Thursday, October 24, 2024

(Pre) Friday Flash(back)

The Offspring formed all the way back in 1984 in Garden Grove, California, originally under the name Manic Subsidal.

The Offspring are lead vocalist & rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Todd Morse, multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn. 

The Offspring is often credited (alongside fellow California punk bands Green Day, NOFX, Bad Religion, Rancid, Pennywise and Blink-182) for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the 90's.

During their 40-year career, the Offspring has eleven studio albums and sold more than 40 million records, making them one of the best-selling punk rock bands.

The Offspring's longest-serving drummer was Ron Welty, who replaced original drummer James Lilja in 1987. 

He was replaced by Adam "Atom" Willard in 2003, who was replaced four years later by Pete Parada. Parada was fired in 2021 after he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and was replaced two years later by Pertzborn.

Gregory "Greg K." Kriesel (one of the Offspring's co-founders) was the band's bassist until he was fired in 2018; this left Holland as the sole remaining original member. Kriesel was replaced by Todd Morse, who had been the Offspring's touring guitarist since 2009. Morse's position as touring member was filled by Jonah Nimoy, who became an official member in 2023.

After achieving a local following with their early releases, including their 1989 self-titled debut album and the vinyl-only EP Baghdad (1991), the Offspring signed with independent label Epitaph Records and released two albums: Ignition (1992) and Smash (1994). 

Smash, which contained the band's first major hit Come Out and Play, is one of the best-selling albums released on an independent record label, selling over 11 million copies worldwide and helping to propel punk rock into the mainstream.

The success of Smash attracted attention from major labels including Columbia Records, with whom the Offspring signed in 1996; their first album for the label, Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), did not match its predecessor's success, but received favorable reviews and gold and platinum RIAA certifications.

The band reached furthest success with its fifth album Americana (1998), to which three of its singles − Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), Why Don't You Get a Job? & The Kids Aren't Alright, became mainstream radio and MTV staples, while the album managed to sell over five million units in the US.

Though their next two albums, Conspiracy of One (2000) and Splinter (2003), were not as successful as those from the previous decade, they were both critically acclaimed, with the former going platinum and the latter being certified gold.

The Offspring's eighth studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008), cemented their comeback on the strength of its second single You're Gonna Go Far, Kid, which reached number one on the Billboard rock charts for eleven weeks and has since obtained platinum status.

The band released no new studio albums between Days Go By (2012) and Let the Bad Times Roll (2021), but continued touring and released a series of one-off songs in the interim. Their latest eleventh studio album, Supercharged, was released a couple of Friday's ago.

Supercharged is the band's first album to feature bassist Todd Morse as an official member and the band's first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn.

The album was preceded by the singles Make It All Right, Light It Up, Come to Brazil,  & Ok, But This Is the Last Time.

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