This album is AMAZING. If you're a fan of The Offspring in anyway at all, then this should appeal to you. It's slightly 'poppy' but without going over the top and it's slightly 'punk' but doesn't go too heavy and does the hard task of appealling to fans of earlier punk albums like Ignition while appealling to fans of their pop side like Americana at the same time. This means that with Ixnay On The Hombre, you get a sound that is energetic and catchy throughout, yet is varied with fast and slow ska, rock and punk with no two songs sounding the same.
Why other reviewers have dissed Ixnay I don't know. Ok, 'Don't Pick It Up' isn't that funny but its incredibly catchy and is funnier than the annoying 'Disclaimer' which just wastes time and space. Yes, 'Me And My Old Lady' is pretty boring but so is 'Intermission' which is another track designed to fill up space.
I haven't heard Smash (yet) so I can't compare but if Smash is better, then it must be the best album the world has ever known because Ixnay is one hell of an album to beat for any band. Overall, I love this album. All the tracks with actual Offspring music are amazingly catchy in their own way and I can listen to this album all the way through, but songs that I especially wait for and can't get out of my head all day are:
"Cool To Hate"
"Gone Away"
"I Choose"
"Way Down The Line"
"Don't Pick It Up"
"Amazed"
The only bad things about this album are the Disclaimer and Intermission which are very annoying but luckily they are fairly short. Apart from that, Ixnay On The Hombre is a near perfect album.
