Album Name: Let The Bad Times Roll
Artist: The Offspring Dexter Holland: Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar Noodles: Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals Todd Morse: Bass, Backing Vocals Pete Parada: Drums, Percussion
Released: April 2021
Label: Concord Records
Rating: 8.5/10
Tracklist
This Is Not Utopia
Let The Bad Times Roll
Behind Your Walls
Army Of One
Breaking These Bones
Coming For You
We Never Have Sex Anymore
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
The Opioid Diaries
Hassan Chop
Gone Away
Lullaby
The Offspring are back with long awaited 'Let The Bad Times Roll'. This album has been a long time in the making with first single 'Coming For You' coming out six years ago. The band have faced a lot of internal issues along with the global pandemic since their last album release back in 2012. Many would have expected The Offspring to just give up but here they are as strong as ever with their punky tell it like it is album 'Let The Bad Times Roll'. This album also sees Todd Morse who was a touring musician replace Greg K on bass. Let The Bad Times Roll opens with punk song ' This Is Not Utopia' a track that along with being super catchy has a strong message behind it. The lyrics scream about how the "American Dream" is a lie. This isn't the only song on the album with a strong message though, 'The Opioid Diaries' speaks openly about people with opioid addictions while again still keeping the song fast and catchy. This is a format we have seen used by The Offspring for years. They get you hooked on the rhythm of the song and before you know it you are thinking more seriously about an issue. My personal favourite song has to be the title track 'Let The Bad Times Roll', the beat is really fun and exactly the kind of thing I enjoy from this band. This song came out as the first single from The Offspring in 2021 and for me this is the song that felt like it was bringing the new era as the first release from Let The Bad Times Roll was six years ago. There are a couple of cool interlude tracks within this album including cover of horror piece 'In The Hall of The Mountain King' and unusual outro to the album 'Lullaby'. The closing piece comes after a beautiful reprise of The Offspring's 1997 track 'Gone Away'. This rendition sees the song done in a more cinematic way which includes strings. The slowed down version of this song reminds me more of the Five Finger Death Punch cover and it really makes the lyrics hit more than the original song did for me. Let The Bad TImes Roll was produced by Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi) and this was his third time working with the band. Overall, I personally think that this is a great album. That for me could be largely due to the fact that I relate The Offspring to my teenage years so in a way there is something kind of nostalgic about hearing their music, especially because they have been away for so long. There is a great mix of sound in Let The Bad Times Roll that makes it really enjoyable to listen to. You can go from the fun, joke like 'We Never Have Sex Anymore' to the heart wrenching 'Gone Away' and in my opinion that makes a whole experience and this will be an album I continue to enjoy over the next however many years it takes for them to make another one.
You can listen to Let The Bad Times Roll here
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