“The Kids Aren't Alright” by The Offspring

"The Kids Aren't Alright" is the fifth track on Americana, the Offspring's fifth studio album, from 1998, and it became the record's third single and yet another top 10 hit on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Dexter Holland wrote it and sings it, and the title tips its hat to the Who's "The Kids Are Alright".

It's the band at their punchiest: Noodles' guitar tearing through a fast, melodic riff, Greg Kriesel's bass rumbling hard and Ron Welty's drums going full tilt, with Holland's high, urgent yelp riding the whole thing like a siren. Dave Jerden produced and mixed, with Bryan Carlstrom engineering, and the sound is slick without losing the snot. Q magazine argued that the song leans heavily on "Electricity" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, pointing to NOFX's punk cover of that track as evidence.

It found a life on screen, too: it opens the film The Faculty and sits on its soundtrack, and it rolls over the end credits of Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage. It later turned up as downloadable content for the Rock Band games.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.