Dopo le deludenti vendite di "Conspiracy of one", gli offspring sono rimasti fermi ben 3 anni prima di dare alle stampe "Splinter"... nel frattempo il batterista storico Ron Welty lascia il gruppo per dedicarsi a progetti alternativi (si dice se ne sia andato per disaccordi con gli altri membri oramai concentrati troppo su un fine commerciale). Da questo disco i fan storici si aspettavano un ritorno quasi alle origini viste anche le promesse del frontman Dexter Holland durante la lavorazione.... Cosa ne è uscito fuori?
E' l'ottobre 2003 quando alle radio viene lanciato il fantomatico primo singolo "Hit that". Suoni elettronici, tastiere e testo decisamente privo di concretezza... gli offspring conq eusta canzone vollero sperimentare l'eletrronica, genere che non si addice assolutamente al loro percorso musicale iniziato nelle cantine di Orange County dove dettero vita al loro (perlomeno iniziale) punk grezzo, "sudicio" e stonato... (grandi maestri furono i Social Distortion, i loro cosidetti "vicini di casa"...). Questo disco però ha delle sorprese e forse qualche promessa Dexter l'aveva mantenuta... infatti dopo l'inutilità iniziale di "neocon", un imbarazzante intro fatto con cori da stadio apre ufficialmente il disco la veloce e splendida "The noose", gran pezzo in perfetto loro stile che spiana perfettamente la strada anche al pezzo successivo "Long way home" anch'esso ben fatto e ben composto con riff molto accattivante.. Saltando l'orrenda "Hit that" ecco che incombe "Race againist myself" un pezzo che richaima la vena rock degli offspring iniziata nel precedente album con "Denial Revisited".... nonostante il testo niente male il pezzo non convince fino in fondo e lascia un mezzo vuoto tanto quasi da annoiare e far saltare la traccia a quella successiva. Al numero 6 ci aspetta "get around you", secondo singolo (in realtà mai passato e mai pubblicizzato).. il pezzo però è forte carico ed energio.. qualcosa che richiama al punk rock dei Pennywise (sarà per la partecipazione del frontman dei cori del pezzo)... l'esperimento ska che troviamo alla traccia 7 direi che non è ben riuscito. Già dal titolo "The worst hangover ever=la peggior sbronza di sempre" il gruppo dimostra di aver completamente esaurito l'ispirazione dei tempi di "Smash" e "Ixnay on the hombre", i due loro capolavori in assoluto.
Ma ecco che si rialza il livello del disco grazie a pezzi come "Never gonna find me" e "Lightning'rod" in particolare quest'ultimo che forse rappresenta il pezzo più bello del disco sia come musica che come testo. Si torna ad atmosfere decisamente "pop" con "Spare me the details" (terzo presunto singolo senza videoclip) che tratta argomenti facili come il tradimenti sostenuto da una musica leggera leggera e un cantato che non sembra nemmeno la voce cosi particolare di Dexter. Un pezzo non degno degli Offspring.. offensiivo verso il loro genere d'origine e decisamente "commerciale". "Da hui" è in pratica l'lultimo pezzo del disco.... una canzone tiratissima... veloce e piuttosto punk che richiama la passione del surf di Dexter e Noodles (chitarrista storico). Il disco si chiude con l'inutile "When you're in prison", esperimento su una base anni '30 con un cantato "modificato". Un pezzo riempitivo decisamente senza senso. Nel complesso "Splinter" si rileva un disco mediocre con pezzi molto buoni ed altri decisamente da cancellare dal repertorio offspring. C'è da dire che dopo 3 anni di attesa e viste le delusioni del precedente ci si aspettava un pò di più dal gruppo sia in qualità dei pezzi che in quantità di canzoni.
Resta il dubbio che gli offspring oramai non abbiano più molto da dire visti gli ultimi due dischi non assolutamente in linea con i precedenti. "Splinter" rimane un pò una meteora nella discografia degli Offspring viste anche le scarse vendite ottenute.. è comunque da ascoltare se si è loro fan. Ma non fatelo se volete scoprire qualcosa di nuovo.. si spera che gli Offspring ci stupiranno con il prossimo disco.. altrimenti consiglio vivamente loro di chiudere le tende.. e non rovinare troppo la loro carriera.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Neocon (01:08)
We are strong
We are right
We won't be pushed aside
We'll go on
We will fight
We will not compromise
We will never lose to you
We will never lose to you
We will never lose to you
We will never lose to you
02 The Noose (03:20)
(Well our) souls are all mistaken in the same misguided way
We all end up forsaken, we're just choosing our own way
The future now incinerates before our very eyes
And leaves us with emptiness of no more tries
(Well our) visions of glory have spiraled down the drain
The best of our intentions come crashing down in flames
The depths of our despair we are unable to contain
It's shallow living
The noose is falling
And all my friends are crawling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
A truth appalling
Our mak'r comes a calling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
Well the tracers from yesteryear are burning in the dust
Your bruises are reminders of naivete and trust
You're only feeling stronger cause your body's getting numb
Now I lay you down
Put the coins in your eyes
And blow the candles out
[x2]
The noose is falling
And all my friends are crawling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
A truth appalling
Our mak'r comes a calling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
No more!
No more!
Nothing!
No more!
No more!
Ever!
No!
More!
[x2]
The noose is falling
And all my friends are crawling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
A truth appalling
Our mak'r comes a calling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising
The noose is falling
And all my friends are crawling
The noose is falling
And enemies are rising!
04 Hit That (02:51)
The winds of fortune
Don't blow the same
She had to get out
And make a change
She had a kid now
But much too young
That baby daddy's out having fun
He's saying
I'm on a roll
With all the girls I know
His baby momma
She ain't so slow
He's saying
I'm on a roll
With all the girls I know
I know you want to hit that
I know you want to hit that, hit that
All the world is gettin' with, I say
Consequences are a lot, but hey
That's the way
That's the way things go
What was a family
Is now a shell
We're raising kids now
Who raise themselves
Sex is a weapon
It's like a drug
It gets him right into that grave that he just dug
She's saying
I'm on the run
I'm chasing guys for fun
Her baby daddy
It ain't his only one
She's saying
I'm on the run
I'm chasing guys for fun
I know you want to hit that
I know you want to hit that, hit that
Everybody's gettin' with, I say
Consequences are a lot, but hey
That's the way
That's the way things go
Well it winds up
Broken up
Really such a shame
But why not
Take a chance
Everything's a game
And it don't stop
Hooking up
Nothing's gonna change
The more he's trying
The more he's buying
He says
I'm on a roll
With all the girls I know
His baby momma
Don't need to know
He's saying
I'm on a roll
With all the girls I know
I know you want to hit that
I know you want to hit that, hit that
All the world is gettin' with, I say
Consequences are a lot, but hey
That's the way
That's the way things go
06 (Can't Get My) Head Around You (02:16)
Deep inside your soul there's a hole you don't wanna see
Every single day what you say makes no sense to me
Even though I try I can't get my head around you
Somewhere in the night there's a light in front of me
Heaven up above with a shove, abandons me
Even though I try I fall in the river of you
You've managed to bring me down too
All your faking (Get Up, Get Up, Get Up, Get Up)
Shows you're aching (Get Up, Get Up, Get Up)
Every single day what you say makes no sense to me
Letting you inside, isn't right, don't mess with me
I never really know what's really going on inside you
I can't get my head around you
All your feeding (Get Up, Get Up, Get Up, Get Up)
Shows you're bleeding (Get Up, Get Up, Get Up)
Deep inside your soul there's a hole you don't wanna see
Covering it up like a cut with the likes of me
You know I've really tried, I can't do anymore about you
(Yeaaahh)
The cut's getting deeper
(Yeaaahh)
The hill's getting steeper
(Yeaaahh)
I guess I'll never know what's really going on inside you
I can't get my head around you
I can't get my head around you
I can't get my head around you
I can't get my head around you
09 Lightning Rod (03:22)
I am waiting on a mountaintop
For the moment that the sky will strike
My apologies are forever lost
Soon to ashes in a flash of light
Miles away from me
Hope is fading soon
Gone forever it's a waste of time
My intentions like a sweeter room
Only bring to me a fading light
Locked up forever inside
I look to the stars and ask why
Oh, if they could just teach my dark heart to feel
All I've saved (oh why)
Is thrown away
I am waning like a single bloom
Lost forever in the storm of life
My intentions like a sweeter room
Only bring to me a fading light
Locked up forever inside
I look to the stars and ask why
Oh if they could just show these wounds how to heal
Here I am (oh, why)
My last stand (oh, why)
And I know for all the rising and falling there's nothing to show
Throw me down, throw me down, throw me down...
It's been raining
And now I will pay
Woe has come to me
I am the lightning rod
I am waiting
On a mountaintop
Oh, above me
He will strike me
Locked up forever inside
I look to the stars and ask why
Oh if they could just teach my dark heart to feel
All I am (oh, why)
My last stand (oh, why)
And I know for all the rising and falling there's nothing to show
10 Spare Me the Details (03:26)
Spare Me The Details
My girlfriend, my dumb donut
Went up to a party just the other night
But three hours later and seven shots of yager
She was in the bedroom with another guy
And I don't really wanna know
So don't tell me anymore
And I really don't wanna hear
About your feet all up in the air
And well I'm not the one who acted like a hoe
Why must I be the one who has to know?
I'm not the one who messed up big time
So spare me the details if you don't mind
Now I can understand friends who wanna tell me
They think they're gonna help me, open up my eyes
But the play by play makes me wanna lose it
Everytime you do it man, it turns the knife
And I don't really wanna know
So don't tell me anymore
And I really don't wanna hear
About your feet all up in the air
And well I'm not the one who acted like a hoe
Why must I be the one who has to know?
I'm not the one who messed up big time
So spare me the details if you don't mind
Now I don't need to hear about the sounds they were makin'
Every time you can hear about how long it was takin'
Or how the walls they were shakin'
Now lying in bed wallowing in sorrow
Missin' the tommorow that we could of had
Running through my head, over and over
Things I never told her that just made me sad
And it drives me insane sittin with a vision
stuck with that image burned into my brain
And it feels so dumb that I could ever trust her
When someone else fucked her, then walked away
And I don't really wanna know
So don't tell me anymore
And I really don't wanna hear
About her feet all up in the air
And so I'm not the one who acted like a hoe
Why must I be the one who has to know?
I'm not the one who messed up big time
So spare me the details if you don't mind
Cuz I don't wanna know
Don't wanna know
(Spare me the details if you don't mind)
Don't wanna know
(Spare me the details if you don't mind)
Don't wanna know...
11 Da Hui (01:44)
I won't fuck with da Hui
I won't fuck with da Hui
I won't fuck with da Hui
Because da Hui will fuck with me
I won't take off on da Hui
I won't take off on da Hui
I won't take off on da Hui
Because da Hui will fuck with me
A haole with heart, that's all I'll ever be
'Cause I'm not a part of the North Shore society
Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me
Digging for scraps with the kooks in line!
I won't park next to da Hui
I won't park next to da Hui
I won't park next to da Hui
Because I don't really feel comfortable
A haole with heart, that's all I'll ever be
'Cause I'm not a part of the North Shore royalty
Stuck on the shoulder, I'm not complaining
Digging for scraps I'm a kook in line!
A haole with heart, that's all I'll ever be
'Cause I'm not a part of the North Shore society
Stuck on the shoulder, that's where you'll find me
Digging for scraps with the kooks in line!
Don't fuck with da Hui
Don't fuck with da Hui
Don't fuck with da Hui
Because da Hui will fuck with you!
12 When You're in Prison (02:32)
When you're in prison, don't turn the other way
Keep your back against the wall
When you're in prison, don't turn the other way
Do not bend at all
Oh don't pick up the soap, pick up the soap
It's bad for you
Oh don't pick up the soap, pick up the soap
Someone will be waiting there for you
When you're in prison be sure to stay awake
Always lie upon your back
When you're in prison be sure to stay awake
Keep you from attack
Oh don't be no one's bitch, be no one's bitch
It's bad for you
Oh don't be no one's bitch, be no one's bitch
They won't help you make it through.
When you're in prison, don't turn the other way
Follow what I say to do.
When you're in prison, don't turn the other way
You can make it through
You can make it through
You can make it through
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Altre recensioni
Di Zimo_26
L'intro risulta decente, come non lo si sentiva da 'Ixnay on the Hombre'.
Con 'Hit That' si cade in basso, ballata pop con campionamenti dance stili anni 80, una brodaglia veramente nauseabonda e dolciastra.
Di Taurus
Il singolo di lancio non è granché, orecchiabile quanto volete ma alquanto banale con le tastiere e qualche spruzzo di elettronica in sottofondo.
È un cd dai mille aspetti che contiene ottime canzoni alternate a tracce (davvero poche per fortuna) di dubbia utilità.
