Conspiracy of One

Conspiracy of One
The Offspring's studio album
Publication (s)	November 14, 2000
admission	June - August 2000
Label (s)	Columbia Records
Format (s)	CD, LP, CS, DD
Genre (s)	Punk rock
Title (number)	13/14
running time	37:44 / 40:24
occupation	Guitar , vocals : Dexter Holland Guitar, backing vocals : Noodles E-bass : Greg K. Drums : Ron Welty
production	Brendan O'Brien
Studio (s)	NRG Studios in Hollywood
chronology Americana (1998) Conspiracy of One Splinter (2003)
Single releases October 24, 2000 Original prankster December 23, 2000 Want You Bad June 26, 2001 Million Miles Away

Conspiracy of One (. English for " conspiracy of an individual ") is the sixth studio album of American punk rock - band The Offspring . It was released on November 14, 2000 on the Columbia Records label and is the successor to the 1998 hit album Americana .

History of origin

After the great success of their predecessor Americana (1998), the band recorded the album Conspiracy of One between June and August 2000 at NRG Studios in Hollywood , California with producer Brendan O'Brien . This ended The Offspring's collaboration with Dave Jerden , who was responsible for production at Americana and Ixnay on the Hombre . O'Brien's production for Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots was crucial for Dexter Holland to take him on board for the album.

In mid-2000 the band announced that they would be offering the album for free download before its release . However, after Sony Music announced legal action, the band moved away from this plan. In October 2000, however, there was a leak and eleven of the twelve songs on the finished album were uploaded to Napster . A fan then offered these songs together with guitar and bass fingerings for free download before the album was released on November 14, 2000.

The band had nothing more to do with it. Instead, it offered download singles through its website and various portals such as MTV Online . In return, the British chain of stores HMV did not include the first single, Original Prankster, in its range and justified this by stating that the piece “was already available before it was released”. According to the New Musical Express , this was the main reason the single debuted at number 6 rather than becoming a number one hit . Furthermore, some songs that did not make it onto the album were posted on their website for buyers of the album.

Music style and lyrics

Musically, the album ties in with its predecessor. Classical three-chord punk or melodycore continues to predominate , although the album, even more than its predecessor, contains elements of hip-hop and grunge . Original Prankster takes up the theme of Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) from Americana and Come Out and Play from Smash , both of which play with elements and clichés of gangsta rap . The band's style also slowed down a bit. With Denial, Revisited one's ballad included on the album. With Living in Chaos the band wrote a slower song to hop along.

The theme song is about a person in Libya who launches a nuclear missile . Dexter Holland described the album as "a series of unrelated short stories." The intro to the album was spoken by Mike Love and comes from the Beach Boys live CD The Lost Concert . Special Delivery includes a sample of Hooked on a Feeling by the Swedish pop band Blue Swede and Original Prankster one from the song Low Rider by War .

Cover design

The album cover shows the band's logo - a skull with hair like flames and surrounded by a circle - in orange, yellow and red. The background is dark blue. The lettering The Offspring and Conspiracy of One are in yellow and black at the top and bottom of the picture .

Track list

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Conspiracy of One   DE 8th 11/27/2000 (15 weeks)   AT 5 11/26/2000 (18 weeks)   CH 4th 11/26/2000 (22 weeks)   UK 12 11/25/2000 (26 weeks)   US 9 02.12.2000 (24 weeks)

Singles

Original prankster   DE 46 11/10/2000 (9 weeks)   CH 20th 11/12/2000 (15 weeks)   UK 6th 11/18/2000 (10 weeks)   US 70 11/25/2000 (9 weeks) Want You Bad   AT 67 03/25/2001 (3 weeks)   CH 45 03/25/2001 (6 weeks)   UK 15th 03/31/2001 (10 weeks) Million Miles Away   CH 97 07/15/2001 (1 week)   UK 21st 07/07/2001 (6 weeks)

1. Intro - 0:06
2. Come Out Swinging - 2:47
3. Original Prankster - 3:42
4. Want You Bad - 3:23
5. Million Miles Away - 3:40
6. Dammit, I Changed Again - 2:49
7. Living in Chaos - 3:28
8. Special Delivery - 3:00
9. One Fine Day - 2:45
10. All Along - 1:39
11. Denial, Revisited - 4:33
12. Vultures - 3:35
13. Conspiracy Of One - 2:17
14. Huck It (bonus song of the European version) - 2:40

There is also an enhanced CD with various live videos and karaoke versions.

Chart successes and singles

Conspiracy of One reached the top ten of the charts in over ten countries, but was unable to match the commercial success of its predecessor Americana . The album stayed in the charts in most countries for several months and even reached the same or better high positions than its successful predecessor in the USA and Switzerland. In Germany, Conspiracy of One entered the charts at number 8 and stayed in the top 100 for 15 weeks.

The first single was Original Prankster (DE # 46, 9 weeks) with guest vocals from Redman . Want You Bad was released in the same year, followed by Million Miles Away in 2001 .

Sales figures and awards

The album went platinum in the United States (over a million sales) and Switzerland, and gold in the United Kingdom (more than 100,000 sales) and Austria.

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	2 × platinum	140,000
Belgium (BEA)	gold	(25,000)
Europe (IFPI)	platinum	1,000,000
Finland (IFPI)	gold	(29,330)
France (SNEP)	2 × gold	(200,000)
Japan (RIAJ)	2 × platinum	400,000
Canada (MC)	2 × platinum	200,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	platinum	15,000
Austria (IFPI)	gold	(20,000)
Switzerland (IFPI)	platinum	(50,000)
Spain (Promusicae)	platinum	(100,000)
United States (RIAA)	platinum	1,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold	(100,000)
All in all	6 × gold 11 × platinum	2,755,000

Main article: The Offspring / Music Sales Awards

reception

source	rating
laut.de
Rolling Stone
allmusic

The reviews are almost consistently only in the upper mid-range. It was agreed that the band was still doing well, but that there was no room for experimentation or change.

“Three records later and lo and behold, nothing has changed since then. Usual three chord guitars with appealing hooklines. Dexter Holland's partly penetrating Yeeeaaaiiieeaaahs and Oooouuoohs are still at the start, while quieter pieces are still not one of their great strengths. "

- Gregory Britsch, Laut.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} The Million Dollar Band . In: Hammer . December 2000.
2. ↑ New album is (now) online. Laut.de , October 24, 2000, accessed February 28, 2012 . 
3. ↑ Biography at Allmusic (English). Retrieved February 27, 2012.
4. ↑ ^{a b} The Offspring in a clinch with British CD chain stores. (No longer available online.) Intro , November 13, 2000, archived from the original on May 24, 2011 ; Retrieved February 28, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ ^{a b} The Offspring - Punk for the kids of the 90s and for the new millennium. (No longer available online.) Whiskey-soda.de, archived from the original on September 27, 2013 ; Retrieved February 28, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ ^{a b} AllMusic Review by Liana Jonas: The Offspring - Conspiracy of One at Allmusic (English). Retrieved February 27, 2012.
7. ^ Conspiracy of One. Discogs , accessed February 28, 2012 . 
8. ↑ album cover
9. ↑ ^{a b} chart sources:
   • The Offspring in the German charts on OfficialCharts.de
   • The Offspring in the Austrian charts on AustrianCharts.at
   • The Offspring in the Swiss charts on Hitparade.ch
   • The Offspring in the Official UK Charts (English)
   • The Offspring in the US Billboard 200 and Hot 100
10. ^ Conspiracy of One (Enhanced Edition). Discogs , accessed February 28, 2012 . 
11. ↑ International chart tracking Conspiracy of One
12. ↑ Chart tracking Conspiracy of One at musicline.de ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ^ ^{A b c} Gregory Britsch: The Offspring - “Conspiracy Of One”. Kindipunk from Amiland. In: Laut.de . Retrieved October 6, 2017 . 
14. ↑ The Offspring at Discogs (English)
15. ↑ search query. RIAA , accessed February 28, 2012 . 
16. ↑ search query. hitparade.ch, accessed on February 28, 2012 . 
17. ↑ search query. BPI.co.uk, accessed February 28, 2012 . 
18. ↑ search query. IFPI.at , accessed on February 28, 2012 . 
19. ^ Rob Kemp: Review: The Offspring - Conspiracy of One. In: Rolling Stone . November 23, 2000, archived from the original on October 1, 2007 ; accessed on October 6, 2017 .