I hate that so many people look back on the trilogy as a disaster. I think that time period for Green Day was the disaster really. The trilogy was solid. I respect the risk they took, and there were plenty of missteps, but there was a decent amount of good stuff to pull from that mountain of music.
They could have had one really awesome album, but they put out way too much and a lot of it wasn't good. Nightlife will always be the worst song they've made.
I like my one-disc compilation for the trilogy, but I still like this album more than even that. They had some good songs, but it didn't feel like they really had a vision or anything they wanted to say outside of a couple tracks. It's very much a grab bag, which is fine, but surround a bunch of sort of weightless catchy pop songs with a lot of filler and it makes sense that people look back on it without much/any affection.
Listened to this album 15 times in the past couple of days. "Too Dumb to Die" is vintage Green Day -- really strong track, IMO. I also really enjoy "Forever Now" as well; it flows very well and I've since come around on "Somewhere Now" because of it. Lots of heavy Who & Clash influences on this (or, I should say, a more prominent display of their influences are on here). It's kind of surreal to have a 12-track, cohesive album from these dudes. No concept or interweaving storyline. I've missed having more personal songs from BJ. It isn't a groundbreaking or must-hear album, but after the disappointment that was the trilogy, I'm pretty happy with this.
Listening to this back to front for the first time as we speak. Loving the songs that have been released publicly so far, so hopes are high.
I've felt little urge to come back to this... after having it for three days, that's not a good thing.
I get what you're saying, but it's kind of hard to think of it that way as it's been four years since the trilogy and may be another four years before the next album. The long periods between releases really seem to have taken the wind out of the band's sails.
Too Dumb to Die is still a really good song though, I'm trying to figure out what other band it reminds me of
I mean, one member was in rehab and another member's wife went through a battle with cancer. The long period between the albums wasn't the intention and it definitely didn't "take the wind out of the band's sails." They didn't have any wind in their sails after the trilogy. They were personally and musically at arguably their lowest points. I definitely think it'll be a quicker turnaround to the next album.
Well, that's fair, I guess I meant that with two long periods they've lost virtually all their momentum since 21CB. And yeah, a lot of that was definitely because the trilogy wasn't very good. But at this point I feel they've entered the "legacy band" stage, which might be too harsh, but I kinda just think we'll get diminishing returns from here on out.
Two long periods? It's been four years since the trilogy, and before that it was three years between 21CB and trilogy which was their shortest time between albums since Nimrod-Warning.
I would say they lost more momentum between AI and 21CB because they took four and a half years. But they also did a fucking ton of touring and just generally remained one of the biggest bands in the world. I think when you're an artist of their size, you just naturally release less material because you have to go pretty much everywhere on your tours. But like, we've still gotten four Green Day albums this decade, which is more than most artists. I like this record a lot and I think the problem with the trilogy was mainly excess, so I think we could get more great music from them down the road now that they've sort of re-centered. I definitely see what you mean about them becoming a legacy band, though. But I don't think that means they can't still make great records.
this album is weird. "still breathing," "too dumb to die," and "forever now" are really great, and everything else is just kinda...there, and occasionally super bad ("troubled time," "say goodbye")
Great: Say Goodbye, Too Dumb to Die, Forever Now Good: Somewhere Now, Bang Bang, Bouncing Off the Wall, Ordinary World Ok: Revolution Radio, Troubled Times, Youngblood Bad: Outlaws, Still Breathing
Nah, I like some singles but I don't think I can do this band for an entire album. I think Billie Joe's voice gets a bit much after a while. Still love Basket Case.