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Hammerhead (The Offspring song)

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"Hammerhead"
Song

"Hammerhead" was the first single from The Offspring's eighth studio album Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. The song was first played at the Summer Sonic Festival in 2007.

The song was originally set to go to radio on May 6.[1][2] However, the world premiere of the song took place on May 2 at 6 PM PST on KROQ. On May 5, 2008, The Offspring's official website released a free download of the song in 320 kbit/s MP3 format[3], in much the same style as "Original Prankster" (from 2000's Conspiracy of One). To download it, users are required to provide an email address to receive a link to a high-quality MP3 of the track, which comes free of digital rights management.

Song meaning

According to singer Dexter Holland, the song is about school shootings.[4] This is supported by the closing lyrics "and you can all hide behind your desks now/and you can cry teacher come help me". Lead guitarist Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman elaborated on this, stating that the initial lyrics are from the perspective of a soldier who believes that everything he does is for the greater good - "take a life that others may live". He is affected by a huge force (Hammerhead - "it hammers in my head") in his mind that makes him deluded.[5]The true nature of the song - that the narrator is actually a school shooter - is only revealed towards the end.

Music video

The music video was directed by Teqtonik and debuted on IGN's website on June 9th, 11pm UTC.[6]

The video is completely made up of CGI and does not feature the band, similar to "Hit That"'s video but more artistic in its appearance. Response to the video has been mixed - it was very negatively received on the band's official forums,[7] but has had a more positive response on Youtube, though judging by the numerous negative comments on the video itself, it's difficult to truly discern whether the good rating is in response to the video or the song itself.[8]

The video has a anti-war/violence slant represented through symbolism including mechanical animals, such as robotic dogs, pigs and elephants meant to represent politicians, and stealth fighters that later turn into birds flying into a sunset at the song's conclusion. Other events including a soldier being ordered to jump to his death, kids playing catch with a bomb and a spokesman wearing a dunce hat speaking to frenzied reporters. The video has a dark feel, being predominantly tinted in blue and appearing deliberately aged and damaged.

Video contest

The band have created a competition for fans of the band to create their own video for the song with their own original material.[9] A Youtube group has been set up for this purpose. The band will pick their favorite video and the winner receives $10,000. The contest is only available to U.S. residents.

Reception

Reaction to the song has been generally positive. Describing it as a 'good harbinger' to base the album off of,[10] Michael Roffman of Consequence of Sound also said that the song 'works lyrically', and that 'Holland hasn't sounded quite this sincere since the very best Americana had to offer'. Richard Cromelin of the Los Angeles Times also claimed that "Hammerhead" had the strongest lyrics of the album,[11] and The Dreaded Press praised the song's 'hard-hitting drums' and Dexter's 'urgent howling' giving a 'surprisingly fresh' result.[12] However, Chris Fallon of Absolute Punk claimed that it was too long[13] and Roffman later commented that 'uninspired riffs' resulted in a lack of enthusiasm from the song.

Recently, there has been controversy over the song, as the opening riffs sound eerily similar to the riffs found in former Nitro Records band The Letters Organize's song "Matador." The band feels that the riffs were stolen from them. Since The Letters Organize were signed to Dexter Holland's own Nitro Records when Dead Rhythm Machine was produced, the suspicion rises as to whether the riffs were definitely stolen, or if it is a large coincidence[14].

Chart positions

The song debuted at #5 (based on airplay alone) on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks, making it the first song to debut on the top 5 of the Modern Rock Tracks since "What I've Done" by Linkin Park, and the band's highest debuting Modern Rock single. It also debuted at #18 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. A week later it moved up to #4 on the Modern Rock chart and #16 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

Chart Peak
position
Canadian Hot 100 53
Russian Maximum Rock Chart 8
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 5
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 8
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks 2

In popular culture

  • The censored version of "Hammerhead" (notice they censored "loaded" and "arms" in the Madden NFL 09 trailer) will feature in the soundtrack for the upcoming videogame Madden NFL 09.
  • "Hammerhead" is featured as downloadable content for Rock Band.

References

  1. ^ The Offspring to release new single in May TuneLab Music article 03-28-2008
  2. ^ The Offspring announce album title; release date TuneLab Music article 04-10-2008
  3. ^ 'Free "Hammerhead" download available now' Offspring news item 05-05-08
  4. ^ 'Spring Is Here Again' Article by James Cotterell
  5. ^ Template:Fr icon 'The Grace, The Furor', Article by Eric Maggiori
  6. ^ 'New album and music video to premiere online' Offspring news item 06-06-08
  7. ^ 'Do you like the "Hammerhead" video?' Offspring forum thread 06-10-2008
  8. ^ Hammerhead video on Youtube Hammerhead video on Youtube
  9. ^ 'Hammerhead Video Contest Announcement' Offspring news item 05-14-08
  10. ^ Album Review: Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace by Michael Roffman, 06-09-2008
  11. ^ New CDs: The Offspring and 2 pistols - Los Angeles Times by Richard Cromelin 06-17-2008
  12. ^ Album review: The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace by The Editor 06-13-2008
  13. ^ Offspring, The - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace - Album Review by Chris Fallon, 06-10-2008
  14. ^ http://threefortysevenaugusta.com/?p=868

External links

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