Americana | 
 enlarge | Artist: The Offspring
Label: Sony
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $13.97 (100%)
New (43) Used (147) Collectible (1) from $0.01
Rating:  787 reviews
Sales Rank: 3464
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.9 x 5 x 0.4
MPN: 69661
UPC: 746469661290
EAN: 0074646966129
ASIN: B00000DHRZ
Release Date: November 17, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Have You Ever | | • | Staring at the Sun | | • | Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) | | • | The Kids Aren't Alright | | • | Feelings - The Offspring, Albert, Morris | | • | She's Got Issues | | • | Walla Walla | | • | The End of the Line | | • | No Brakes | | • | Why Don't You Get a Job? | | • | Americana | | • | Pay the Man |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Maybe hanging out with Jello Biafra put the fun-loving spring in Offspring's step. Or perhaps it was just the royalty checks, hot babes, and fast cars. Whatever the case, the band's fourth record, Americana, is its most lively offering to date, replacing angst and rage with energy and sarcasm. The novelty single "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" matches infectious riffing and shout-along vocals with fly-girl chants of "Give it to me, baby" and lyrics about wannabe scenesters; and a storming punk-rock version of Morris Albert's "Feelings" sees the band hitting a new level of, er, (in)sensitivity. Elsewhere, the humor is slightly more subtle; "She's Got Issues" cops a new-wave guitar line from the Cars songbook, "The Kids Aren't Alright" opens like an Iron Maiden anthem, and "Why Don't You Get a Job?" is a blatant reggae-style spoof of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." Musically, Americana offers no real revelations, but the songs are a bit craftier and more diverse than the rest of the Offspring oeuvre, veering haphazardly between anthemic punk metal, blistering hardcore, and near-psychedelic experimentation. --Jon Wiederhorn
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Few Good Songs... Plus A Load of Crap to Fill Space December 30, 2008
Cliff Martinelli (Akron, OH)
I have had a large background in music, and I rate albums based on how good they sound as a whole, not because an album has one or two great songs. I'm going to basically give you my rating of each individual song, minus the first track because it's literally 10 seconds long.
1. (no review)
2. Well... this is a really crappy way to start an album. There are way to many "falllllllllling"'s in this song. It's like they ran out of material to use for lyrics, so they replaced any interesting lyrics by rehashing the same word over and over. But don't worry, that's a minor complaint on my part. What really killed the song was how unoriginal it sounds all together. They aren't breaking any new ground, this kind of song has been done a million times before. This gets 1 star.
3. I'm not sure about anyone else out there, but this song has an incredibly similar theme to the one preceding it. Sure it's fast, but speed can't save a train wreck of a song. There really isn't any point in listening to it again once you've heard it the first time. This also gets 1 star.
4. Here's the single best song this album has to offer. Not much to say here that hasn't already been said. This was the album's hit, and it's worth giving multiple listens. I'd recommend buying this single instead of the whole album, but this still gets 5 stars.
5. And... back to the crap. Dex is really overusing the meaningless screaming on this album, it seems. At least there's harmony in it, but it doesn't save the song. Still gets 1 star.
6. Hardcore cover of an old song that everyone knows... and they butchered it. This is a disgrace, just skip it for the love of god. I'd rank it lower, but unfortunately it gets 1 star.
7. This is my personal favorite for the album. The lyrics are a bit iffy in some sections of the song, but it's a solid piece of music that all guys can relate to. Everyone ends up dating that one girl that we find it is completely insane. Come to think of it, it goes the other way too. 5 stars.
8. I know a lot of people liked this song, but I really don't see why. It's decent, but nothing exceptional. I'll give it 3 stars.
9. This sounds similar to most of the other songs on the album, aside from being painful to listen to. I thought that the lyrics couldn't get any more uninspired... I was wrong. This gets 1 star.
10. I think I lost a few IQ points listening to this crap. It sounds like something the band put together last minute to extend the album's length. I dunno why they'd do that, considering it's only a two minute song anyway. It's the same theme they've been using since their first album, and it's been overused by far. My minimum rating is 1 star, so I have to give this song that.
11. This is actually a pretty funny song, and I find myself singing the first line from time to time. "My friend's got a girlfriend and he hates that bitch..." Anyway, I'll give this 3 stars just because it's an amusing little song that is decently memorable.
12. I have to say that this is above average. The bass line at the beginning is really catchy, and my favorite part of the song. The worst part is the chorus, but the good thing is that they didn't overdo it as much as everything else on the album. This song manages to stand out, so I'm giving it 4 stars.
13. Ah I see. THIS was the song put in to fill space. Don't even listen to it. Just stop the album after Americana so you can end with a good song. Trust me, you'll thank me later. This pointless song gets what it deserves: 1 star.
I averaged every song's rating together and came up with my rating of the album overall. Buy the three or four decent songs on Itunes, but don't waste your money on the whole thing.
 Stands out as one of their most memorable CDs August 6, 2008
A Reviewer (USA)
It's 2008 now and I was blown away by The Offspring's latest, Rise and Fall Rage and Grace, which was to me, their highest-quality CD to date, featuring possibly the band's best ever ratio of hits to misses; there's not a bad song on the disc.
But what started me off with this band was Americana, almost a decade ago. Ah, 1998. The Offspring's final CD to be released before the music industry essentially died with Napster, back in the days when groups like The Offspring could actually sell millions. I've listened to and liked/loved all The Offspring's CD's (with the exception of self-titled, which I'll get to eventually,) but there's still something about this CD that makes it, in its own way, stand out as being the band's most ambitious, energetic, and yet also most memorable CD.
What's so cool about this CD is that it's, in a way, a concept record, with the main theme of the CD being "The American Dream," as hit home on the song Americana, and throughout the CD, themes like crime, drugs, trendy wannabe's, hatred, death, being abused by 'the man', greed, etc...are all spread throughout the CD. The final 2 tracks, Americana and Pay the Man, are easily the strongest The Offspring's ever ended a CD too, as it's absolutely epic.
But it's not a dark CD. It has its share of dark songs but much of the CD features such a high energy level that it's just a fun listen. It's a great mix of light and dark and while there are some songs here that are perfectly played by mass audiences (Pretty Fly, She's Got Issues, Why Don't You Get A Job, etc) the CD also contains heavy stuff like No Brakes, The End of the Line, The Kids Aren't Alright, Americana, Pay the Man, and Have You Ever that are just as fast as The Offspring's ever been, which is why...yes, the CD was popular, but it's really no different than past CDs the band's made, it sounds like a much higher-energy version of Ixnay.
There are a couple songs on here that I hate (Feelings and Why Don't you Get a Job,) but everything else on here's all pretty great stuff. Musically the Offspring's best is Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, but somehow, Americana still stands out as being "The Offspring's most memorable," and I'm not sure why that is. I guess because it features just the right amount of experimentation and tried-and-true, it's got a killer song list, it's full of energy, it's got a message and a theme, and it flows VERY well. It also captures its time PERFECTLY...and it was also a good deal of fans' first exposure to what would become our favorite band, The Offspring.
My favorite Offspring CD's in order (as of now, excluding the self-titled, which I'll get to hearing eventually) are...
*Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (Best)
*Americana (2nd best, SO close. Easily the band's most memorable, however)
*Ixnay on the Hombre
*Ignition
*Splinter
*Conspiracy of One
*Smash (I don't care what everyone says, I just really don't like this CD. Not sure why, I keep trying to get into it, for some reason it just doesn't click with me.)
One of the Best Offspring Albums. June 23, 2008
T. Woodworth
I loved this album. I would have given it a 4.5 if I could have. I can't give it a 5 just because of Why Don't You Get a Job. That song is awful. If you got rid of that song then this would be a 5 star album. Every song on this album is good, or even perhaps great except for that song. My personal favorites are The Kids Aren't Alright and Americana, but I also loved Have You Ever, Staring At The Sun as well as Pay the Man. These were all great tracks. I wish The Offspring still put out tracks like these. All I can say is this is a definite buy for any Offspring fan and possibly a buy for fans looking for good punk rock music.
My View April 17, 2008
Deathnote J (Gilroy,CA,USA)
This album is for true Offspring fans.People who hate it have lived a messed up life like me or others.This album has slang term normal people may hate.So this album is worth buying if you have a sad life.
Change is good April 4, 2008
Gabriel Trainer (Seattle, Wa USA)
This album gets bashed for being a sellout album, not like the old offspring but people don't seem to realize that bands change and that it is not bad. I own all of their albums except for Ixnay and I think all of their albums are different and that is what I like.
The diversity of their sound is good, maybe someone will like their old cd's and not their newer stuff, maybe someone will like their new stuff but no their old. Or maybe you can learn to appreciate all of their music because change is bound to happen.
This was the first Offspring album I bought in 5th grade and it was the first rock album I got. I really enjoyed it then and still enjoy it now, even if I don't listin to it for a few months. Each song is different, they range from humorous (Pretty Fly, Walla Walla) to serious (End of the line, Pay the Man).
This group has been around for over 20 years and I just love their sound, so different from all the other bands I have heard. If you own their newer albums (Splinter, CO1, Americana) I suggest you try their older stuff (Self Titled, Ignition, Smash) Their self titled and ignition are both really strong album.
Make sure you lisitn to the album all the way through and more than once because their are many times when you won't like a song right away.
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