Offspring

Needed a WARNING sticker that warns how bad it is

Review Score:

(2/10)
The Offspring's self-titled debut is awful in terms of how the music and vocals were recorded. The careless way the songs are played on here is awful too. There obviously wasn't any mixing or production beyond the overdubs of shouts and quick guitar bursts heard here and there. The demos for these songs are amazing compared to the tinny recording heard here. Greg's bass is inaudible throughout the entire album. This official release from Niro is unbelievably sloppy and rushed. This official version isn't even worth buying. Nitro's site lets you listen each song in its entirety as somewhat of a warning of what you're about to buy. When I bought The Offspring's debut in November of '95, and I ended up returning it because it was so bad. There was actually a disclaimer sticker on the CD that said: "WARNING: This is not a new Offspring album. It was recorded in 1989, and may be habit forming". I wish. I'm sure Nitro Records lets you listen to the entire album before you buy because customers were so p*ssed and complained that it sucks and is a rip-off to pay money for. My advice: find a place that sells the demos of these same songs; they're awesome, and the playing is what you expect from The Offspring. The demo compilation I'm recommending includes "Out on Patrol" and "Jennifer Lost the War" (from the 7-inch record 'They were born to Kill'), and "I'll Be Waiting" and "Blackball" from their first 7-inch vinyl from 1986, and demo versions of Ignition's Get It Right and Take It Like a Man. A demo for "Beheaded" is on there too. It's a shame the songs on the official release from Nemesis Records weren't performed as good as the demo versions. I'd like to have heard "Crossroads" and "Demons" played slower and more thoughtfully like their demos from 1986 were. I personally think that "Demons" has some of Bryan's best lyrics that he's ever written (but his vocal delivery totally sucks). Just in case you care, here are the lyrics from "Demons":

Clouds pass over the moon/ Like an eye that shows impending doom
Tension in this misty air/ Souls pass into the room
Drawn in by a lost memory
You will join them in the moonlight
You are my offering
Your soul transcends
The centuries of pain
Your misery in life
Is your ecstasy in death
Time passes like the wind/ As we race to beat days dusky grin
Mornings just a moment away
Your body glistens in candlelight/ As we all look on in fiendish delight
The ritual is just beginning
Come fulfill the prophecy/ With our demons of debauchery
As virgins and spectres sing
This madness will never cease
In the dead of night
You will follow
In the footsteps of many others
Who have come before
I will show you the altar
Your Aztec eyes, Egyptian hair/ Your beauty bestoved upon my lair
I've loved you before, in other lives
But you've never meant as much to me
Never meant as much to me as now
In this night of sacrifice
where blood is spilt
That will never spill again
But in your linen robes
We want you now
We want you now
You could never ask for more than that
You are my offering
Your soul transcends
The centuries of pain
Your misery in life
Is your ecstasy in
Come fulfill the prophecy
With our demons of debauchery
This madness will never cease

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