Green Day – Revolution Radio • Page 2

Yes and amen.

 

I have never listened to 21st Century Breakdown in full, I don't think. And I don't think I've ever even listened to an entire song on any of the trilogy albums. And Green Day was my favorite band in the world in 8th and 9th grade; I had all of their albums up to American Idiot, and the International Superhits! DVD, and Shenanigans and I knew all the words to every song on all of them. So I have fallen off pretty hard on them and definitely was not expecting much from this. I think the songs they've released thus far have been decent but I was not expecting such a positive review. I guess I'll have to check it out, as I tend to trust your opinions @Craig Manning.

One thing I can't stand, though, is the way Billie Joe's vocals have been mixed on this album and the trilogy. That weird echo effect or whatever it is kind of irritating and totally not necessary.

 

I would call this a return to form. It sounds much more like what I would have expected to follow AI than the last four do.

 

i guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I feel no urgency in this album at all aside from bang bang and revolution radio.

 

Not a fan of 21CB?

 

Too long and too devoid of good songs. Not a big fan at all. Some of it's ok. This is definitely better IMO.

 

please don't get your hopes up on this record. if you only moderately liked the new tracks released, that's about as good as it gets. everything else on this album is forgettable in every way. this is coming from someone who LOVES green day.

 

I only moderately liked the new tracks and I enjoy the album more as a whole than I would have expected based on those

 

When something is this highly recommended, I usually reserve judgment until I hear everything in the context of the album. Again, wasn't going to listen to it at all but now people whose opinions I respect have recommended it so I've changed my mind.

 

See, I thought what I listened to of 21st Century Breakdown sounded exactly like a logical next step from American Idiot. I suppose, though, that it was only one of several potential next steps from that point. 21CB is the logical next step in the universe where Green Day decided to double down on American Idiot's conceptual structure and themes, taking them to overblown and overlong extremes. What I've heard of Revolution Radio at this point, and what I read in Craig's review, sounds like an alternate universe where Green Day decided to take the songwriting lessons they learned from American Idiot and just make a traditional, non-concept album with them.

I suppose I join you in wishing we lived in that second universe rather than the first.

 

Great, great, great review. I wish I liked the album as much as you but will certainly go back to a more invested listen!

I do agree Still Breathing is THE song from this record. It should have been the first single and topically would have served real well. After the trilogy, after the meltdown, after the mess of what Green Day became, the message of "still breathing" would have worked real well. Plus it's catchy as hell.

Somewhere Now, Forever Now, and Too Dumb To Die were the other songs I kept returning to.

 

Can't wait to check this thing out, I was really hoping it would be good. Also, I love 21st Century

 

Unrelated, but your avatar. I finally watched Sing Street over the weekend! Soooo gooooood. While watching it, my brother purchased the soundtrack from his phone, hahahha. Those songs are so fantastic and fun, especially "Drive it Like You Stole It."

 

A legit hit. (And one of my favorite movies in a long time, I loved it.)

 

Here goes a monster post...

Thanks man, means a lot. I definitely recommend it.

Wish you dug it more too, but thanks!

I don't think they'll ever have an album quite like American Idiot again, but this is honestly pretty much exactly what I was hoping for at this point. Get some confidence and purpose back and then go from there. I hope the turnaround to the next album is a bit shorter.

I like 21st Century Breakdown, but there has always been something about it that's held me back from loving it. It's too unwieldy, too long, and has too few "great" songs.

Ha, it's actually sold more than 20,000,000 copies, so it could be 2x diamond, but I don't think that's a thing.

I like "Ordinary World." Feels like an appropriate comedown from the fire of "Forever Now." Kind of like waking from the dream of revolution.

In the sense that they are writing songs about something again after three albums where they mostly had nothing to say, yes, it is a return to form.

I honestly did not expect to like a Green Day album this much after the trilogy, and I know I liked that more than you did.

Definitely check it out. I'm not sure how you'll feel about it, but I think it's a good record with a lot of interesting qualities.

So did you miss "Forever Now," or...?

Agreed on "Still Breathing." It would have been the logical comeback single, at least lyrically. I think they want to release the "punk" song to try to win back some of their old fans though.

 

Love the review and the record. The review perfectly matches my feelings - this isn't Green Day at top form, but it's so damn good I don't mind.

 

First listen through, I thought it was pretty good. Now that I've had 4-5 play-throughs, it's really very good. "Forever Now" is definitely going to be the closer on this upcoming tour.

 

Fantastic review, made me even more excited to finally listen to this when I get home.

Also, I've never disliked a Green Day album, they're one of the few bands that I still get genuinely excited (like butterflies in my stomach excited) to hear new music from and see live

 

I think it's interesting that two song titles here are pulled from trilogy songs - "Too Dumb to Die" and "Troubled Times" from "Sex, Drugs, & Violence" and "99 Revolutions", respectively.

 

Also Say Goodbye from 8th Avenue Serenade lol

 

Haha, yeah I guess that one works too.

 

That or Stay the Night!

 

i've had some time to sit with this album, and though it wasn't the album i was hoping for, it still has some really solid tracks. ones i can't seem to get out of my head. it won't be my favorite green day album, but certainly not the worst. this blows the trilogy out of the water (despite what i said earlier) and falls somewhere in the likeability of 21cb for me. yes, 21cb has some duds, but there are probably 12 tracks on there that are just as solid as the ones here.

 

Honestly I think an album consisting of the 12 best songs on 21CB would blow this out of the water, but this is also undeniably more focused. Overall I give the edge to 21CB, though neither would rank in my upper half of Green Day albums

 

The thing with a 12-song version of 21st Century is that it would lose the story and thematic cohesion of that record. Yes, there are 12 very good songs on that album, but this one ultimately does more with less. At least in my opinion.