Americana is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Offspring, released on November 17, 1998, by Columbia Records. Following a worldwide tour in support of Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), the band commenced work on a new album in July 1998, with the recording sessions lasting for about two months. It was The Offspring's second and last album to be produced by Dave Jerden.
Americana was a major success, debuting at number two on the US Billboard 200 (the highest chart position of any Offspring album), and selling over 198,000 copies in its first week. It is the band's second best-selling album after their 1994 breakout, Smash, and has sold over ten million copies worldwide. Americana spawned the hit singles "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)", "Why Don't You Get a Job?" and "The Kids Aren't Alright", and was promoted with a worldwide tour that included an appearance at the Woodstock '99 festival.
Background and recording
After the unexpected success of Smash (1994), the Offspring were signed to Columbia Records in 1996, releasing the fourth studio album, Ixnay on the Hombre (1997). Although Ixnay on the Hombre was not as well received as Smash, it managed simultaneous gold and platinum certifications in the United States in April 1997. After touring in support of Ixnay on the Hombre, the Offspring began writing new material for their next album. Frontman Dexter Holland told Rolling Stone in August 1998, "I wanted to write a record that wasn't a radical departure from what we've done before. I feel like we have managed to change stuff up from Ignition to Smash to Ixnay. We're in a place where we more or less set the boundaries where we can do a lot of stuff without having to stretch it out farther ... and do a swing song or something."
thumb|upright|Americana was the second and last album by The Offspring to be produced by [[Dave Jerden.]]
Recording took place from July to September 1998 at Eldorado Recording Studios with producer Dave Jerden, who also produced Ixnay on the Hombre. Holland told Guitar World, "The idea wasn't to reinvent the wheel. We expanded our horizons on our last record and that's okay, but I don't feel like you have to be a completely different band on every record." While most songs are the regular punk rock the band popularized, others such as the Latino-influenced "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" and the psychedelic "Pay the Man" add variety, "so that there's enough in there so people don't get bored". Holland also contributed the song "Too Much Drama" to the Vandals' album Hitler Bad, Vandals Good, which was released five months before Americana. The chorus melody is reused on this album on the song "Walla Walla".
Composition
Americana contains themes of unhappy American lifestyles. Speaking of the album shortly after its release, Holland explained, "The songs on Americana aren't condemnations, they're short stories about the state of things and what we see going on around us. We want to expose the darker side of our culture. It may look like an episode of Happy Days out there in America, but it feels more like Twin Peaks."
Holland also explained that Americana served as "a commentary on American culture", satirizing hypocritical lives and political correctness. One of the influences was The Jerry Springer Show, with the band even considering naming the album after the show's news tickers such as "Stripper Wars". A major source of inspiration was seeing the people in Holland's hometown of Huntington Beach, such as the "wiggers" who were mocked in "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)". Despite dealing with aimlessness and disillusionment, derived from how the generation that had just got to adulthood was having problems in getting jobs and sustaining themselves, Holland declared that "I didn't want it to be a record that made you feel hopeless. At the end of the day I hope that you can get something positive out of it."
Packaging
Artist Frank Kozik was hired to do the artwork for the album, as Holland found that his concert tour posters "had all the connotations we associated with Americana: very glossy, innocent and 1950s, but with a twisted aspect." On the<!--CD?--> booklet, which Holland described as "a little Kozik picture book", every song has its own accompanying illustration.
| rev2 = The Baltimore Sun
| rev2Score =
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3Score = B+
| rev4 = Los Angeles Times
| rev4Score =
| rev5 = NME
| rev5Score = 3/10
| rev6 = Rolling Stone
| rev6Score =
| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev7Score =
| rev8 = Select
| rev8Score = 4/5
| rev9 = Spin
| rev9Score = 5/10
| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10Score = A−
Americana was released on November 17, 1998, and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, the highest position the band has attained as of 2023. Shortly after its release, the album was certified gold and then later platinum.
The album received mixed reviews. Michael Gallucci of AllMusic described the album as a "raucous ride through America as seen through the eyes of a weary, but still optimistic, young kid". Gallucci praised the music as "a hearty combination of poppy punk" and a "blend of salsa and alterna-rock sounds", stating the band's music was taking a different direction. The album received a rating of three out of five stars, while "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)", "Why Don't You Get a Job?", "The Kids Aren't Alright" and "She's Got Issues" earned the Offspring its heaviest airplay on MTV and radio stations to date.
Americana is the 224th best selling album of all time according to Billboard as of 2009. The album was included in Rock Sounds 101 Modern Classics list at number 79. The album was included at number 23 on Rock Sounds "The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time" list. NME listed the album as one of "20 Pop Punk Albums Which Will Make You Nostalgic".
The album was named at the 2000 Juno Awards as one of the best-selling albums that year.
Track listing
- "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" contains a sample of "Rock of Ages" by Def Leppard, written by Joe Elliott, Steve Clark, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange.
- The hidden track "Pretty Fly (Reprise)" is a mariachi reprise of the song "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)". The digital version of Americana has "Pay the Man" and "Pretty Fly (Reprise)" separately, with the reprise as track 14. The main riff on "Pay the Man", particularly the drum part, is the same as found on the title track of Smash during the acoustic version of "Come Out and Play."
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="col"|Chart (1998–99)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Czech Albums (IFPI)
|4
|-
!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
|2
|-
|-
!scope="row"|European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)
|2
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Greek Albums (IFPI Greece)
|1
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Irish Albums (IRMA)
|25
|-
!scope="row"|Italian Albums (FIMI)
|3
|-
!scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon)
|20
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Polish Albums (ZPAV)
|1
|-
!scope="row"|Portuguese Albums (AFP)
|3
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYVE)
|8
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="column"|Chart (1998)
!scope="column"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|22
|-
!scope="row"|Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)
|74
|-
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="column"|Chart (1999)
!scope="column"|Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|3
|-
! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
| 1
|-
!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
|14
|-
!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)
|31
|-
!scope="row"|Canadian Albums (RPM)
|5
|-
! scope="row"| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
| 14
|-
!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
|21
|-
!scope="row"|European Albums (Music & Media)
|3
|-
! scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP)
| 9
|-
!scope="row"|German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
|9
|-
!scope="row"|Italian Albums (FIMI)
|23
|-
! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 8
|-
!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (AFYPE)
|49
|-
!scope="row"|Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)
|5
|-
!scope="row"|Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
|17
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 50
|-
!scope="row"|US Billboard 200
|7
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
!Chart (1990–1999)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|75
|}