Smash!: Green Day, the Offspring, Bad Religion, Nofx, and the '90s Punk Explosion (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780306902741)

A group biography of '90s punk rock told through the prism of Green Day, The Offspring, NOFX, Rancid, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and more

Two decades after the Sex Pistols and the Ramones birthed punk music into the world, their artistic heirs burst onto the scene and changed the genre forever. While the punk originators remained underground favorites and were slow burns commercially, their heirs shattered commercial expectations for the genre. In 1994, Green Day and The Offspring each released their third albums, and the results were astounding. Green Day's Dookie went on to sell more than 15 million copies and The Offspring's Smash remains the all-time bestselling album released on an independent label. The times had changed, and so had the music.

While many books, articles, and documentaries focus on the rise of punk in the '70s, few spend any substantial time on its resurgence in the '90s. Smash is the first to do so, detailing the circumstances surrounding the shift in '90s music culture away from grunge and legitimizing what many first-generation punks regard as post-punk, new wave, and generally anything but true punk music.

With astounding access to all the key players of the time, including members of Green Day, The Offspring, NOFX, Rancid, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and many others, renowned music writer Ian Winwood at last gives this significant, substantive, and compelling story its due. Punk rock bands were never truly successful or indeed truly famous, and that was that -- until it wasn't. Smash is the story of how the underdogs finally won and forever altered the landscape of mainstream music.

Author: Ian Winwood
ISBN-10: 0306902745
ISBN-13: 9780306902741
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Language: English
Published: 11/20/2018
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.30w x 1.20d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/01/2018
Library Journal 10/15/2018 pg. 62
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2018