GREEN DAY / Saviors

I feel like this was a bit of a trap. I was behind The American Dream is Killing Me. Why would I not be? Look Ma, No Brains!, wasn’t too special, until I found the idea of Billie asking Tré if he wanted some free tacos hilarious. Dilemma without question spoke to me and my ongoing mental issues, in that magical way only Green Day can, as if it was written specifically for me. Even if I found Billie blowing his voice out needlessly, well, needless. Then, One Eyed Bastard. I’m a one-eyed bastard! A pink and black video! Featuring an updated take on a sticker design that has been residing on the side of my media shelf for decades! I felt loved, and it was very surreal. I wondered to a friend if I was actually awake.

In terms of the rest of the tracks…there’s not much being said. What is, is ground that has already been covered, in much more compelling ways. Basket Case and King For A Day made me incredibly comfortable in stepping into my sexuality, all those years ago. For those stuck with Bobby Sox, my sincere condolences. It’s the most grating song they’ve ever made. The closing number smacks of word salad, which they will probably tell you was intentional. Please see my Mania review, for an incredibly apropos rebuttal.

I suppose what hurts the most is that there are lyrics herein that when placed beside those of quite possibly my favorite song ever, contradict them at best, and seem to indicate that Billie is saying it’s time to throw in the towel, at worst.

I’ve definitely tried, incredibly hard, to stop giving a shit, in the face of the world, as it currently sits. Because why not? Fuck it all, right?

No…I still give a shit. Deep down, at core. Even if it’s just for my own sake. My own morality. My own sanity.

It’s not too late; we’re still not underground.
 

Frankly, there’s a pervasive melancholy, and a repeated conceptual refrain of sitting back and letting our rapidly deteriorating world pull the trigger for us. What happened to not going gently into that good night? Doing whatever the fuck we want, for as long as we can? It’s incredibly ironic to me that it isn’t just Anthony Fantano who dislikes Father of All Motherfuckers. The title track, and the album as a whole, embodies a life-affirming, violent nihilism—the exact flavor I can get behind. Meet Me on the Roof even goads someone into putting their money where their mouth is, specifically so they’ll realize they aren’t ready to pack it in. I don’t think it’s any surprise at all that its closer, Graffitia, smacks so incredibly hard of Silent Hill.

Keep staring into the abyss; keep marching forward to find your truth.
 

Maybe this was a test, instead of a trap...

I Hope You Feel Better Soon, Billie. Until Then, I'll Keep All Your Previous Teachings Alive out of 5.

GREEN DAY / Father of All Motherfuckers (2020)

The practice of re-using cadences and riffs, debuted on Revolution Radio, continues here, placing Green Day directly in line with Counting Crows. I.e., they’ve officially established themselves as a band willing to create thematic consistences that exist not only WITHIN singular albums, but verily ACROSS albums. That is, of course, if you weren’t already aware that Insomniac, Nimrod., and Warning: are a trilogy~ If you give this a single listen, you’re going to wonder what the point of these intensely brief missives is. Instead, sit your perpetually-on-fast-forward-ass down with the lyrics for your initial listen. Then, put it on repeat, and soak in the sonic nuances buried beneath the bluster.

I.e., give it the proper reverence befitting a Green Day album. And, don’t you dare come bitching to me that they ape multiple Clash songs, simultaneously. No one gets to complain when Rancid made an entire career out of such (ooooooh) shenanigans.

“Another one down at the mining town…”

Songs of Note: I Was A Teenage Teenager; Graffitia

ALL the Silent Hill References out of 5

GREEN DAY / Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band (2017)

This was originally a massive rant. But, that was dumb of me. Green Day make albums. Their (purely musical) Greatest Hits releases are an innately incongruous concept to the type of fan that I am. If you want to hear singles from (almost) across their entire career, by all means. Enjoy them in the way that works for you. I'm not pulling elitist hipster rank by relating the following, I'm simply giving thanks:

I've grown up with Green Day. I cannot imagine my life without them. It doesn't matter that Billie Hey-Ho's so much that I can no longer listen to (or experience) them live, anymore. It doesn't matter that I'll never be able to play like Mike. It does, however, matter that my friends and I are glorious perverts, cut from the same cloth as Mr. Tré Fucking Cool, himself. Whereas most of them prefer one era of their career to the other, I un-conflictingly adore them both. They're the only way I can comfortably engage with politics, because they always focus on the mental and emotional impact they have on those of us simply trying to make it day to day in this entirely fucked world.

I've edited the artwork to make a fully representative piece of visual iconography. And, I'm not even going to be giving a score. If I've learned anything from Green Day, it's that I can and should do whatever I want, while I can.

I suppose this is what unconditional love feels like.
This might be the first time god and I have something in common.

GREEN DAY / Radio Revolution [2016]

After a public meltdown resulting in rehab, two members getting cancer and a trilogy of commercially and critically unsuccessful albums it seemed like it was time for Green Day to call it quits.  So naturally, 2016's Revolution Radio was definitely an album that is set-up with something to prove.
Sadly they do nothing of the sort and rely on the safety of the same type of predictable cheese and Hot Topic "danger" they've been riding with since 21st Century Breakdown.  There's a few good songs in the mix but as a whole it's not the album that is going to win back the older fans they've lost over the years.  Sure it's a little more focused than the misdirected trilogy previous to that but it still feels like it's running around in circles trying to figure out how to top American Idiot.  Oh well, at least Rolling Stone & People magazine probably think it's risque punk album of the year and not the half-decent pop album that it really is.

3 rebel's lullabies out of 5

Songs of Note: Still Breathing; Ordinary World

GREEN DAY / Demolicious [2014]

After the commercial failure of their ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! trilogy, rockers Green Day curiously release an album of demos from those sessions to suck it dry of everything it was worth with 2014's Demolicious.
Bassist Mike Dirnt stated that the album is what Green Day would sound like if they were still with Lookout! Records today.  It's not entirely true, seeing as the demos sound sonically better than most indie-act records.  Apart from that, the fun that the band is having is made very apparent giving the songs a life that seemed all too absent from the finished products.  The songs are rough around the edges, occasionally sloppy and unrefined but that's what makes them come alive.  Instead of striving for commercial studio perfection, you can hear the boys are just in it for the pure rock & roll.

3½ Tom Neely album covers out of 5

Songs Of Note: Stay The Night; Stray Heart

BILLIE JOE + NORAH / foreverly [2013]

Most folks wouldn't think the idea of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and jazz-popster Norah Jones would sound good covering harmonizing country rockers The Everly Brothers' 2nd album Songs Our Daddy Taught Us, which in turn is already a collection of cover songs.
Yet, 2013's duet album foreverly works in every way you wouldn't think it would seeing as it's ever so faithful to the original record by never steering off into a rough pop-rockiness or Starbuck's friendly soft jazz.  The duo's voices work so very well together as one gives the other edge whereas that other gives the first one a graceful smoothness creating a vocal sound not normally heard from either.
It's not particularly clever, inventive or astonishingly good but simply delightful for a ride down a country road on a rainy day and sometimes that's exactly what one needs.

4 girls named Rose Connelly out of 5

Songs Of Note: Silver Haird Daddy Of Mine; Put My Little Shoes Away

AMERICAN IDIOT ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST / American Idiot (2010)

If this show had simply placed tracks from American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown side-by-side, it would have only been the sum of its parts. Instead, they went for an integrated approach: they incorporated verses of Idiot songs into ones from Breakdown, combined songs outright, included b-sides and their contribution to Rock Against Bush, and added an entirely new track to the mix. On top of that, the new, fresh voices, including those of several women, serve to completely reinvigorate these missives. I love the boys, and Idiot is one of the absolute best albums I've ever heard, but even still this breathes an entirely new life into this era of their career and is completely indispensable.

Songs of Note: Letterbomb; Too Much Too Soon

5 Favorite Sons and Daughters out of 5

Nutted by Neg (who never lacks a better word)

GREEN DAY / ¡Tré! [2012]

Completing their 2012 ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tre! trilogy, pop-punkers Green Day fizzle out a bit on overkill with the bizarre jumble of songs on ¡Tre!.

It's written & mixed for stadium rockers and sounds like they had great intentions but never quite met them.  In the end, all I can say is I'm going to take all three albums and make a 4-star single disc mix for a more compact and enjoyable listening experience rather than this bloated mess of a trilogy.  Like the other 2 albums, it's not necessarily bad because there's some fantastic songs on here, it's just too much.  

3 Odes to Occupy out of 5

Songs Of Note: Drama Queen; Dirty Rotten Bastards 

GREEN DAY / On The Radio [2012]

Recorded live for a New Jersey radio station in 1992 while in support of Kerplunk, Green Day's On The Radio is a wonderful little treasure for only the most dedicated of fans.  

With sound as muddy as it is, I couldn't recommend it to anybody but a fanboy.  It's great to hear the band so youthful, raw, energetic and unaware of the turbulence they were about to hit 2 years later.  

3 Fifteen covers out of 5

Songs Of Note: Paper Lanterns; Christie Road

GREEN DAY / ¡Dos! [2012]

2012's ¡Dos! is the second album in Green Day's ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! trilogy of albums.

While ¡Uno! was quick, mindless and to-the-point bubblegum pop,  ¡Dos! takes a punchier swipe at the ears with fuzzed up guitars and Ramones style rhythms in full force.  Billie & the boys sound more like the "cigarettes & booze riddled dive bar" sound of their side-band the Foxboro Hot Tubs here than they do the "shopping mall bubblegum punk" of Green Day.   Which isn't a bad thing.  In fact it's quite welcome after the "paint by numbers" feeling of the first trilogy album.  Sure there's a few misfires here but all in all it's fast-paced and a bit rough around the edges yet still easily digestible.  

3½ F-woos for the kids out of 5

Songs Of Note: Nightlife; Amy

GREEN DAY / ¡Uno! [2012]

Pop punkers Green Day return to scaled down sugar-sweet rock, in the first of a trilogy of albums, 2012's ¡Uno!
It's nice to hear them ditch the political agenda, with no intentions other than to entertain with radio-safe pop songs and la-dee-da lyrics. Although it sounds more like a polished version of their b-sides collection Shenanigans  than anything else. I'm not saying it's all bad, it just doesn't grab you right away and leaves you wondering if they'd be best off releasing one lengthy album and kick-ass with an army of decent b-sides to dump on us for the next few years.

3 you're kinda old to be singing about Sweet 16's out of 5

Songs Of Note:  Stay The Night; Kill The DJ

FOXBORO HOT TUBS / Stop, Drop And Roll!!! [2008]

With the pressure of their follw-up album living up to American Idiot, Green Day decided to take some time off from their day job and create the Foxboro Hot Tubs. Their own version of a good times garage rock band recorded on an 8-track, the Foxboro's debut (and possibly only) album Stop, Drop And Roll!!! is pure mindless fun.
Musically and lyrically heavily flavored with a '60's party rock vibe and several throwbacks to The Kinks, The Yardbirds and The Beatles. The jangly guitars, bouncy basslines, thumping drumming and guilt-free hooks make for a novelty record that's nothing more than good old rock n' roll.

3½ Where's Highway 1's out of 5

Songs Of Note: Mother Mary; The Pedestrian

THE NETWORK / Money Money 2020 [2003]

Are they Green Day or are they not?
The mysterious 6-piece New Wave project called The Network released Money Money 2020 on Billie Joe Armstrong's label Adeline Records in 2003. Supposedly from somewhere in Europe, The Network came to America, signed to Adeline and proceeded to badmouth Green Day. Heavy on the flat sounding, yet bubbly synths, driving straight forward drum playing, down stroking guitar and bass playing, plus monotone vocals all make for a fun listen.
It's fun but not necessarily great. If you're a fan of Green Day and hunger for more this would be where to look...except it's not Green Day. Right?

3 "Fuck The Network"s out of 5

Songs Of Note: Hungry Hungry Models; Hammer Of The Gods

GREEN DAY / 21st Century Breakdown [2009]

After the massive success of the punk rock opera American Idiot, Green Day faced the difficult task of coming up with an album that was better or equally as good.
2009's loosely conceptual 21st Century Breakdown doesn't live up to it but tries it's damnedest. With producer Butch Vig on board, 21st Century sounds a little too polished to express the danger and rawness Green Day are trying to portray with such clichéd politically angry lyrics. Featuring just a small handful of 5 star songs and a whole bunch of potentially great songs that wander around with no direction, 21st Century just seems like a bloated, self-indulgent mess without the entertaining wiseass lyrics of American Idiot.

2½ 1972's out of 5

Songs Of Note: Peacemaker; ¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)

GREEN DAY / Bullet In A Bible [2005]

Playing in front of 130,000 people, Green Day made sure to record this larger than life concert. Bullet In A Bible blends together 2 nights at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes on their 2005 American Idiot world tour.
Playing in front of so many, yet managing to keep an intimate feeling to their energetic performance, makes Green Day one of the best live acts to see.
Packaged as a CD/DVD combo, Bullet is probably one of my favorite live album/concert films ever produced.

5 pink bunnies out of 5

Songs Of Note: Jesus Of Suburbia; King For A Day

GREEN DAY / American Idiot [2004]

After mediocre responses to their last two records, Green Day set out to make the best damned record they possibly could. The result was the ambitious 2004 rock opera American Idiot.
They abandoned the regular song structure of their previous compositions, cranked up the guitars and thump of the drums to stadium rock grandeur and got made over into bona fide rock stars instead of the everyman look they were dissolving into.
Telling the story of everything that's wrong with America, while destroying the people who do nothing but dwell on it as well, American Idiot confirmed to both critics and fans alike, they had an instant classic on their hands.

5 Hearts Like A Hand Grenade out of 5

Songs Of Note: Jesus Of Suburbia; Whatshername

GREEN DAY / Shenanigans [2002]

Playing sort of like the funnier younger brother to their best of compilation International Superhits, Green Day's Shenanigans collects most of the band's b-sides on a single disc and released in support of their co-headlining tour with loser anthem buddies, blink-182.
While not always quality stuff (these are b-sides, remember?) the songs here are almost always entertaining and raw...well, as raw as pop-punk can get. Highlighted by some fantastic covers of The Ramones, Fang and The Kinks, Shenanigans might only appeal to the hardcore fans of the band.

3½ Missing D.U.I.'s out of 5

Songs Of Note: Rotting; Ha-Ha You're Dead

GREEN DAY / International Superhits [2001]

While on a much needed hiatus after hating each other's guts to the point of punching one another out, Green Day released the obligatory greatest hits package aptly titled International Superhits.
Packaging all of the Berkley pop-punker's 19 radio singles plus 2 unreleased songs seems like it's acknowledging the end of an era. Without any remastering (most noticeable on the Dookie singles here), any imagination in the track orders and the absence of anything from their first 2 albums makes Superhits a bit of a miss for any dedicated Green Day fan that all ready owns all the albums but a great compilation for housewives and little girls to sing along to.

2 lazy asses out of 5

Songs Of Note: Maria; Poprocks & Coke

GREEN DAY / Warning [2000]

With blink-182 threatening to take the pop-punk crown away from them, Green Day played by their own rules and released an album that sounded like they didn't give a damn about their genre stature or what their ADHD mall-punk fans would think.
2000's Warning is a brave move by the band, blending acoustic ballads, Tom Waits styled polkas and channeling Bob Dylan & Bruce Springsteen instead of The Ramones or Twisted Sister.
With tracks that are easily some of the best written songs in their career, the fanboy in me wants to give the album a solid 5 but unfortunately the album comes with quite a few throw away songs as well.

3½ punk rock mandolins out of 5

Songs Of Note: Misery; Macy's Day Parade

GREEN DAY / Nimrod [1997]

After going on a 2 year hiatus following the back to back releases of Dookie & Insomniac and over 2 straight years of touring the world, pop-punkers Green Day returned with 1997's experimental Nimrod.
Throwing strings, horns, harmonicas and ballads into the mix, Green Day appeared to be maturing in their songwriting and attitude. With the exception of a few crude songs scattered into the playlist, the album is a step into a different direction that was a bit much for a lot of fans who wanted more of same bouncy melodies related to masturbation and getting high.
Jam-packed with 18 songs, Nimrod is a bit much at times but with a few edits it could have been another near-perfect album.

3½ No Doubts out of 5

Songs Of Note: The Grouch; Uptight