find their album, though, but I saw Americana sitting on the shelf... checked out the back and was like, "Oooooooh Why Don't You Get a Job!!! I love that song!" I spent my gift certificate on that album, immediately fell in love with every song, and they proceeded to be my favorite band for about 5 years So in some ways, a song like CC could be a good thing... who knows?

I kind of feel bad admitting I'd pretty much lost any major expectations for the band in the last 10 years, despite enjoying about half of RAFRAG a whole lot.

Same here. I lost hope and expectations after Splinter was released and then I saw the band live and was disappointed. CO1 and Splinter were very underwhelming. I also dig the first half of RFRG, but I guess it's not enough. This album makes up for the last 10 years or so.

Fun album. I can't wait 'til it comes out so I can re-track it in iTunes and replace "Cruising California" with something more tolerable, like a 3-minute recording of my dog farting after eating a giant block of cheese.

That sounds pretty fair trade, honestly.

[Eskimo]

Toward Momo.

*Nods sagely*

*Throws monkey-feces at you*

[Rooster]

Ok, so here’s my attempt at reviewing the album. I won’t focus on each track individually, I’ll rather review the album as a whole.

It’s been four years since the band’s last attempt, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, which saw The Offspring trying out a few new things (well, for them at least). That album gave us gems in the likes of Half-Truism, Trust In You, Hammerhead, You’re Gonna Go Far Kid, and perhaps A Lot Like Me also. Seeing the problem here? The problem of that album was that all the best tracks were lined up in the first half of the album, while the second half of it didn’t quite meet the expectations. Not that those songs were bad, they just weren’t quite up there with the rest. So I hoped this time around things would be different. And they were.

The first two singles may have made a lot of people worried about the album. And rightfully so – Days Go By isn’t why we loved the band in the first place, it’s a good alternative rock track, but nothing to make me go “wow”, and Cruising California may just go down as one of the worst tracks in the band’s entire history. I already said somewhere that maybe the band took a different route with promoting the album this time around – RAFRAG’s singles were great and raised the expectations too high so (after the “newness factor” had worn off) the end result was kind of underwhelming. I said I hoped that they might just be sparing the best songs for last this time, making us all positively surprised in the end. And how right I was.

The album kicks off in a furious way with one of its best tracks, The Future Is Now. With its great lyrics, energetic melody and great hooks this is a perfect opener, and certainly delivers what we come to The Offspring for. Same thing goes for Secrets From The Underground and Turning Into You, which may (or may not) borrow a few cues from Rise Against, and I’m not saying this in a bad way at all. Hurting As One feels like it could have been ripped straight out of Smash, and will definitely fare well with the old school fans. Days Go By actually fits better within the context of the album, but as a single it wasn’t the best choice, nor was Cruising California, which I can tolerate, given the quality of the rest. The album slows down a bit in the middle, which contains it’s more experimental efforts, along with surprisingly good O.C. Guns, a fun mixture of mariachi trumpets, reggae and hilarious, Maurice Chavez (GTA Vice City radio station VCPR, anyone? ) sounding vocals. I was worried about All I Have Left Is You, which with its 5 minutes is the longest song on the album. It was supposed to sound similar to RAFRAG’s Fix You, which I didn’t really like, but my worries were for nothing – All I Have Left Is You is a good song. Another track that got some of the fans worried was I Wanna Secret Family (With You), which is one of the album’s few less serious moments. But do not worry anymore, as this is just a plain fun song which would have done just find on Americana, better than Cruising California (which the band should simply lock in the trunk of an abandoned car, where nobody could hear it bumping...). We also can’t forget to mention the brilliant re-recording of Dirty Magic, a song from Ignition that is sadly largely unknown to the casual fans of the band (hopefully this album will change that). But then we come to the album’s fiery ending, the brilliant combo of Dividing By Zero and Slim Pickens Does The Right Thing And Rides The Bomb To Hell. Dividing By Zero has to be my favorite track of the album, summing up everything that made me the fan of the band all those years ago, after I heard Americana as a kid. It’s very fast and with tons of energy, and the chorus just leaves you wanting more and more of this stuff! I’ve been listening to this song more times than I can count, in fact numbers as high as the times I’ve replayed the track may yet have to be invented. The track blends nicely with Slim Pickens, a very good album closer, but they still feel as two separate songs, and work well on their own.

So, here’s my attempt at objectively reviewing the album. I didn’t stick to the actual track listing, so the order may not have been exactly the same as it is on the album. To sum up, the album is diverse and in some ways experimental. It definitely feels different, but it works pretty damn well. But most of all, the album contains a lot of moments that we love The Offspring for, the moments that made us fans in the first place. Objectively, this album is a 3.5 to 4 (out of 5) without a doubt. Personally I give it 4 out of 5 at least, as it is the band’s best effort since Americana

[Llamas]

Exactly. And I'd suggest him a low audio during Secrets from the underground if he doesn't want his fucking punk office to explode.

However, I'm closing the discussion. I see you can't talk without personally offending me so I'm not gonna go on. Have a nice day wise man.

lol that's hilarious. You can make violent threats, but YOU'RE the one who's offended? Wow. Seriously, grow up manchild.

I love this album, but I also loved that LA Times article. It was amazing.

[Eskimo]

That's a fun review, Raptor.

I'm both a little lazy right now and wanting to let it all sink in before really reflecting on it. First-few times through leaves me happy as a...happy dude, though. It's just a great blend of different types of Offspring stuff, in a really satisfying total package.

[Dexter_italy]

Yeah, and making retarded threatening remarks toward some journalist for expressing his.

Maybe you should stop whining about the fact someone else doesn't like something that you do, man-child.

Did you write the article or are you friend of his? He went hard on a song and we go hard on him. Who the fuck cares if to you it seems childish really...
Those kind of articles give bad expectation to many people even if it's one song review, so fuck him.

[momo91]

lol that's hilarious. You can make violent threats, but YOU'RE the one who's offended? Wow. Seriously, grow up manchild.

I love this album, but I also loved that LA Times article. It was amazing.

Threats??? Come on...okay, guys let's stop this. I was just too excited for this new music and wasn' gonna start any battle here.

And I'd never permitt of calling anyone child or whatever. But okay, let's go back on topic.

[offspringer24]

The more I listen to the album the more I like it.

OC Gubs seems to have mixed reviews but I think it's really good, I think the context of the album seems to make more sense of CC and I think it blends into the album nicely.

It's like Americana meets Smash with a little of C01 in there which makes it a perfect album for me anyways.

I will review the album later as I see it but I think most songs are between 9 and 9.9

[Dexter_italy]

lol that's hilarious. You can make violent threats, but YOU'RE the one who's offended? Wow. Seriously, grow up manchild.

I love this album, but I also loved that LA Times article. It was amazing.

Violent threat? I think he was just saying that the album is loud and so rock that he's office would explode. he didn't say that he would put a bomb up his ass.

anyway.... if it's possible to not like the song and bash it I think it's possible to not like article and bash it.

peace out

[Llamas]

Wasn't a threat, I see. Very badly worded conditional, momo. But okay.