Splinter (The Offspring album)

Splinter is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band the Offspring, released on December 9, 2003, by Columbia Records. It was the first album the band released without long-time drummer Ron Welty, who was fired three weeks before the recording sessions started.

Although not as successful as the Offspring's previous albums, Splinter received gold certification two months after its release. The album received average reviews, but still sold reasonably well, debuting at number 30 on the US Billboard 200 with around 87,000 copies sold in its first week. "Hit That" and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" were the only two singles to accompany the album; "Spare Me the Details" was also released as a single, but charted only in New Zealand.

After spending nearly two years supporting the Conspiracy of One album, The Offspring began writing songs for Splinter in late 2002.

The recording sessions for the album lasted from January to August 2003, making it the first time The Offspring had recorded an album for that long (although their next album, 2008's Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, took more than a year to record).

Three weeks prior to the recording sessions, longtime drummer Ron Welty, who had played on all six of the band's previous albums, was fired from the band and formed his own band, Steady Ground. Welty filed a lawsuit against the band on September 10, 2020 for unpaid royalties, but it was dismissed on March 6, 2023.

Due to the difficulty in finding, or auditioning, for an immediate replacement for Welty on such short notice, the band elected to have session musician Josh Freese play drums on the album; they had met Freese when his band The Vandals was signed by Dexter Holland's label Nitro Records, while Freese also happened to be in town for when they would start recording. Holland noted Freese "did all the drums in just a couple days, and he made it sound like the Offspring, not A Perfect Circle or anything else he does." After the album was finished, Atom Willard was hired to be their new drummer.

Splinter offers a variety of lyrical and musical themes, combining their usual punk rock with experiments into ska and electronic sounds, and comedic songs with heavier themes about fear, paranoia, hopelessness and anxiety. Holland said that “Half this record is pretty much fast, melodic, whatever, punk stuff. But you kind of get bored just doing that after a while. I do.", and also that given most groups are "either a happy band or they're dark", he felt only one side did not fully represent him, "so I really wanted to do both in my music." A case of the mixture was lead single "Hit That", with lyrics about promiscuity creating broken families, with funk-inspired keyboards played by Ronnie King. The lyrics of "Spare Me the Details" were inspired by how a friend of Holland did not like being given a detailed account on how his girlfriend cheated on him.

The crowd vocals in the opening track "Neocon" were recorded at Reading Festival in 2002 during the Offspring's set on the festival's main stage.