''Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' is the eighth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American
punk rock band
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guita ...
, released on June 11, 2008, by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
.
[, Offspring.com, 04-09-2008] It was the band's first album of new material in five years, following 2003's ''
Splinter
A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...
'', marking their longest gap between studio albums at the time. The Offspring had been working on new material since the fall of 2004,
[Offspring Bring The Hits](_blank)
Ultimate-Guitar.com
Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. U ...
, September 24, 2004 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
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, 31 ...
.
[, Offspring.com, 11-16-2006] 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?
"Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" is a song by American punk rock band The Offspring. The song features as the seventh track (fifth track on the LP) on the band's eighth studio album, '' Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' (2008), and was released as its ...
", and "
Half-Truism
"Half-Truism" is a song by the American punk rock band The Offspring. The song is featured as the opening track on the band's eighth studio album, '' Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' (2008), and was released as its fourth and final single on May 12 ...
".
Writing and recording
Work for ''Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' dates back to September 2004, when frontman
Dexter Holland
Bryan Keith "Dexter" Holland (born December 29, 1965) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter and last remaining original member of the American rock band the Offspring. He is also the creator of th ...
said that he wanted to put out the next Offspring album in 2005 and that the new songs felt "pretty good".
From June to August 2005, the band played the
Vans Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...
for the first time, and followed that with a tour of Europe and Japan. To coincide with that tour,
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
released the first Offspring compilation album, ''
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'', 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, 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. On June 13, 2006, Holland stated that the band (minus Willard) had been meeting every week and would begin recording shortly. 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
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, 31 ...
, who was working with Holland and "helping him sort out songs."
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.
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." In July 2007, Holland also confirmed that the band had finished "two more songs" and the album was being recorded in
Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
. 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.
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." 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". 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".
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.
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
In June 2008, shortly before the album's release, the influential
L.A.
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
station
KROQ
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The stat ...
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. 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.
Promotional tour
In 2007, the Offspring first premiered "Hammerhead" at the
Summersonic
The , also known as Supersonic, is an annual two- or three-day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba, Japan. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa. The line-up con ...
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
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
X-Fest
X-Fest is an annual music festival held in various venues throughout the United States by Clear Channel Communications radio stations. It features alternative rock, hard rock, heavy metal, grunge, and industrial rock bands.
Noblesville, Indiana
T ...
,
KROQ
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The stat ...
Weenie Roast, and the
KJEE
KJEE (92.9 FM) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Montecito, California and broadcasts to the Santa Barbara and areas. The station is owned by James Evans under the name of licensee Montecito FM, Inc. and airs a modern rock form ...
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
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
,
Rock in Rio 2008 in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park
The (German for "Rock at the Ring") and ("Rock in the Park") festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually. While ''Rock am Ring'' takes place at the Nürburgring race track, ''Rock im Park'' takes place at the Zeppelinfeld ...
in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The band also played a series of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese dates from October 6–21, 2008. After headlining the nineteenth annual
KROQ
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The stat ...
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
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
from May through July with
Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...
,
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass) and Derek Grant (drums, vocals).
Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Do ...
,
Street Dogs
Street Dogs were an American punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2002 by former Dropkick Murphys singer Mike McColgan. The band disbanded in early 2020 after 17 years together.
History
In 1997, McColgan left Dropkick Murp ...
,
Pennywise,
Shiny Toy Guns
Shiny Toy Guns is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2002. The band is composed of guitarist/vocalist Chad Petree, vocalist Carah Faye Charnow, keyboardist Jeremy Dawson, and drummer Mikey Martin.
Their first studio alb ...
and
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. Originally called Kaspir, the band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason "Cone" McCas ...
. The Offspring also joined
311 311 may refer to:
* 311 (number), a natural number
* AD 311, a year of the Julian calendar, in the fourth century AD
* 311 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar
* 311 (band), an American band
** ''311'' (album), band 311's self-titled album
...
on their summer 2010 Unity Tour. The 19-date tour was held in amphitheaters around the U.S., also featuring
Pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
as a special guest. After this, the Offspring played Japan's
Summer Sonic Festival
The , also known as Supersonic, is an annual two- or three-day rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba, Japan. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa. The line-up cont ...
that August. Before the 311 and Pepper tour, the Offspring played four East Coast Dates in June, which was supported by
Terrible Things
Terrible Things is an alternative rock band initially formed in 2009 by Fred Mascherino, formerly of Taking Back Sunday, Hot Rod Circuit#Current group members, Andy Jackson of Hot Rod Circuit, and Josh Eppard, from Coheed and Cambria. .
Reception
''Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' received mixed reviews from critics. While
Biograph ...
.
''Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' received mixed reviews from critics. While AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine">AllMusic">Biograph ...