Green Day

Haven't put a good song out since the 90s.

They aren't quite Aerosmith-level stale yet, but they stopped being relevant years ago and are just under Guns N' Roses in the "Jesus, just give up already" totem pole.

So I've relistened to some of their stuff. It is a LOT less raw and screamy than I remember when I first saw them on Letterman about 8 years ago. When I first heard American Idiot on Letterman, I felt as if I were being ear raped, but now, it sounds non-threatening enough to me that it could be country.

I wonder if that's because a.) they're more raucous in a live setting, b.) country itself has gotten a lot more rock sounding in the last 8 years (thank you, Jason Aldean), or c.) both.

And as ubiquitous as it is, I kinda like "Good Riddance".

They have, like, three songs that are like that in their entire oeuvre.

Anyway, this is their new single "Oh Love", just released today (well, twelve hours ago, same difference):

It's catchy, but not exactly a strong leadoff single.

I still remember seeing the video for "Longview" the first time and thinking I was going to like Green Day...I went out immediately and bought Dookie and loved it. Insomniac had to grow on me but I eventually got to where I loved it. Nimrod was hit-or-miss, some songs I loved, others were just meh. I haven't picked up anything else from them since then.

Based on this, I might recommend Warning as a starting point - it's kind of more acoustic-guitar-based than the rest of their stuff I've heard, though still very much a "rock" album.

@Oh Love: It reminds me of Warning, though that's not a bad thing (I love that album). Still more interesting than anything off of 21st Century Breakdown, that album just felt really forced IMO.

Y'know, I really haven't heard much from that album aside from the singles, the title track, and one or two other songs. You'd think I would have by now, seeing as how my best friend is a Green Day addict and would have probably forced me to listen to it eventually.

EDIT: To clarify, I'm referring to 21st Century Breakdown.

edited 17th Jul '12 11:12:13 PM by 0dd1

I only know of Know Your Enemy and 21 Guns off 21stCB, both songs I liked.

Oh, and Oh Love is terrible IMHO.

21stCenturyBreakdown was my first Green Day album. Kinda liked the stuff, never actually realized it was a Rock Opera.

Billie Joe Armstrong is gonna be a vocal coach on The Voice.

Yeah, I think this is where I draw the line.

edited 27th Jul '12 5:49:17 AM by 0dd1

Well, this might be good. The Voice relies soley on musical ability, not looks, not stage presence, not sob stories. If we can get some good artists out of this venture, not pop but actual rock and punk artists, I say that would be good.

I pre-ordered the deluxe box set of the next three albums. Just sayin'.

Back on topic, I believe a lot of people miss the point of Green Day's new stuff. I love old Green Day, and though New Green Day may not be AS good, it's matured. The topics have expanded from "mom and dad suck Imma go play loud music noa" into "the government sucks imma go play loud music now." It's a logical and understandable career choice.

...there's a deluxe box set available for pr-order now?

WHY DIDN'T I KNOW THIS WHEN I PRE-ORDERED ¡UNO!.

Wow, I really like this new song, I think because as Demon Shark said, it sounds a lot like Warning's tracks.

Billie Joe Armstrong; 40 years old and still sounds the same as he did 10 years ago, and although saying this makes me shudder because he's old enough to be my dad, he's still as hot.

edited 12th Aug '12 1:39:28 PM by GigglesMcYummy

Listening to ¡Uno!.

Honestly? It feels like a cross between Dookie and American Idiot. It's very good, Kill The Dj is my favorite so far.

Also, sorry for you Americans if you've bought tickets to the tour already, Billy Joe is in Rehab.

I happened to be in a record store this week and noticed a "deluxe" version of the new album that I thought was a somewhat cool idea: it comes in a cardboard sleeve that fits three CD cases, so basically if you bought all three albums separately, it'd still sort of be like having a box set.

After listening to Uno, I've come to more or less the same conclusion as GCR. This is a really good album. I especially like "Kill the DJ", "Let Yourself Go", "Troublemaker" (perhaps the most stripped down of the songs, which I really like about it), and "Angel Blue".

By the way, from the lyrics of "Troublemaker", does anyone know just what in God's blue sense this here is supposed to make?

Addendum: For those of you who haven't actually heard about that: http://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/2012/09/23/green-days-billie-joe-armstrong-heads-to-rehab/1588587/

Or this:

Actually, he was sober when he wrote that.

That honestly wouldn't surprise me

It's weird that the worst thing I can say about old Green Day, especially their greatest hits album International Superhits! - is that I will forever associate this band with the days I used to assemble and paint Warhammer 40K models on the Games Workshop hobby table in Clarence Street.

I hope you had the time of your life indeed. I sure did... painting Death Guard Chaos Space Marines... those were the days.

Sorry if that went off topic, but to my brain separating Green Day from Games Workshop model painting is like trying to divorce Creedence Clearwater Revival from people like The Dude from The Big Lebowski.

It shouldn't be done because you just... associate a band with certain ideas and places that come to mind.

I think we have a trope for that.

Also re: "I hope you had the time of your life indeed." You do know that that song is called "Good Riddance" and is a bitter break-up song, right?

It's become cliche to se it at graduations though.

Seriously, it started playing on one of the two videos they showed at my fourth year graduationn (Fourth year here is optional and is mostly life skills and team building), and being the only blatant Green Day fan in the year, everyone started looking at me.

So I've heard. Those people who use that song for that purpose are ignorant and should feel bad.

Feeeeel baaaaaad, graduation organizers!

Oh, and Jason White has been made an official member of the band.