Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
Christgau's Consumer Guide
Entertainment Weekly	B−
NME	6/10
Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Sputnikmusic	4/5

Smash is the third studio album by American punk rock band The Offspring. After touring in support of their previous album, Ignition (1992), The Offspring began recording Smash in January 1994 at Track Record in North Hollywood, California. Recording and production were finished a month later, and the album was released on April 8, 1994 on Epitaph Records.

In the United States, Smash has sold over six million copies and has been certified 6× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Peaking at number four on the US Billboard 200, it has sold over 11 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling independent label album of all time. It was also the first album released on Epitaph Records to obtain gold and platinum status.Smash was The Offspring's introduction into worldwide popularity and critical acclaim, and produced a number of hit singles including "Come Out and Play", "Self Esteem" and "Gotta Get Away". Along with Green Day's Dookie, Smash was responsible for bringing punk rock back into the mainstream, and helped pave the way for the emerging pop punk scene in the 1990s. As a fan-favorite, the album received generally positive reviews from critics and garnered attention from major labels, including Columbia Records, with whom The Offspring would sign in 1996. Smash is the only release where the band was referred to as "Offspring".

In 1991, The Offspring released the Baghdad 7". This EP was the turning point for the band; due to its success the band signed with Epitaph Records. Thom Wilson, who produced The Offspring's first two albums, had been trying to get the Offspring to switch to Epitaph, a label run by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Gurewitz felt that The Offspring was just not quite pronounced enough for his label, but Baghdad convinced him to give the band a shot. Wilson and The Offspring entered the studio again and recorded Ignition. Released in 1992, Ignition exceeded all of the label's and band's expectations. Following the subsequent touring to support Ignition, The Offspring began writing new material for their third album in mid-1993. Recording sessions for Smash took place in January and February 1994 at Track Record in North Hollywood. On the recording process of the album, frontman Dexter Holland told Flux Magazine in 1994, "When we recorded this album, our last one has sold maybe 15,000 copies, so the possibility of us getting played on the radio or anything like that was pretty much nonexistent. Especially because this kind of music is not generally considered acceptable by the mainstream - so, for something like this to happen, it really took us by surprise."

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