Offspring Month: Conspiracy of One (2000)

Ah, the good old days:  

Two men, from opposite sides, bond together by a siamese ripcord tethered to their souls. Who will pull first, knowing that it will destroy them both? 

Nowadays: 

One man, from opposite sides, struggles to keep the dangling ripcord from the reach of a little man who does not hesitate to pull, knowing that the falling carcass will destroy them both.

CO1 booklet Conspiracy of One's illustration page

The Offspring - Conspiracy of One (2001) - singles marked with red

video links provided where available

• Intro - Mike Love's introduction to a Beach Boys concert. Reportedly, he was really glad to appear on the album.
• Come out Swinging  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Great start right with one of my favorite pieces. An adrenaline-pumping, surprisingly inspiring song, angst turning into a welcomed 'you'll be fine' message. Quality-wise Conspiracy has a very unique taste, the mixing isn't as hard hitting as on Americana, but every track and channel sounds modern, crystal clear and sharp. Sometimes there's a bit too much effect on Dexter's voice, but on songs like this one it works really well.
• Original Prankster ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - mv - As heard on The Cleveland Show a few months ago. Another punk/hip-hop mix, featuring a three word cameo from Redman's vocal chords, nonsense lyrics and some latino drums. Really enjoyable little summertime song, no matter how much the old school fans like to hate on it. Also, its bassline was probably the first one I've ever learned to play. Sometimes catchy means easy.
• Want You Bad  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - mv - One of those songs that seems to be loved by everyone, but I just can't get into it. Basic bubblegum pop-punk tune with lyrics that ensured its appearance in that American Pie movie, and Dexter's forced happiness in his voice with all those FX injected into it... ehh, dislike bomb. I do love the breakdown and the solo though, and it's a real killer at live shows.
• Million Miles Away  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Starts out with a very cool double-launched intro, a bit similar to the one in We Are One and progresses into a fast, but - for a change - not short punk-rock track. It sounds polished and modern, the lyrics are neat (despite the 'find my way home' cliché), great use of whoas, one of the best solos they've ever recorded, and that last chorus/outro... aaah, goose bumps, take me over! This one's a masterpiece.
• Damnit, I Changed Again  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Sounds a bit like Million Miles Away's brother, but it's more wild and unpredictable: the verses end before you'd expect them to, the chorus extends for a really long time and the breakdown is really surprising, in a good way. A bit underdeveloped, but cool song.
• Living In Chaos  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Gotta say, I like the demo version better, but this one works well, too. Starts out as a mid-tempo rock/hip-hop mixture, but soon explodes into an awesome nu metal anthem... and you still haven't heard everything in it. Not the most offspringish, but nevertheless, a very good Offspring song. Lot of buts in this post, huh?
• Special Delivery  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Sick, evil, addictive and it makes you root for the crazed stalker whose thoughts we get to hear. One of those funny/scary pieces with a really cool bassline, and Dex's voice is at its best in CO1 terms. Of course it's edited, autotuned and effected to hell, but goddamn, listen to those verses, he sounds so unearthly, like a transvestite siren who stole some unlucky shipmate's bottle of rum earlier that day.
• One Fine Day  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - The Ramones for the XXI. Century, a happy punk ode to riot and destruction. Comes with a hilariously upbeat intro, and one of the best breakdowns ever.
• All Along  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Less than two minutes of Smash-like dramatic angst. Rocks enough, but at the end of the day you'll only remember it as the filler between One Fine Day and Denial.
• Denial, Revisited  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Something different now: a pretty slow song, basically a rock ballad with - I think - some reggae touches in it. Lyrically it's a dime-a-dozen track, but it comes with a powerful mood. Even though it gets a bit over-dramatic at the end, that outro is gold, one of their most chilling, saddest and somehow still very uplifting tunes.
• Vultures  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - I have a feeling that on another record, with another producer, this could have been something great. It kinda reminds me of Dirty Magic, has some similar grungy riffs and I really, really like the lyrics. Dexter's voice on the other hand, I can't stand how it was mixed here. Sometimes it's too high-pitched, other times he sounds like Ted Levine in The Silence of the Lambs. And it never really rings right to me. Still, a decent track.
• Conspiracy of One  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  ♪  - Classic dark Offspring. Very few lyrics - and to make some sense out of them, you probably have to see the song's artwork in the booklet with the little explanation notes (see at the top of this post) - but great music. Fast, engaging, kinda Smash-esque (say that out loud!) stuff, presented with that clean CO1 sound. By now you might expect something more grandiose, more epic for an album ending, but putting that aside, it's a good song, just not as memorable as some of the previous closers.

Other stuff:

• Huck it - Bonus track, the theme song for their DVD movie with the same name. Fun fact: this is the only track in which the word 'fuck' is used.
• The Enhanced CD version also included some music videos and karaoke versions of Original Prankster and One Fine Day - with nowadays' standards don't expect from their sound quality, though.

Conspiracy of One marks the last album recorded with the classic Offspring line-up, with Ron Welty on drums*, but it clearly showed that things were changing, evolving, revolving. The songs were more diverse then ever, with a lot of play on the SFX side and that trademark CO1 sound quality that you might find strange at first, but will certainly miss from the Bob Rock produced RAFRAG, for example.

The album cover introduced their flaming skull logo, a piece of artwork that even after 12 years is frequently used in all kinds of Offspring media. Maybe it wasn't their best record, maybe it's not one of the beloved classics, but the appearance of that friggin' skull pretty much guarantees that Conspiracy will always remain something special, and an important addition to the 'spring discography.

Next time: we'll be feeding and bleeding.

* There was no official comment on the reasons of Ron's departure - Adam "Atom" Willad filled his space from 2003 to 2007,  who - after joining the band Angles and Airwaves - was replaced by Pete Parada. Pete remained The Offspring's live drummer ever since, but starting from Splinter, the drumming on their studio albums has been provided by Mr. Josh Freese.