Splinter (The Offspring album)

Splinter
Studio album by The Offspring
Released December 9, 2003
Recorded January–August 2003
Studio
Genre Punk rock, pop punk, alternative rock
Length 32:00
31:58 (Clean version)
39:42(Enhanced CD)
Label Columbia
Producer Brendan O'Brien
The Offspring
The Offspring chronology
Conspiracy of One
(2000)		 Splinter
(2003)		 Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
(2008)
Singles from Splinter
  1. "Hit That"
    Released: December 9, 2003
  2. "Da Hui"
    Released: December 10, 2003
  3. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You"
    Released: April 13, 2004
  4. "Spare Me the Details"
    Released: 2004 (Australia and New Zealand only)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(60/100) [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
Alternative Press [1]
Artistdirect [3]
Blender [4]
Entertainment WeeklyB- [5]
Kerrang!
PopMatters [1][6]
Rolling Stone [7]
Spin(5/10) [8]
USA Today [9]

Splinter is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band The Offspring, released on December 9, 2003. It was the first album the band released without drummer Ron Welty and also the first to have a Parental Advisory label on some album covers, even though all of their previous albums contain profanity.

Although not as successful as The Offspring's albums between Smash and Conspiracy of One, Splinter received gold certification two months after its release.[10] The album received average reviews, but still sold reasonably well. It debuted at 30 on the U.S. Billboard 200 with around 87,000 copies sold in its first week.[11] "Hit That" and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" were the only two singles to accompany this album. "Spare Me the Details" was also released as a single, but charted only in New Zealand.

Production and marketing

After spending nearly two years supporting the Conspiracy of One album, The Offspring began writing songs for Splinter in late 2002. Recording sessions for the album lasted from January to August 2003, making it the first time The Offspring had recorded an album for that long (although their next album, 2008's Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, took more than a year to record).

Uncomfortable with the idea of bringing in an immediate replacement for Welty, the band opted to have session musician Josh Freese play drums for the recording of the album, with plans to find a full-time drummer upon the record's completion.

The crowd vocals in the opening track "Neocon" were recorded at Reading Festival in 2002 during the Offspring's set on the festival's main stage. Estimates based on the capacity of Reading Festival would suggest at least 50,000 people are in the crowd.

Album title

On April Fools' Day 2003, the album's title was jokingly announced as Chinese Democrazy, a reference to the repeatedly delayed Chinese Democracy album by Guns N' Roses. Holland quipped, "You snooze, you lose. Axl ripped off my braids, so I ripped off his album title."[12][13]

The album's title comes from a lyric that appears in "Long Way Home".

This is the second and last new studio album to have the skull logo on their cover to date, excluding the Greatest Hits album. It later appeared on their 2012 single, Cruising California (Bumpin' in My Trunk).

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Dexter Holland [14]. 

CD
No. Title Length
1. "Neocon"   1:06
2. "The Noose"   3:18
3. "Long Way Home"   2:23
4. "Hit That"   2:49
5. "Race Against Myself"   3:32
6. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You"   2:14
7. "The Worst Hangover Ever"   2:58
8. "Never Gonna Find Me"   2:39
9. "Lightning Rod"   3:20
10. "Spare Me the Details"   3:24
11. "Da Hui"   1:42
12. "When You're in Prison"   2:35
Total length:
 32:00

Enhanced version

The Enhanced CD portion of the CD contains the following:

MP3 tracks
No. Title Length
13. "The Kids Aren't Alright" (Island Style) 5:08
14. "When You're in Prison" (Instrumental) 2:34
Total length:
 39:42

Excluded tracks

There was another song recorded for the album called "Pass Me By". The band felt that it was too heavy for the album, which is why it wasn't included on the disc.[15] It was for a time rumored to appear on The Offspring's next album Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, but as of its release, the track has yet to surface.

Critical reception

So far, the album, like Conspiracy of One, has been given a score of 60 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "mixed or average reviews".[1]

Reviewers from sites such as Launch.com claimed Splinter was a welcome return to The Offspring's punk roots, citing songs such as "The Noose" and "Da Hui". The more mainstream songs, "Hit That" and "Spare Me the Details", were also praised.[16]

Allmusic's Johnny Loftus also praised punk songs such as "Long Way Home" and "Lightning Rod", and claimed second single "Head Around You" was the album's standout. Like many fans though, he criticized songs such as "The Worst Hangover Ever" and "When You're in Prison", calling them 'throwaways'.[2] PopMatters also praised "Head Around You", "Race Against Myself", and other heavier songs on the album. However, it also called "Worst Hangover Ever" 'idiotic' and again criticized "When You're In Prison" and "Neocon".

Another thing that was attacked was the album's short length, which was even shorter than Conspiracy of One. The review concluded that the album was "wasted potential", portraying it as merely average, in the same vein as many other critical reviews.[6]

Splinter was also heavily praised for its lyrical content, said to take a considerable step up from the band's previous material. "Lightning Rod" is often used as an example of this. However, the album's ending of "Da Hui", which some were unhappy with, and joke song "When You're in Prison", which does not fit with the general album, were criticized as "not being a satisfying end to an already short album."[17]

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2003–2004) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 12
Austrian Albums Chart 10
Japanese Albums Chart 8
New Zealand Albums Chart 27
Polish Albums Chart[18] 22
Swedish Albums Chart 56
Swiss Albums Chart 13
UK Albums Chart[19] 27
U.S. Billboard 200 30

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[20] Platinum 70,000^
Brazil (ABPD)[21] Gold 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[22] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[23] Gold 0*
Japan (RIAJ)[24] Gold 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[25] Gold 20,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[27] Gold 500,000^
Summaries
Worldwide 2,300,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Personnel

The Offspring

Additional musicians

Production

Artwork

References

General references

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Critic Reviews for Splinter". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  2. 1 2 Loftus, Johnny (2003-12-09). "Splinter - The Offspring : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  3. ↑ "The Offspring: Splinter". Artistdirect. Archived from the original on 2004-06-17. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Sinclair, Tom (2003-12-12). "Splinter Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
  6. 1 2 Williams, Adam (2004-01-16). "The Offspring: Splinter". PopMatters. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  7. ↑ Hoard, Christian (2003-12-10). "Splinter : The Offspring : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2012-04-09.
  8. ↑ Beaujon, Andrew (2003-12-08). "The Offspring, 'Splinter' (Columbia); blink-182, 'blink-182' (Geffen)". Spin. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  9. ↑ Gundersen, Edna (2003-12-08). "The Offspring, Splinter". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  10. ↑ RIAA (type in "Offspring")
  11. ↑ Joe D'Angelo (2003-12-17). "Ruben Debuts At #1 But Can't Match Clay's First-Week Sales - Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  12. ↑ "The Offspring History (Official Website)". The Offspring. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  13. ↑ Henry Yates (November 19, 2008). "33 insane facts about Chinese Democracy". MusicRadar. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  14. ↑ "BMI Entry". Repertoire.bmi.com. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  15. ↑ Journal Entry by Dexter Holland, posted 18th August, 2006
  16. ↑ Splinter Review at the Wayback Machine (archived May 24, 2011) by Craig Rosen of Yahoo! Music, posted December 12, 2003
  17. ↑ Splinter is "too short" to be good at the Wayback Machine (archived June 15, 2007) posted in the Offspring Forums
  18. ↑ "OLiS: sales for the period 1.12.2003 - 07.12.2003". OLiS.
  19. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/29597/OFFSPRING/
  20. ↑ NO certyear WAS PROVIDED for AUSTRALIAN CERTIFICATION.
  21. ↑ "Brazilian album certifications – Offspring – Splinter" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos.
  22. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Offspring – Splinter". Music Canada.
  23. ↑ "French album certifications – Offspring – Splinter" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  24. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – Offspring – Splinter" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2003年11月 on the drop-down menu
  25. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Offspring; 'Splinter')". Hung Medien.
  26. ↑ "British album certifications – Offspring – Splinter". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Splinter in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  27. ↑ "American album certifications – Offspring – Splinter". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH

External links

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