INTRODUCTION
Splinter is the seventh studio album from punk rock band The Offspring, released on December 9, 2003. This was The Offspring's first album without longtime drummer Ron Welty, but it still proved to be successful, as it was certified gold within two months of release. There were two singles to accompany this album: "Hit That" and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You", with "Spare Me The Details" also being released in Australia and New Zealand. This record, which gets its title from a lyric in the track "Long Way Home", didn't receive as much acclaim as some of their other albums, but it still charted on the Billboard 200, peaking at #30. Although it was not as successful as albums like Smash, Ixnay On The Hombre, Americana, and Conspiracy of One, it still seems like there's a lot of exciting stuff in it, right? Well, let's see what that is.
REVIEW
If I could describe (not review) this album in one sentence, I would say that although there are many different styles and sounds presented in the album, all of the tracks have one thing in common: They are at least somewhat comedic. Not every Offspring album is like that, which makes this album a really fun listen if you love funny music. As for the different styles and sounds in the album, there is the sound that makes the songs sound comedic, and also the punk sound where The Offspring's roots come from. Also, I'd like to put out there that the longest song on this album is just over three and a half minutes long, and the whole album is only 32 minutes long, which can be significant because a lot of iconic punk songs are really short, so this can show how much that they are going back to their roots. Not every song on the record does that, but the ones that do are really good.
Now, although I love pretty much every song on this album, I think it was a good choice to only release two singles from it in most countries. I say this because most of the songs on the album aren't very radio friendly in my opinion. Sure, they're funny and cool, but that does not equal radio friendly. The two singles that did get released in most countries, "Hit That" and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You", are two of the most radio friendly songs on the album in my opinion, and although they're not quite my favorites off of it, they work the best as singles for me. "Hit That" proved to be a fan favorite, as it peaked at #64 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the alternative charts. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" also peaked at #6 on the alternative charts, so it must have been loved as well. Although I am not mad that "Spare Me The Details" did not get released as a single in the U.S., it seemed to have worked well in New Zealand, as it peaked at #31 over there. So the comedic sound that comes in a lot of these songs does seem to be liked by people, including me, which is why I always look forward to listening to this album. I am quite looking forward to reviewing every track as well, so let's do that.
TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS
1. "Neocon"
Rating: N/A
Comments: This is a really cool track to open out the album, with the crowd and everything, but I won't rate it just because it's nothing more than a one-minute long intro. But it does do that job pretty well.
2. "The Noose"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: The Offspring's classic punk sound comes back into play extremely well in this song. It's very fast-paced and very catchy, which I always love to hear in songs.
3. "Long Way Home"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This is another great example of this band going back to their roots really well. Enough said.
4. "Hit That"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Fun, fun, and more fun! I love fun, so I love this song!
5. "Race Against Myself"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This is slightly slower than most of the songs on the album, which is cool, I guess.
6. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I am fine with this being one of the two singles because of how radio friendly it is, but I prefer a couple other songs on this album, so there's that.
7. "The Worst Hangover Ever"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: The album's comedic sound is shown pretty prominently here. This song is so cool that after I got into it, it went into my rotation of Offspring songs, and hasn't come out since.
8. "Never Gonna Find Me"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: Pretty forgettable song to me, but still really enjoyable. Also, the punk sound here tho.
9. "Lightning Rod"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I wish I could remember this song more than I do, because it is really good.
10. "Spare Me The Details"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Can I please give this song an 11/10 because of how good it is? No? Okay then. But yeah, this song is just so awesome, it's funny, catchy, and has some awesome vocals throughout the whole thing. It might even be in my top five Offspring songs, just because of how awesome it sounds.
11. "Da Hui"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Although this is only just over one and a half minutes long, I will count it as a song, because reasons. And it is a really good song, as the punk sound here is just cool.
12. "When You're In Prison"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: It doesn't have too much to it, but it is really a good, fun track to close out the album.
ALBUM RANKDOWN
1. "Spare Me The Details"
2. "Hit That"
3. "The Noose"
4. "The Worst Hangover Ever"
5. "Da Hui"
6. "Long Way Home"
7. "Lightning Rod"
8. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You"
9. "Never Gonna Find Me"
10. "When You're In Prison"
11. "Race Against Myself"
OVERALL SCORE
106/110 = 9.636/10 = 0.9636 = 96.36%
FINAL WORDS
I can sum up this great album in just one word: Fun! And do you know how much I love fun? Quite a bit. So yeah, this album is a great listen, and I recommend it to any of you out there who love fun music. If that describes you, then you can listen to this album on Spotify here or on YouTube here.
So that will wrap up today's review. Thank you if you made it this far, because I really appreciate it. And don't forget, you can always hit me up with post suggestions, because I will he happy to review anything you want me to! I will never turn an album or chart review down, so it might be good to suggest something if you're curious to see what I think of it. But until my next post, which should come pretty soon, thank you, and I'll see you next time! Have a great day!
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