The group has been around for a long time. 36 years ago, teenagers from California Dexter Holland and Greg Krisel, impressed by the concert of punk musicians, made a promise to themselves to create their own band, no worse sounding bands heard at the concert.
No sooner said than done! Dexter took over the role of vocalist, Greg became the bass player. Later, they were joined by an adult guy who at that time was 21 years old. They came up with a noticeable symbol - a burning skull against the background of a circle.
By the way, unlike the name Manic Subsidal, which turned into The Offspring in 1986, the emblem is still relevant today.
In 1988, the guys recorded their first album, The Offspring, in their own studio, at the home of Greg Chrisel. This was a limited edition vinyl version. A CD version appeared in 1995.
Lyrical digression: nostalgia
All this time, the guys work on enthusiasm, during the day they earn money with whatever they can, in the evenings and at night they entertain the public in clubs and cafes.
They also managed to learn. The Offspring is distinguished from other punk bands by its intelligent lyrics.
The explanation is simple: Holland, in between music and work, studied to be a microbiologist; Ron Welty, the fourth to join them, the most recent, as a minor teenager, became an electronics specialist; and Greg Krisel is a chartered financier.
In his interviews, who became the idol of a multi-million audience, the musician recalls those days in stuffy, smoky clubs with nostalgia in his voice.
Then you could look into the eyes of each viewer, say hello to the hand and sing personally to the one who shook your hand in response.
Now, when gathering stadiums, it is no longer possible to say to the audience: “Hello! Thank you for coming!" Dexter regrets. Their music had to resist everything that had become banal, routine, it was a rebellion, a challenge to society.
Stages of creative development of the group: the path to the success of The Offspring
In 1991, the EP Baghdad was released, in 1992, the album Ignition. And the culmination of the creative recognition of the group was the album Smash, recorded in 1993. Within a week, it became top in Australia, Belgium, Austria, Canada, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.
It was the first good money that was earned by music. The royalties from the sale of the Smash album helped buy the rights to The Offspring's debut album.
Relations with the producer, with whom they began to work, have long left much to be desired. More friends finally created their own record company, Nitro Records. And the Smash album was certified 6 times platinum in the US and Canada.
After a resounding success, popularity led to an offer for The Offspring to perform at the stadium with Metallica.
Dexter Holland, who was not ready for such fame, explained the refusal as follows: "Punk music cannot sound in a huge audience, it will not be so attractive anymore."
And I was mistaken, Wembley Stadium, however, already in 2010 became a venue for the performance of punk, causing no less positive emotions in a huge hall than among spectators in insignificant clubs.
New wave of popularity of The Offspring
In 1997 there was another disc (fourth in a row), slightly losing in success to the previous and subsequent, launched from Columbia Records, Ixnay On The Hombre. It was released in a small circulation, only 4 million copies.
In 1998, another Americana album was released with a circulation of 11 million copies. There was the next peak of popularity.
In 2000, the band recorded their next masterpiece, no less famous than Americana, Conspirasy of One, the last recorded with Ron Welty.
According to the head of The Offspring, they moved away from the main theme of their songs - sharply political, topical issues, this is the reason that caused a decrease in popularity.
According to some reports, three songs from its composition "kept afloat" the disc: All I Want, Gone Away, I Choose.
In 2007, drummer Pete Parada joined the band to replace the retired Atom Willard.
2014 became an anniversary year - 20 years since the release of the Smash album. The round date of the creation of the group, thanks to which it gained unexpected world-class fame, prompted the team to the next tour (from July to September).
The tour was organized with the support and participation of: Bed Religion, Pennywise, Vandals, Stiff Little Fingers, Naked Raygun.
That year, Russian fans in nine cities at once were lucky to attend The Offspring concerts and enjoy the live performance of their idols.
In 2015, the new single Coming For You enjoyed huge popularity, the composition repeated the success of Gone Away, which occurred in 1997. It peaked at number 1 on the Billboard rock chart.
The Offspring today
After 36 years, "Sprout" (that's the name of The Offspring in Russian) pleases the audience with new hits.
In 2019, Dexter Holland announced that work on the new tenth anniversary album was 99% complete, that their new creation would be released in 2020.
At the same time, the leader of the group admitted with pride that enough material had accumulated (enough for the 11th album). The rebellion against the whole world was the reason for the appearance of a musical group of guys who themselves did not expect from themselves that they would have to carry the banner of all peaceful rebels.
Offspring in 2021
In 2021, the band released a new single. The song was called We Never Have Sex Anymore. In the song, the main character refers to his girlfriend. He draws attention to the fact that passion has disappeared in their relationship.
