Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace

Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
Studio album by
the Offspring
ReleasedJune 11, 2008 (2008-06-11)
RecordedNovember 2006 – April 2008[1][2]
Studio
Genre
Length43:40
LabelColumbia
ProducerBob Rock
The Offspring chronology
Greatest Hits
(2005) 		Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
(2008) 		Happy Hour!
(2010)
Singles from Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
  1. "Hammerhead"
    Released: May 6, 2008
  2. "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"
    Released: September 4, 2008
  3. "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?"
    Released: February 10, 2009
  4. "Half-Truism"
    Released: May 12, 2009

Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace is the eighth studio album by American punk rock band the Offspring, released on June 11, 2008, by Columbia Records.[2] It was the band's first album of new material in five years, following 2003's Splinter, marking their longest gap between studio albums at the time. The Offspring had been working on new material since the fall of 2004,[5] but showed no further signs of progress until November 2006, when they announced on their official website that they had begun recording with producer Bob Rock.[1] The writing and recording process, spanning four years and three recording studios, was finally finished in April 2008.

The album produced four singles: "Hammerhead", "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?", and "Half-Truism".

Writing and recording

[edit]

Work for Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace dates back to September 2004, when frontman Dexter Holland said that he wanted to put out the next Offspring album in 2005 and that the new songs felt "pretty good".[5] From June to August 2005, the band played the Vans Warped Tour for the first time, and followed that with a tour of Europe and Japan. To coincide with that tour, Sony Music released the first Offspring compilation album, Greatest Hits, which includes their hits from 1994 to 2005. After the Greatest Hits tour ended in the fall of 2005, the band took a break from writing, recording and touring. On February 7, 2006, Holland said in his journal that the band entered a demo studio to work on guitar tracks,[6] and a week later, Holland said in his journal that he went out of town to "meet with a guy who might produce" the album.[7] On June 13, 2006, Holland stated that the band (minus Willard) had been meeting every week and would begin recording shortly.[8] On August 18, he posted another update on the band's journal, saying that they had demoed five songs and were looking to go into the studio soon. He described the new songs as "lots of guitar, energy, lots of energy, and good songs." In September 2006, it was announced that the album would be produced by Bob Rock, who was working with Holland and "helping him sort out songs."[9]

On November 16, 2006, the Offspring announced on their website that they had begun recording the album with Rock, with an intended release date of spring 2007.[1] Recording took place in Hawaii and California with Rock. By May 2007 the music for thirteen songs had been recorded, with a further 10 tracks demoed. At this time Holland announced that all of the songs were completely new with no re-recordings of older songs, jokingly remarking "that would be cheating, wouldn't it?" (in response to rumors that the unreleased song "Pass Me By" and the re-recording of their 1992-song "Dirty Magic" would appear on the album) and commenting that the new tracks "sound like a friggin' freight train."[10] In July 2007, Holland also confirmed that the band had finished "two more songs" and the album was being recorded in Orange County, California.[11] On the Christmas journal entry, he claimed that he had two more lyrics to write, "a couple more" to sing and "various tweaks" to do before mixing could begin. The band was at that time taking a break to spend Christmas with their families.[12]

In January 2008, the band comically responded to upset fans who wanted news by having a "breaking news" story regarding the band buying plane tickets for their next show. In his journal, Holland explained that when there were no updates, it's usually because there's nothing to talk about- hence the faux "news."[13] The next month, Holland said that the Offspring were "just in the studio getting some tracks down for the new record" and claims "it's a lot louder than the last couple".[14] He also said the band wasn't "going to be making another Smash, or another Ixnay" but thought they were still "relevant to punk when they were created, and this one will be no different".[15]

Holland announced on April 9, 2008, that the new album was finally finished and announced the name and release date, and that "Hammerhead" would be the first single.[2] The album's title is derived from two tracks: "Rise and Fall" is the last track on the album and the song "Fix You" features the line "Rage and Grace".

Promotion and release

[edit]

In June 2008, shortly before the album's release, the influential L.A. station KROQ began playing "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", making it seem possible that this could be the second single, though the station has played non-singles from the band in the past. Six other stations in the Southwestern United States followed suit.[16] During the Offspring's three May 2008 concerts in California, "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" was the only new song besides "Hammerhead" that was played, also causing fans to believe this would be the second single. "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" was digitally released in Australia in July 2008 as a single and also appeared on the album cover as a sticker promoting the album as "includes the songs "Hammerhead and You're Gonna Go Far, Kid". In November 2008, KROQ briefly played "Stuff Is Messed Up", another song off the album, until the plug was pulled after "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" was confirmed as the third single.

On June 2, 2008, 30 second clips of each song on the new album were accidentally released by Amazon.com. They were removed swiftly but not before fans had ripped the clips and uploaded them to several fileshare and video sharing sites.

The official premiere of the album took place on the band's imeem site on June 9 at 3pm UTC.[17]

Promotional tour

[edit]

In 2007, the Offspring first premiered "Hammerhead" at the Summersonic Festival, before any details of the new album had been revealed. The song would later be played again on the first night of the Australian Soundwave Festival, before being replaced on the set-list by "Half-Truism". "Hammerhead" was then played again on the last night of Soundwave Festival. In May 2008, during their performances on San Diego X-Fest, KROQ Weenie Roast, and the KJEE Summer Roundup, they also premiered "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" alongside "Hammerhead", and have since played both songs in their sets at the Electric Festival in Spain, Rock in Rio 2008 in Portugal and Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in Germany. The band also played a series of Japanese dates from October 6–21, 2008. After headlining the nineteenth annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas on December 13, 2008, they went on hiatus for a few months. In March 2009, the Offspring announced on their official website that they would be touring North America from May through July with Dropkick Murphys, Alkaline Trio, Street Dogs, Pennywise, Shiny Toy Guns and Sum 41.[18] The Offspring also joined 311 on their summer 2010 Unity Tour. The 19-date tour was held in amphitheaters around the U.S., also featuring Pepper as a special guest. After this, the Offspring played Japan's Summer Sonic Festival that August. Before the 311 and Pepper tour, the Offspring played four East Coast Dates in June, which was supported by Terrible Things.

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic52/100[19]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[20]
Billboard[21]
Consequence of SoundD[3]
IGN7.5/10[22]
Kerrang![23]
Los Angeles Times[24]
Robert Christgau(dud)[25]
Rolling Stone[4]
Sputnikmusic[26]
Uncut[27]

Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace received mixed reviews from critics. While AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine criticized the band for not changing their sound or moving forward,[20] Kerrang! positively stated that the album is "an exquisite reminder of what a fabulous band they are".[23]

Commercial performance

[edit]

Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 with 45,700 units sold, significantly higher than Splinter's peak position at 30,[28] but with sales considerably lower than the debuts of its predecessors Splinter (87,000) and Conspiracy of One (125,000).[29] As of June 2023, the album has sold more than 500,000 copies in North America and was certified Gold status by RIAA.[30]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Dexter Holland, except where noted[31]

No.TitleLength
1."Half-Truism"3:25
2."Trust in You"3:09
3."You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"2:57
4."Hammerhead"4:38
5."A Lot Like Me" (track 7 on LP version)4:28
6."Takes Me Nowhere"2:59
7."Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" (track 5 on LP version)3:42
8."Nothingtown"3:29
9."Stuff Is Messed Up"3:32
10."Fix You"4:18
11."Let's Hear It for Rock Bottom"4:04
12."Rise and Fall"2:59
Total length:43:40
Japanese bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."O.C. Life" (D.I. cover)Rikk Agnew[32]2:53
Total length:46:35
Deluxe Edition
No.TitleLength
13."You Gonna Go Far, Kid" (live at Hellfest 2022)3:13
14."Hammerhead" (live at Hellfest 2022)5:37
Total length:52:30

Personnel

[edit]

The Offspring

[edit]
  • Dexter Holland – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards (uncredited for keyboards)
  • Noodles – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Greg K. – bass, backing vocals

Additional personnel

[edit]

Production

[edit]
  • Bob Rock – producer, engineer
  • Steve Masi – guitar technician
  • Eric Helmkamp – engineer
  • George Marino – mastering

Artwork

[edit]
  • Jason Goad – illustrations

Charts

[edit]

Certifications and sales

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[60] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[61] Platinum 80,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[63] Gold 172,100[62]
Russia (NFPF)[64] Gold 10,000*
United States (RIAA)[65] Gold 500,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

[edit]

Release dates from The Offspring's official website.[66]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Recording Begins". Archived from the original on November 18, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Offspring.com, 11-16-2006
  2. ^ a b c "Maui, HI (Dexter)". Archived from the original on April 11, 2008. Retrieved 2014-04-01., Offspring.com, 04-09-2008
  3. ^ a b Roffman, Michael (10 June 2008). "The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  4. ^ a b Hoard, Christian (July 10, 2008). "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace : The Offspring : Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Offspring Bring The Hits, Ultimate-Guitar.com, September 24, 2004
  6. ^ "Huntington Beach, CA (Dexter)". Archived from the original on March 5, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Offspring.com, 02-07-2006
  7. ^ "Huntington Beach, CA (Dexter)". Archived from the original on March 5, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Offspring.com, 02-15-2006
  8. ^ "In Between (Dexter)". Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved 2006-09-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), The Offspring's Official Website, June 13, 2006
  9. ^ Bob Rock devoting energies to other artists following split from Metallica Archived October 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Monstersandcritics.com, September 20, 2006
  10. ^ "Huntington Beach, CA (Dexter)". Archived from the original on June 15, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Offspring.com, 06-12-2007
  11. ^ "Huntington Beach, CA (Dexter)". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2014-04-01., Offspring.com, 07-18-2007
  12. ^ "Journal: The Offspring". Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. Retrieved 2013-08-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ "Journal: The Offspring". Archived from the original on January 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ "Bombshellzine.com : News Portal : - :: INTERVIEW :: THE OFFSPRING". www.bombshellzine.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  15. ^ The Offspring's Dexter Holland talks new record, upcoming tour and new drummer, Punknews.org, February 21, 2008
  16. ^ MMR 24-7 Song Airplay Detail Archived July 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Mediabase 24-7, June 23, 2008
  17. ^ "'New album and music video to premiere online'". Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Offspring news item 06-06-08
  18. ^ "The Shit Is Fucked Up Tour". Noise Press. Retrieved on 2009-03-29
  19. ^ "Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". metacritic.com. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  20. ^ a b Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace at AllMusic
  21. ^ Jeff Vrabel. "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  22. ^ Ed Thompson (2008-06-18). "The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace - Music Review at IGN". IGN. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  23. ^ a b Winwood, Ian. Kerrang! #1215, June 21, 2008. Albums. p. 60
  24. ^ Cromelin, Richard (June 17, 2008). "New CDs: The Offspring and 2 Pistols". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 27, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  25. ^ "CG: offspring". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  26. ^ "The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. June 24, 2008. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  27. ^ "The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Uncut: 99. September 2008.
  28. ^ "Coldplay Dethrone Lil Wayne To Score Second Consecutive #1 Debut". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  29. ^ "Ruben Debuts At #1 But Can't Match Clay's First-Week Sales". MTV News. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  30. ^ "The Offspring Release New Single, Announce 'Days Go By' Album". Billboard. April 30, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  31. ^ "BMI | Repertoire Search". Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  32. ^ "オフスプリング | ソニーミュージック オフィシャルサイト". www.sonymusic.co.jp. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
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  34. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
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  36. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  37. ^ "The Offspring Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  38. ^ "Oficiální česká hitparáda IFPI ČR - 28. týden 2008" (in Czech). Marketing & Media. July 10, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  39. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  40. ^ "The Offspring: Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  41. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  42. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  43. ^ "Italiancharts.com – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  44. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Offspring". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  45. ^ "ライズ・アンド・フォール,レイジ・アンド・グレイス - オフスプリング" [Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace - Offspring] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  46. ^ "Charts.nz – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  47. ^ "OLiS: sales for the period 16.06.2008 - 22.06.2008" (in Polish). OLiS. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  48. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  49. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  50. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  51. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  52. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  53. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  54. ^ "The Offspring Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  55. ^ "The Offspring Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  56. ^ "The Offspring Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  57. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart for 2008". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  58. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2008" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  59. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2008". hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  60. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  61. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Offspring – Rise & Fall, Rage & Grace". Music Canada.
  62. ^ "Physical Unit Sales for the Top 5 Best-Selling Albums in Japan by International Acts During 2008" (PDF). Billboard. 4 April 2009. p. 13. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  63. ^ "Japanese album certifications – Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2008年6月 on the drop-down menu
  64. ^ "Russian album certifications – Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF).
  65. ^ "American album certifications – Offspring – Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  66. ^ "Dexter's Interview". Archived from the original on 2008-05-08.
[edit]
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