Operation Phoenix is the fourth album by the Santa Cruz, California-based hardcore
punk band Good Riddance, released May 4, 1999 through Fat Wreck Chords. It marked a change in
recording location and production team for the band: their previous three albums had been recorded
in San Francisco with producer and recording engineer Ryan Greene, but for Operation Phoenix the
band traveled to Fort Collins, Colorado to record at The Blasting Room with Jason Livermore
and Descendents/All members Bill Stevenson and Stephen Egerton. This marked the beginning of a
long-term working relationship: Good Riddance would record all of their studio material at The
Blasting Room using the same production team until 2003, when the band slipped into inactivity and
singer Russ Rankin started Only Crime with Stevenson. Stevenson and Livermore would return to
record and produce Good Riddance's final studio album My Republic in 2006, which was recorded in
San Francisco. Rankin later commented that working with The Blasting Room team was a major
turning point in recording for the band: