For those of you who have read my previous entries, you will remember the thesis of my Worst Rock Songs of 1992 being about once-good or great bands attempting to weather the storm caused by the rise of grunge and releasing crap. Some songs, like the songs by INXS and ZZ Top in 1992, were just sad, while others were baffling. Unfortunately, every year this happens, from Green Day last year to Nat King Cole in 1963 to Peter Frampton in 1977. At some point in this countdown, we were about to get to a once-good band making gluteus maxes of themselves.

“Let The Bad Times Roll” – The Offspring

Alternative
#10 peak (August 14-21, 2021)
#28 year-end, 25 weeks on chart

Rock
#1 peak (May 22, 2021)
#22 year-end, 20 weeks on chart

I’m sad that this is my first time writing about this band on this blog, because I do like this band. I’m not sure if I’d say “love,” they were more of a singles band than a band whose discography was flawless, but with the nineties being my decade I am required to enjoy this band’s music. Since the unlikely success of their 1994 album Smash, the best-selling independent album of all time, The Offspring have consistently been a mainstay on the rock charts. That is, until 2012.

In 2012, The Offspring released their ninth album Days Go By, which effectively ended the band’s winning streak dating back to 1994 with mixed reviews and less successful singles, including the electro pop-influenced “Cruisin’ California (Bumpin’ In My Trunk).” All screaming sound effects aside, the album also marked the band’s last album with a major label, as they were not renewed by Columbia Records, the album that released all Offspring albums after Smash. And with that, the production of their next album was a nightmare. The band went into the studio with Bob Rock, the producer of Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace (which included their biggest hit, “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”) in 2013. In 2015, “Coming For You” was released as a single. No album came that year or the next. Then in 2019, bassist Greg K filed a lawsuit against frontman Dexter Holland and guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman accusing them of breaching their contract over who owns The Offspring name, only for Holland and Noodles to countersue with a cross-complaint. Finally that year, The Offspring finished the album. Then COVID-19 hit. And finally, drummer and Arkport, NY native Pete Parada was sacked this year for refusing to get a freaking COVID vaccine. Pete, go home and ride a Harley-Davidson. Local humor.

Finally, at long last, the Let The Bad Times Roll album was announced in February, with the title track released as the lead single. What were we going to get with the album? Embarassingly catchy singles like “Self Esteem” or “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)?” Awesome rock songs like “Come Out And Play” or “Gotta Get Away?” Well… we instead got one of the worst-reviewed rock albums of the year, complete with “Coming For You” six years after its initial release, a piano-led remake of “Gone Away,” and something called “We Never Have Sex Anymore.” (This was a single.). Yet in preliminary listening, I still couldn’t get myself to hate this song. I first thought the title was stupid, but then my brain went, “Nelson, one of their big hits is called “The Kids Aren’t Alright!” Then when the melody started getting on my nerves, I thought, “Well, that is bad, but it’s not completely bad.” Finally, it hit me like a mallet to my head when I watched YouTuber Luke Spencer’s worst albums list on his Rocked channel, where Let The Bad Times Roll placed third: This song sucks.

But why was it bad? Whenever I write these reviews, I always try to come up with my own reasons. Rocked claimed this song was bad because it was so repetitive. Honestly, I didn’t see it as that. But then looking back at the song, I put it all together. The title is “Let The Bad Times Roll.” The melody is annoying, but there’s still constant profanity. There are mentions of suicide and strip clubs. The real problem with “Let The Bad Times Roll” is that it is a band trying so hard to do what was once effortless for them on songs like “Come Out And Play” or “Why Don’t You Get A Job?” and failing miserably.

The chorus melody is not what gets to me on “Let The Bad Times Roll.” It’s the second melody that comes in in the second chorus, after several repetitions of the main hook.

Take what’s right and make it wrong
Make it up as I go along
Let me know when you decide
Apathy or suicide

The melody on this segment is so annoying. It consists of two notes that go back and forth in a frequency that would make catatonics wake up and smash their radio. F# F# F# F# F# D# D#! F# F# F# F# F# D# D#! There! DID I ANNOY YOU YET?! The previous Offspring songs were fun because they were about Holland taunting someone who deserved it, like the try-hard hip hop fan in “Pretty Fly” or the lousy girlfriend in “Why Don’t You Get A Job?” Now, it sounds like Dexter Holland is deliberately trying to taunt you, the listener.

And just as if that song hasn’t gotten to you yet, we have to get into the lyrics. Like so many punk bands, The Offspring loves them some four-letter words. And you better believe “Let The Bad Times Roll” uses some. There is a difference, however. When you swear in a song, you have to give it some wit, some precision. And that is what The Offspring did in their earlier songs. Say what you want about Holland calling a bad driver a “stupid dumbs**t goddamn motherf**ker” in “Bad Habit,” it was shocking. It was delivered a cappella to ensure maximum impact when he dropped his cluster f-bomb, and it fit perfectly with the angry tone of the song. Not here. Now, Holland is swearing because he is desperately trying to be edgy.

The earlier Offspring songs used profanity because they were trying to startle people in an age where swearing in music was new and surprising, and it worked. “Let The Bad Times Roll,” on the other hand, uses swearing to say, “Ha ha! We said the f word!” like a bunch of 12 year olds who just found out all the nastiest words in the gas station bathroom. Just listen to this:

Now it was all a lie
But that b***h won’t get in my way
Keep shoutin’ what I like (lock her up, lock her up)
Now that’s a good one I gotta say, yeah

There is no purpose to this line except to be controversial. In a song that is supposed to be about “ongoing challenges facing the US” to quote Blabbermouth, this is just random. There is no prior mentioning of this person, and the line doesn’t even seem to relate to the thesis in any way. It’s just there to say “Oh, look! We called a woman a b***h! Wait until our next song, where we call her a ‘sl*t!’” Is it supposed to be about the overcrowding of the prison system? Or racial profiling unfairly sending African Americans to jail over other races? Can’t say because the song just goes back to its chorus about random chaos and pre-chorus of “turning my back on you.” And finally, there’s the backing voice randomly saying “F**k it! F**k it!” in the chorus. You already know why it’s there.

And in retrospect, maybe I should have paid more attention to the song’s opening. When the song starts, the now-disgraced Parada plays four very dry, and possibly detuned, snare hits before the acoustic guitars and Holland come in. Detuned snares. As in, St. Anger snares. From producer Bob Rock’s most infamous production credit. One can just hear those garbage can clangs and have a sinking feeling that this song is going to be an unpleasant experience.

The Offspring embarrassed themselves on “Let The Bad Times Roll.” From the irritating melodies to the constant, irrelevant attempts to be controversial, The Offspring are now shells of their former selves. They have gone from the good type of catchy, songs that are so embarrassing yet so fun to sing, to the worst type of catchy, songs that get stuck in your head and actively make you dumber. How poetic that in a year where they remade one of their biggest hits, the one that Five Finger Death Punch vomited on in 2018, The Offspring managed to release a single even worse than what 5FDP had to offer this year. My advice to The Offspring: when you go back on tour soon, stick to the early hits.

UP NEXT: An even bigger name makes an even bigger stumble at #3.

SOURCES

Buchanan, Brett. “The Offspring Recording New Album, Producer Revealed.” Alternative Nation 8 August 2013. Web. 31 December 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20131005024210/http://www.alternativenation.net/?p=30769.

“The Offspring Announces ‘Let The Bad Times Roll’ Album, Drops Title Track.” Blabbermouth.net 24 February 2021. Web. 31 December 2021 https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/the-offspring-announces-let-the-bad-times-roll-album-drops-title-track/.