Those days go by, and we all start again

[Wisemon]

The Offspring, my favorite band, released a new album recently. It’s called “Days Go By.” I haven’t done one of these reviews in a while, but for The Offspring, I’ll offer you one.

1. The Future Is Now: 10+/10. This is an awesome opener. It’s fast, catchy, and the lyrics are intelligent and cynical .
2. Secrets from the Underground: 10+/10. Ditto what I just said. “The Future Is Now” blends into this one on the album, so they’re really like one song. Add this to the list of awesome one-two blended combos, along with “Have You Ever”/”Staring at the Sun” and “Never Gonna Find Me”/”Lightning Rod.”
3. Days Go By: 9/10. This is the first single. It has wise lyrics, and the tune is awfully reminiscent of Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These.” It’s different from anything the band has done before, but still distinctively The Offspring.
4. Turning into You: 9/10. So it’s fair to say this is overall the best first four songs ever on an album from The Offspring. This one has a cute riff and electronic drums in it, and it sounds a little emo, but in a good way.
5. Hurting As One: 7/10. This is where the album starts to go downhill. This song sounds a little like one of the filler tracks from “Smash,” which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not a remarkable song.
6. Cruising California (Bumpin’ in My Trunk): 3/10. I wasn’t sure how to grade this one. I don’t like it because it’s a pop song and the lyrics are nauseating. However, I have to give the band credit for experimenting, and it’s still kind of catchy. It’s probably the worst song on the album, but it’s still not as unlistenable as “When You’re in Prison.”
7. All I Have Left Is You: 7/10. I like it when The Offspring do deeper, slower songs, and this is one of those. It sounds a little like “Fix You” from the last album, but it’s more enjoyable. It’s also the longest song they’ve done since “Pay the Man.”
8. OC Guns: 5/10. This is another oddball song. It’s kind of catchy I guess, and half of the song makes a point, but the rest is just random Spanish. If they could borrow some of the instrumental ideas here for another song on another album, they might be able to do something with it.
9. Dirty Magic: 10/10. Dirty Magic was an awesome song 20 years ago, and this rerecording definitely breathes new life into it. It’s neither better nor worse than the original, but it’s definitely different and shows the band’s musical maturity.
10. I Wanna Secret Family (With You): 4/10. This song is good competition for worst on the album. Lyrically, it’s based on a pretty weak premise, and it doesn’t do much musically either. I think this was meant to be a hair metal song.
11. Dividing by Zero: 10/10. Now we’re getting back into true punk mode. This song sounds very old school, and it’s a damn good one. I especially like the “Tehran”-like introduction.
12. Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell: 9/10. It’s a solid song, but I expect a little more from a closer. Also, the name is too long.

Overall, this album is very diverse, schizophrenic even. Some of the experiments work well, and some fail pretty badly. The few songs that stick to the tried and true formula are exceptionally good.

[UnknownH]

Nice review. I think 6 is supposed to be a joke song. But hey, you could record yourself doing these and maybe get some amount of interest on Youtube.