In support of the album the band toured through all of 1999 and into 2000. They were one of the big acts signed up to play Woodstock 1999, the festival put on to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original event, and one that went down in infamy for all of the wrong reasons. The band’s performance however was hailed as one of the bright points of the three day event.
The follow up album was recorded from June to August of 2000. Prior to its release, the band came under fire from its own record label when they came out in support of file sharing, which was receiving a great deal of publicity at the time with the emergence of Napster. To show their support, the band originally intended to release the entire album through their website, claiming that it would not affect the physical sales of the album. However, when their record label threatened legal action if they followed through with it, they decided to only release the lead single “Original Prankster” on their website (although the rest of the album was leaked to fan sites after this). With all of this behind them – or in front of them – they released in several ways their sixth studio album, one that had some pressure to match the success of those that had come before it, in the form of the album “Conspiracy of One”.
Speaking of conspiracies... have you ever thought about the fact that the album “Conspiracy of One” is just a carbon copy, an almost paint-by-numbers version of the band’s previous album “Americana”? It might be completely unfair to suggest that "Conspiracy of One” is “The Force Awakens” to “Americana” and “A New Hope”. But surely, in some ways, making the comparison between the two is not that far off the mark. And sure, I know they have the wonderful Jello Biafra opening up “Ixnay on the Hombre” with “Disclaimer”, but that is a good 45 seconds of Jello riffing which is great. The opening to “Americana” and “Conspiracy of One” have the short spoken word intro, not the same, but not that different. Mark that up as Similarity #1. Both albums have the fast paced jump-up-and-down, throw-boxing-punches upbeat cracking tracks of “Staring at the Sun” and “Come Out Swinging”. They both have the comedy touches of “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” and “Original Prankster”. They have the slight angsty touches and faster paced singalong tracks in “Have You Ever” and “Want You Bad”. And they have the serious lyric based full on angst driven and nostalgia driven hits of “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and “Million Miles Away”. Those are the opening five tracks of both albums – not necessarily in their track order - and if you compare notes on all of them, it is very much like losing Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo in the same instance. And, much like those two films, one of them is excellent with great moments that still resonate all of these years later... and the other one feels just a bit inferior.
Despite these feelings of the Force being commercialised to make money rather than find its balance, the opening five tracks are still great to listen to because, I guess, the formula is there. The intro is what it is, an intro. The jump into “Come Out Swinging” is as vibrant and fast and powerful as you want from this band. Dexter’s vocals are as impactful from the start as they always have been, and the energy being emitted is catchy and hard not to get caught up in. Great riffs, great harmonies, great Offspring. Still a terrific track. “Original Prankster” is the first single, flowing off the success of the previous albums big single, and it is okay without being as noticeably brilliant as the other track was. “Want You Bad” and “Million Miles Away” draw out the same emotions as the band would have been hoping for, they are bouncy and they are bright to listen to musically even while offering you lyrics that are more on the serious side of the spectrum. Everything that you expect from The Offspring.
“Dammit, I Changed Again” is one of the best underrated songs from this or any other Offspring album. Great harmony vocals, singalong lyrics, guitar riff on point, and atypically focused on society issues once again. “Living in Chaos” is a departure for the band, hammering down on a lower threshold musically, not looking for those typical guitar riffs and fast paced tempo to drag the listener to. This almost has a hip hop feel about the vibe of the track, though obviously not being one. It is a change to a stop start musical base and vocal line. The issues of society are the basis of the lyrics once again, and as a point of difference within the album this makes a stand. “Special Delivery” doubles down on that attitude musically and lyrically, describing a stalker chasing and trying to impress the person they are infatuated with. The music suits the lyrical content, it is creepy and mysterious, a great composition where they music and lyrics match up really well. “One Fine Day” picks back up the tempo and spits derision at sports fan who are happy to create riots when their teams lose.
The remainder of the album splits itself between the upbeat and the mournful. The short span of “All Along” speaks of yet another broken relationship which is upbeat and fast paced, which then dives into its sister track in “Denial, Revisited”, all about the same subject matter but in the slow tempo-ed mournful vocals of regret and sadness. The Offspring do adjust their songs so well in music according to the subject matter they are discussing in the lyrics. The third segue of mood change comes with “Vultures”. Much of the mood of this track and the lyrics remind me so much of Nirvana, the guitar tone and the vocal tone from Dexter... it may not be anything to do with that band, but the sounds that comes from it make it a perfect tribute to what that band offered back in its day. The title track “Conspiracy of One” then offers us a dark tone lyrically to complete the album, though musically it offers hope. It’s a short burst for a closing song, but it gives us the singalong chanting vocal lines that The Offspring has made their own, and what better way to bring home the bacon on another excellent album.
I loved The Offspring when I first discovered them. A vast majority of the bands that I listened to through the late 1980’s and early 1990’s moved in directions that didn’t always appeal to me for the rest of the 90’s decade, which meant I was either just listening to their old music or looking for other stuff. And the album “Smash” was one of those, pulled to it by the singles on the radio and thinking ‘yeah, there’s actually something about this that I like’. That translated even harder into the next album, “Ixnay on the Hombre” and probably more again into “Americana”. So I had been grabbed hook line and sinker, and I guess there was no real turning back.
I remember getting this album, though it wasn’t on its actual release but a few months later into the new year of 2001. We had bought our first house, we had suffered a flood that had destroyed our mutual vinyl collection, and as a pick me up I decided I needed some new music, and this album was the one. Those other albums I had mentioned (yes they were CDs and so survived) had always brought me pleasure, had always picked me up, so surely this new album by The Offspring would do the same! I was very familiar with “Original Prankster” (and to be honest was ready to move on from that) and the second single “Want You Bad” had been on the radio, so I was looking forward to more like that. And, that’s what I got. And, perhaps I got what I asked for. Because the album was very good, but it was in this respect perhaps a bit samey, a little bit where every song could easily have segued into the next and just continued the same riff and lead vocal and backing wailing and no one would know where the song started or ended. This is a mild criticism I had of the album at that time, but it really didn’t concern me in the slightest. I enjoyed the album, and all of the tracks.
Since that time, it still comes out on a semi-regular basis. If I’m looking for angst I go for those first two albums I bought, if I’m looking for something to bounce to, it is the previous album and this one.
Listening to it again this week, with critical ear on rather than just ‘music for the masses’ fun time, I can certainly pick out where there is some criticism of the album and the band as a whole. Is it a carbon copy of the previous album? Did they just use the same colour-by-numbers and change it just enough so that it couldn’t be called self-plagiarism? It’s a fair argument, and in a discussion on the subject I could take either side and make a persuasive argument. Beyond that, do I still enjoy the album? Yes I do. And of any album or any band, if you get enjoyment from it, isn’t that the most important thing on a personal level? In my case, that is exactly true. I like this album a lot – saying I love it would be a stretch – and when listening to it again this week I have enjoyed the time we have spent together. That’ll do me every time.
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