Album Review: The Offspring - Let The Bad Times Roll · 5:41pm Apr 21st, 2021
Of the many, many punk bands inspired by Green Day in the late 90s and early 2000s, there were a lot of bad bands, but there were plenty of good bands as well, like Sum-41, blink-182, and the topic of today's review, The Offspring. Instead of a simple Regretting the Past post, I thought I'd look at an album that just came out very recently, being Let The Bad Times Roll, being the first album in eight years after 2012's Days Go By
Now's a good time to mention that outside a few select songs, I've never been that into The Offspring, but I cannot ignore how much talent everyone, especially vocalist Dexter Holland, has.
Looking up information about this album, it's a wonder we even got it, considering how many times the band faced lineup changes, legal issues, and problems finding a new record label after the split with Columbia Records. While work began on this album in 2014, it was only just released on April 16, 2021 with three pre-released singles, standing at 12 tracks and just over half an hour. That alone makes me nervous, remembering a similar situation with Chinese Democracy by Guns 'N Roses
Regardless, let's get into the album track by track to see what The Offspring has to offer after a seven year delay
Track One
This Is Not Utopia
The first thing I notice here as how well Holland's vocals have aged. In terms of energy, this is a good song to start an album with. The guitar work is nothing to write home about, but I enjoy the lyrics about how the United States is a gilded land, looking good on the outside but being not so good on the inside. The only real problem is that it's really short, clocking in at just over two and a half minutes
Track Two
Let The Bad Times Roll
This came out as a single back in February, but the first thing I here is a snare drum. Luckily, it's gone quick, as Holland quickly takes over. It's clear that this was meant to be a party track, and it works well. The guitar is a bit more noticeable here as well, until it gets to the chorus, and everything comes to a halt. This is a good song, but it does leave a bit to be desired, being the title track
Track Three
Behind Your Walls
A nice slow intro with the guitar, and while Holland's vocals change the tempo a bit more than I'd like, he still sounds good. Once the tempo finally picks up, everything really comes together. The problem here is that there's nothing to really catch my attention after the first minute. Holland's definitely giving it his all and sounds good, but this just feels like a standard radio track
Track Four
Army Of One
I'll give credit where it's due and say that this song does a good job trying to stand out. It's very clear that everyone's giving it their all, and I can't knock them for that, but I feel like this could be better. Like, all of the pieces to make something great are there, but everyone's falling just short
Track Five
Breaking These Bones
There's a lot more power coming from the drummer for this track, and I enjoy that. It feels like this track should be an interlude, but Holland kinda slows things down here. It's a good song by all means, all of them have been so far, but I still feel like this could've been a lot better
Track Six
Coming For You
Not only was this the first single released from the album, but it was released all the way back in 2015. It works for what it's going for, being a standard rock anthem, and definitely stands out on the album. The bass between the chorus sounds really good, and the drums are once again a highlight of this track. All of the songs on this album are good by all means, but this is the first one that I'd call great
Track Seven
We Never Have Sex Anymore
That song title... This was the last pre-released single from the album, being released at the beginning of April of this year. It starts with a jazz section that sounds somewhat interesting, but Holland clearly isn't giving a full effort with his delivery. At best, this is a joke track, but it feels really out of place here. It's not performed poorly, but this is the first song that I'd say is bad
Track Eight
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
This sounds amazing! It's an interlude like I thought "Breaking These Bones" was, but this is awesome. The drums raising in tempo as the song goes on keeps it from being perfect, but I like it nonetheless. It's definitely a highlight of the album despite being an interlude
Track Nine
the Opioid Diaries
This song feels like it was thrown together all at once and sounds jumbled because of it. It's another standard radio track, and doesn't sound bad, but I know that they could do better. Oddly enough though, about half way through, there's a really nice change up where the drums kinda take over and Holland sounds a bit better. And twenty seconds later, there's another changeup and everything falls apart again. W-Why? You had it...
Track Ten
Hassan Chop
Once again, the bass sounds really good. Holland's vocals in the opening seconds are reminiscent of the early days of The Offspring. But at the same time, this is another formulaic radio track that I wouldn't be surprised is released as a single in the coming months. There is another nice changeup about halfway through where things slow down a bit that kinda keeps the song from being bad, but also once again, it just goes back to what it was before about thirty seconds later
Track Eleven
Gone Away
Yeah, you read that right, there's a remixed version of the 1997 classic on this album. Holland played this live a few times in the years before this album's release. The piano works here, reminding me of the 5FDP version, but the intensity from the original version is gone, and instead of trying to hit the high notes for the chorus like before, Holland's vocals drop an octave instead. I get he's aged and all and probably physically can't hit those notes anymore like he used to, but it's disappointing nonetheless
Track Twelve
Lullaby
The album ends with a really nice sounding outro. Holland's filtered vocals repeating lyrics from the title track sound really good, but this is over so quick that it just leaves me wanting more
There's no nice way to say this: this album leaves a lot to be desired. Nothing here sounds particularly bad, and there are a few tracks I'd wanna hear again, but nothing really keeps my attention for long. It's just a standard punk album that's made to get radio play. I'm calling it right now in fact, the title track is gonna make it absolutely huge
6/10
Songs worth hearing:
Let The Bad Times Roll
This Is Not Utopia
