Let The Bad Times Roll
Welcome to our The Offspring new album review and vinyl unboxing. The band has just released the album, Let The Bad Times Roll, and we are pleasantly surprised by it. It has been 9 years since the Garden Grove, CA band released their last album, Days Go By, and quite a bit longer since we actually cared about the news of The Offspring’s new album. I realize that may sound harsh, but I don’t mean it to. Allow me to explain. When I got into The Offspring, it was 1994 and the band had just released their breakthrough album, Smash. This is the record that featured songs like “Come Out and Play,” “Self-Esteem,” and “Bad Habit.” I was 17 years old driving around in my dad’s Ford Escort, playing the cd through a Discman player and a cassette adapter combination. Kids today will never understand the struggle. Anyway, this album was the soundtrack to my summer. It was loud, it was edgy, and it was just over 45 minutes of sonic goodness. But something changed in the dynamic of the band that would have me fall away from them for the next two decades.
After releasing 1997s Ixnay on the Hombre, the term “The Offspring new album” would not excite me again until April 16, 2021. The band started to water down their sound with cartoonish anthems like “Pretty Fly For A White Guy” and “Get A Job.” Now, the band always showed a sense of humor in their previous albums, but it was a bit more subtle than these new (at the time) songs. The Offspring seemed to be going for the cheap pop, and appeared to be trying to morph into The Bloodhound Gang. It did not work for me…and many others. I have no doubt there will be those who question my judgment with The Offspring new album, Let The Bad Times Roll. I get it, I do.
Why Now? What Changed?
I must admit that I did not really intend on covering The Offspring’s new album. But I always like to see what is coming out to see if there is anything worth telling you all about. I saw the cover for the Let The Bad Times Roll and it pulled me in. Anyone who tells you the cover doesn’t matter is wrong. So, I told my Amazon Alexa (Discman cassette adapter eat your heart out) to pull the record up for a curious listen. Much like my 17-year-old self, I was floored by what came through the speaker. The songs were loud and had a certain edge to them. I commanded Alexa to turn it up, and my casual curiosity was replaced with anticipation for the next track to see what was next. It wasn’t until the latter half of the album that the songs seemed to run out of steam.
It would seem that old habits are hard to break entirely. Track #7 saw the band go for one last cheap pop with the campy “We Never Have Sex Anymore.” The cheesy, clickbait-esq song totally kills the momentum of an otherwise stellar record. They manage to drop a couple of good tunes after that, but with a pointless instrumental “Hassan Chop,” the album never gets back to the level that it built over the first half of the record. But with that said, Let The Bad Times Roll is a solid record from a band that I had previously written off. The goodness of the record far outweighs the bad. So much, in fact, that I went down to my local record store, Hey Suburbia, and picked it up. The Offspring really did a nice job with the vinyl pressing of the album. But for that, I will direct you to our Vinyl Show & Tell video below to see for yourself.
Vinyl Show & Tell
Order Your Copy Here!
Trackisting
1. “This Is Not Utopia”
2. “Let the Bad Times Roll”
3. “Behind Your Walls”
4. “Army of One”
5. “Breaking These Bones”
6. “Coming for You”
7. “We Never Have Sex Anymore”
8. “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (instrumental)
9. “The Opioid Diaries”
10. “Hassan Chop”
11. “Gone Away” (piano version of original 1997 single)
12. “Lullaby”
