The Kids Aren't Alright by The Offspring

Making an ironic spin on The Who’s anthem “The Kids Are Alright,” this was the third hit single from Americana, the Offspring’s final album of the last millennium. At the time of its release, the band was in the thick of the battle over music downloading. The album’s first single, “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy),” was downloaded a record 22 million times on the illegal version of Napster, giving the band the dubious honor of topping Rolling Stone magazine’s “Top Pirated Internet Songs” chart.

In response the Offspring put Napster’s logo on their T-shirts without permission, saying they were only “sharing” the logo. When their next album was released in 2000 the band decided to offer it for free downloading themselves; causing their label to threaten a lawsuit. So the band managed the neat trick of getting both their label and Napster mad at them simultaneously!

The Offspring have covered a number of their favorite bands over the years; they’ve performed the Police’s “Next to You,” the Dead Kennedys’ “Holiday in Cambodia” and the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated.”

If you can handle a moderate punk-rock tempo, you’ll be fine on bass and drums. On guitar, the early part of the song has a great repeating strum pattern. If you can get that down, watch the chord changes and deploy Overdrive when there are runs of notes, you’re home free.

Still going strong, and the single “Hammerhead” made its debut on Rock Band in the summer of 2008.