Ixnay on the Hombre

Untitled

Ixnay on the Hombre is the fourth studio album by the American punk band The Offspring. Produced by Dave Jerden, the album was released on February 4, 1997 through Columbia Records (their former label Epitaph released it in Europe). After the massive commercial success of their previous album, Smash, The Offspring entered the studio in the middle of 1996 to record a new album. Asked about the title, frontman Dexter Holland claimed that Ixnay on the Hombre means either "fuck authority" or "fuck The Man".

Ixnay on the Hombre was a moderate success debuting at #9 on the Billboard 200 chart and it was well received by both critics and fans. The album has sold more than 5.5 million records worldwide, while going platinum in the United States. The album contains the hit singles "All I Want", "Gone Away" and "I Choose", while "Cool to Hate" and "The Meaning of Life" also received radio airplay. The first two singles later appeared on The Offspring's Greatest Hits album.

Background and recording

Following the widespread commercial success of the band's previous album, Smash, and the subsequent touring to support the album, the band signed a recording contract with Columbia Records and began writing new songs at their practice space. Recording took place from June to October 1996 at Eldorado Recording Studios with producer Dave Jerden (Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Jane's Addiction, Social Distortion).

On the recording process of the album, guitarist Noodles stated:

We recorded a few more songs than we needed, and if we had used some of the other ones that were left off, it would have ended up a little more risky. But we're not disappointed in what we kept. I think it's a great record and I love these songs. Maybe we'll save the limb-walking for the next one.

Release and reception

Ixnay on the Hombre was released on February 4, 1997, and is the first Offspring album distributed via Columbia Records. In Europe, this is their last release on their former label Epitaph Records. This was due to contract disagreements between the band and the co-founder of Epitaph and then-former and now-current Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The band was able to release its album on Columbia for the US and other international releases but had to complete the album release in Europe through Epitaph. All subsequent albums were released on Columbia.

Ixnay on the Hombre peaked at number 9 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Although the album was less successful than its predecessor or successor, it also went Platinum soon after its release.

The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awards the album 2.5 stars and states: "Ixnay on the Hombre sounds like a competent hard rock band trying to hitch themselves to the post-grunge bandwagon."

Track listing

All tracks are written by The Offspring except where noted

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Disclaimer"	0:44
2.	"The Meaning of Life"	2:55
3.	"Mota"	2:56
4.	"Me & My Old Lady"	4:32
5.	"Cool to Hate"	2:47
6.	"Leave It Behind"	1:56
7.	"Gone Away"	4:27
8.	"I Choose"	3:54
9.	"Intermission" (Irving Caesar and Vincent Youmans)	0:48
10.	"All I Want"	1:54
11.	"Way Down the Line"	2:35
12.	"Don't Pick It Up"	1:52
13.	"Amazed"	4:25
14.	"Change the World"	6:23
Total length:		42:24

Notes

• "Disclaimer" is a spoken word piece featuring former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra. It mocks people who took the lyrics on the previous album, Smash, too seriously.
• "The Meaning of Life" is featured on the soundtrack to Tekken: The Motion Picture.
• The opening from "Change the World" can be heard at the end of "Smash", which is the last song on The Offspring's previous album, Smash. The guitar riff, though faster and without palm-muting, was also used on the song "Genocide" from same album.
• The song "Pay the Man" was initially recorded for this album. However, it was left off because it was so different (though it was played live once under the title "Stonehenge.") The song was later released on the next album Americana.
• "All I Want", "Way Down the Line" and "Change the World" were all featured in 1999 video game Crazy Taxi.
• "Gone Away" as well as "All I Want" were released as downloadable content for the Rock Band games along with five The Offspring songs from other albums.
• The CD version of the album contains a hidden skit at the end of the album featuring Calvert DeForest called "Kiss My Ass".

Sales

Chart (1997)	Peak position	Certification	Sales
U.S. Billboard 200	9	Platinum	1,000,000+
Australian Albums Chart	2	2x Platinum	140,000+
Canadian Albums Chart	3	2x Platinum	200,000+
Japanese Albums Chart	3	2x Platinum	400,000+
Finland Albums Chart	2	Gold	26,511
French Albums Chart	3	Gold	75,000+
New Zealand Albums Chart	2	2x Platinum	30,000+

Personnel

The Offspring

• Dexter Holland – guitar, vocals
• Greg K. – bass guitar
• Noodles – guitar, backing vocals
• Ron Welty – drums

Additional musicians

• Jello Biafra – Vocals on "Disclaimer"
• Calvert DeForest – Vocals on "Kiss My Ass"/"Cocktail"
• Jason "Blackball" McLean – Additional Vocals on "Mota"
• Paulinho Da Costa – Additional percussion
• Dexter, Noodles and Davey Havok (credited as Davey Havoc) – Backing Vocals

Others

• Dave Jerden – Production and mixing
• Bryan Carlstrom – Engineering
• Brian Jerden – Assistant engineering
• Annette Cisneros – Assistant engineering
• Eddy Schreyer – Mastering
• Bryan Hall – Guitar Tech
• Sean Evans – Art Direction
• Enrique Chagoya – Cover illustration
• Lisa Haun – Photography

Charting singles

Year	Song	Chart	Position
1996	"All I Want"	Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	18
		Hot Modern Rock Tracks	13
		Australian Singles Chart	15
		Austria Singles Chart	25
		UK Singles Chart	31
1997	"Gone Away"	Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
		Hot Modern Rock Tracks	4
		Australian Singles Chart	16
		UK Singles Chart	42
1997	"I Choose"	Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	5
		Hot Modern Rock Tracks	24

External links

• Official page for the album includes lyrics and audio/video excerpts