| |
Formed in Garden Grove, California USA, in 1984 this veteran Punk-Rock
act primarily comprised singer+guitarist Bryan 'Dexter' Holland and bassist
Greg Kriesel; the two started a band they named Manic Subsidal with drummer
James Lilja and later were joined by lead guitarist Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman.
Just a year later, the quartet dubbed themselves The Offspring, playing
as a supporting band on the Cali-Punk circuit and self-released their
first single "I'll Be Waiting".
In 1987 Lilja was fired and replaced with drummer Ron Welty; by the spring
of 1989 the new line-up set about recording their first album which was
released on the indie label Nemesis Records.
Three years later the band delivered their last record, the "Baghdad"
EP, on Nemesis; the foursome then began a collaboration with former Bad
Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz, who was also the founder of Epitaph
Records.
By October 1992 The Offspring released their second album, the first for
Epitaph, "Ignition"; one and half years later its follow-up,
"Smash", broke The Billboard Top 200 Albums chart peaking at
#4 on the back of the #1 Modern Rock single "Come Out And Play",
plus "Self Esteem" which debuted at #4 and #7 respectively on
Modern and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, also "Gotta Get Away"
made top 10 on Modern Rock list and helped the band, sold 4 millions of
records by an independent label; along with their recordings The Offspring
spent a lot of time on the road, touring with labelmates Pennywise,
Rancid and Guttermouth.
1995 saw the single "Kick Him When He's Down", taken from 1992's
"Ignition", climbs up to #22 on Modern Rock chart and "Smash
It Up", their contribution to the "Batman Forever" soundtrack,
cracked the top 20 in the same chart.
In 1996 the band signed for Columbia and began recording their next album,
"Ixnay On The Hombre"; the record was released in February 1997
and soon entered the top 10 of The Billboard Top 200, leading directly
to their international success; it peaked at #3 in Canada, reached the
#17 in U.K. and generated two straight Mainstream Rock top 5 hits: "I
Choose" and the #1 "Gone Away" which also rose to the #4
slot on The Modern Rock Tracks chart; one further single, "All I
Want" peaked at #13 in the same chart.
Premiered by the transatlantic hit single "Pretty Fly (For A White
Guy)", the band's fifth album, "Americana", was relesed
in November 1998, it shot to #2 in U.S. Top 200, climbed into the top
3 of the Pop Canadian Albums list and crashed into the top 10 in Britain;
the first single topped the U.K. chart, peaked at #3 and #5 respectively
on Billboard's Modern and Active Rock charts but surprisingly failed to
clinch a high chart position on The Billboard Hot 100; the band debuted
at U.K. #2 with the follow-up single, "Why Don't You Get A Job?",
which hit #4 on Modern Rock Tracks list and reached #10 on Mainstream
Rock chart; the album yielded two more Billboard's Modern and Active Rock
top 20 hits: "The Kids Aren't Alright" and "She's Got Issues";
by the time "Americana" became the group's biggest worldwide
success, with over 10 million copies sold.
The Offspring returned to the spotlight in late 2000 releasing "Conspiracy
Of One", this album easily soared to the top 10 of the North-American
charts spawning "Original Prankster" which barely missed the
top spot of The Modern Rock Tracks chart and peaked at #7 on Mainstream
Rock chart; "Want You Bad" made top 10 on Modern Rock list and
the second 2001 single, "Million Miles Away" was a minor hit.
The quartet scored another Billboard's Rock top 10 hit, that year, with
"Defy You", a single which they recorded for the soundtrack
to the movie "Orange County".
After a 15 year term of service, drummer Ron Welty left the band for a
new project in spring 2003, he was replaced by Atom Willard.
The revamped line-up released "Splinter", that fall; this album
failed to match its predecessor's chart performance reaching the #30 on
The Billboard Top 200 list; it included "Hit That" which topped
Modern Rock Tracks chart and hit #6 on The Active Rock chart plus one
further Modern Rock top 10 single, "(Can't Get My) Head Around You".
The Offspring released its "Greatest Hits" in June 2005, a
retrospective compilation which offers the new song "Can't Repeat".
The Offspring biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
|