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, Page 6, - Over The Edge — March 3, 1997

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Sony/Columbia
Available Now.

After releasing their break-
through independent album
“Smash” and selling over 8
million copies, they have since
moved on to a major record
label with their new album,
“Ixnay on the Hombre,” which
may be their best album yet.
Famous for putting out such
catchy tunes as “Come Out and
Play (Keep ‘Em Separated)”
and “Self Esteem”, they gained
a reputation for having fast
tunes with little regard to
technical level of playing.
“Ixnay,on the Hombre” is no
different. However, unlike their
previous albums (including
their 1989 self-titled album and
their first Epitaph album
“Ignition”), they manage to

avoid the pit trap.of having '

every single song sound the
same.

While their appeal may be
targeted towards the high

The Offspring:
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Reviewed by Vince Yim

KKK
L.0.9.0.E8

school mind-set, their music
has also matured to some
degree. Of course, there are the
standard tunes of teenage
rebellion (such as “Cool to
Hate,” in which lyricist and
lead singer Dexter Holland
says “I hate teachers, I hate
school, I hate cheerleaders and
anyone who’s cool”) but others
are more aimed towards a more
mature audience, such as “Me
& My Old Lady” and “Way
Down the Line” (which also
has an ending guitar riff that
bears a lot of similarity to
“D’yer Mak’er” by Led
Zeppelin).

To add to the fun factor, John
Mayer, the same guy who
provided commentary on
“Smash” (“Ah, it’s time to
relax, and you know what that
means”) can be heard on
“Ixnay on the Hombre” (or, at
least some guy who sounds like

him). However, to avoid
rehashing on old stuff done on
“Smash,” it’s simply been
reduced to a really cheesy
elevator tune with the guy
interjecting with “oohs” and
“ahhs”.

I liked this album a lot and
feel that it’s one of their best
yet. Their music has advanced
from being nothing more than
simple power-chords,
although if you like that kinda
thing, it’s still prevalent.

The Good: This album has
matured much since their
Epitaph days. Despite losing
the charm of being an
independent band, this album

‘still rocks. To avoid their

sound becoming stagnated
(something a lot of bands tend
to suffer from), they also
allowed their style to evolve to
a minor degree (but is still
recognizeable as The
Offspring style that we know).

The Bad: The other styles
that they incorporated also
include 80’s music. Ugh.

The Ugly: The amount of
flak that the Offspring has
received from the punk music
community for leaving
Epitaph records to sign with a
major record label.

Rating: 8.5/10

Hamlet: Original Motion

Pictur

Available Now.

The soundtrack for the
movie “Hamlet” was a very
good CD. It isn’t one I would
recommend if you are getting
ready to go out on a Friday or
Saturday night. Not by a long
shot.-But, if you are in a
mellow mood or want to be in
a meliow mood, this is one CD
to listen to.

If you even remotely know
what is going in “Hamlet,”
then you would be able to
understand why producers of
the soundtrack chose the
music they did. It seemed to

ungtra

Reviewed by Lennise Mann. ™™

kk
KKkKKK

flow with the movie.

From what I remember from
reading the play in grade 12, I
thought it would have been a
little more angrier instead of so
meliow. The only song I didn’t
really like was the first one
because Luciano Pavarotti sang
and I’m not much for Opera
music. If you can get past the
first song and you’re in the
mood to either sleep or study
(god forbid!), then I would
recommend it.

Rating: 7/10