It’s not even like The Offspring themselves are doing much to convince otherwise either, given that the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of waiting produces so little of an emotional response, positive or negative. On the eve of it actually coming out then, that nonplussed attitude couldn’t feel more solidly crystallised, as if the general consensus already is that The Offspring are so far gone at this point that there’s isn’t much to really be excited about.
Talk of The Offspring’s new album over the last couple of years has felt like a placeholder for release calendars pencilled in out of absolute necessity, as a speculated new release that no one really cared about but was mentioned out of obligation for their residual size. A new album from The Offspring in 2021 is more a curiosity than something to actively be excited about, but even that might be overselling where Let The Bad Times Roll is actually coming from. It’s really no wonder that The Offspring barely feel like a presence in modern rock anymore then, having already been demoted to a singles band in recent years, but also having a level of inactivity that implies a band who really aren’t bothered anymore.
Even so though, at least Green Day have maintained an amount of prolificness to back themselves up The Offspring’s last album was in 2012 with Days Go By, meaning that the latest full indication of their career trajectory was middling radio-rock and, in the impossibly ill-advised single choice Cruising California (Bumpin’ In My Trunk), a slap in the face to anyone expecting this band to pay at least some acknowledgement to their roots.
The new piano version version can be found on The Offspring's Let the Bad Times Roll, which is out now and available via the platform of your choosing here.Despite coming up at roughly the same time, The Offspring have arguably never felt closer to Green Day than they do now, as two ‘90s punk veterans who have no idea how to keep up their momentum so far past their prime. It was also covered in 2017 by Five Finger Death Punch on their A Decade of Destruction hits set, peaking at No. It topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart and hit No. The world is so cold now that you've gone awayĪs previously stated, "Gone Away" appeared on The Offspring's fourth studio album, Ixnay on the Hombre, in 1997. I reach to the sky and call out your name The world has grown cold now that you've gone away Where the original was a full-fledged rock song sharing Holland's shouting angst, the piano version allows for a clearer listen to the heartfelt lyrics. I know it's not a direct connection, but it made you think about dying and about grief and about what that would feel like, and what if my wife would have been the one?" I knew I wanted it to be heavy, but I didn't know what it was going to be about yet. It was right when we were recording Ixnay and I was coming up with the idea. Though no one was killed, Holland told the Bob Lefsetz Podcast, "The idea that we came so close to death was a real life-changing moment. The track was reportedly inspired by a real life incident in which singer Dexter Holland and his wife were shaken up after having to seek cover when an ice cream shop they were patronizing was riddled with gunfire by gang members. While The Offspring's early years often featured some lighter subject matter, "Gone Away" stood out from their Ixnay on the Hombre album for its somber tone.