Punk rockers The Offspring have officially changed the title of their upcoming new album to Splinter. The previous title, Chinese Democracy, had already been announced several years ago as the name of the long-overdue new album from Guns N' Roses. A post on the Offspring's official website acknowledges that "the decision to title the album Chinese Democracy had brought production to a halt." Splinter is scheduled for release on November 11th, 2003.

When the Offspring originally announced the album title as Chinese Democracy last spring, vocalist Dexter Holland admitted that the band was taking a shot at Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose: "You snooze, you lose... Axl ripped off my braids, so I ripped off his album title."

Axl Rose reportedly had a cease-and-desist order issued against the Offspring to prevent them from using that title.

Drummer Josh Freese of A Perfect Circle handled the sticks on the new Offspring album, after drummer Ron Welty left the band earlier this year.