The Offspring – Greatest Hits

In 1994, there were two bands that broke into the mainstream and helped bring punk to the masses. One of those bands were Green Day with their hit album, Dookie, the other was The Offspring with their album Smash. And while the first of the two bands are soaring with their punk-rock opera of American Idiot, The Offspring seem to be wavering with their Pretty Fly wanna be single, Hit That. So what better a time to cash in on the punk popularity with a Greatest Hits album from The Offspring, with all the songs that helped the band make a name for themselves.

Clocking in at around 45 minutes, the fourteen track album does have a nice selection of Offspring songs since 1994. It kicks off with a brand new song, the single from the album, Can’t Repeat; and while it isn’t the best song lyrically, it does show that the band still knows how to craft a solid punk rock anthem. It then goes into their back catalogue starting at Smash‘s Come Out And Play (Keep ‘Em Separated)and going in chronological order towards 2003’s Splinter and it’s two singles, Hit That and (Can’t Get My) Head Around You. In between it makes stops at all their classic songs like the corny novelty songsPretty Fly (For A White Guy) and Original Prankster. It also features the slicker punk rock anthems of Self Esteem, Why Don’t You Get A Job?, The Kids Aren’t Alright and my favorite, Want You Bad.

But really, when it comes down to it, greatest hits albums are always disappointing and this one is no different. Because if you are a fan of the band, in this case The Offspring, then chances are you already have all the CDs which means, coincidentally, all these songs are already in your collection except Can’t Repeat. So unless you want to dish out twenty bucks for one song, chances are you’ll skip the Greatest HitsCD. Nonetheless, if you are one of the many people who have just followed the band through their radio stages without ever actually buying a full CD, then this would be a perfect choice for you because it has all those songs you listened to on the radio. Overall, not a bad “best off” CD as long as you don’t already own the CDs.