Green Day power rankings (Best to worst): 01) AMERICAN IDIOT - Just a phenomenal statement and comeback from a band that was in danger of being seen as simply a snapshot of the 90's. 02) DOOKIE - A juggernaut of a record that was everywhere in 1994 03) NIMROD - Still rooted in snotty pop-punk but where the band begins to try new things with their sound 04) 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN - A continuation of the AI era with the band going bigger and embracing more 70's rock tropes. 05) INSOMNIAC - Angry and ugly, this was their "In Utero" meant to shed all the hanger-ons of Dookie 06) WARNING - A bit over-rated these days but still a lovely collection of jangly pop/rock that was an interesting precursor to AI 07) KERPLUNK - Tre Cool joins and the band's sound gets fully formed 08) REVOLUTION RADIO - Well-rounded snapshot of the band embracing their history as well as middle age 09) UNO - Snappy power-pop 10) TRE - Probably their most classic rock-sounding record (even more than 21CB) with a great grab-bag of different styles 11) DOS - Embracing their Foxoboro Hot Tubs sound for a full ablum 12) FATHER OF ALL MOTHERFUCKERS - Neat little experiment that unfortunately fell flat and also got swallowed up by the pandemic 13) 1039 SMOOTHED OUT/SLAPPY HOURS - Dry run that already showcased Billie Joe's songwriting chops
It's very annoying that some of the American Idiot tracks on Spotify are uploaded as two songs per track. Pretty sure it wasn't like that on the cd
It is annoying. I generally only listen to full albums anyway, so it’s not a big deal to me, but when I do make the odd playlist it’s annoying. I think Spotify is the only one who only has it that way. Apple gives you the option of either doing that or having each song separate as it was on the release. cue some apple bro coming in to proudly proclaim Apple Music is far superior to Spotify.
I could be wrong, but I believe the track pairings on the digital version are held over from the early iTunes days, when gapless playback wasn’t a thing yet. Combining tracks was the only way to get, for example, the transition from Holiday to Boulevard to happen correctly on an iPod.
I'm listening to 21st Century atm and man, these songs are good. I can understand production and bloat issues but underneath that I feel there's some solid, solid fucking tunes underneath. I remember the day this album came out and my mom driving me to the mall to get it. It felt so epic and grand, and a perfect follow up to whatever I managed to build AI up to in my young head. I love this record. I love this band.
I listened to it today while taking my daughter on a stroll. Had it playing through a mini speaker. Total dad move. I appreciate the album a lot more as I age. My only real gripe with the album is that there’s too much repetition in songs. That and some intros are too long. I’ve edited those intros out so the song just starts haha. Like Vivia La Gloria (Little Girl).
I can totally understand that. I might not be able to ever remove the inert bias of being a young kid just ampted to the ninth hearing it for the first time, so those faults don't ring so loud for me hahaha. But I understand
I have always felt like almost every song on 21CBD is really good but none top tier. I haven't tried ranking their work but doubt any 21CBD songs would be in my top 30 (or bottom 30)
East Jesus Nowhere, Viva la Gloria?, and Restless Heart Syndrome are all songs I’d put in the top tier for them. But it also has a couple of their weakest in Christian’s Inferno and Horseshoes and Handgrenades
There's an old thread out there somewhere from a message board where, I believe, an engineer and producer from 21CB discussed how they recorded the album and I appreciate how good it sounds, production-wise, immensely more for knowing what they did on that record. Fascinating read. And Billie Joe is apparently an incredibly precise guitar player because he recorded every guitar track layer on the album separately.
I'm no expert on recording but I think it's very common to record one guitar track and then just copy+paste it onto itself to create a fuller guitar sound.
That aside from Know Your Enemy is the one hold-over from the era that still may pop up on a setlist.
I personally love the whole album, I just find it a bit of a long & exhausting listen. I have no problems with it, I even enjoy the songs others don't seem to appreciate as much, I'm just not that inclined to listen to it these days because it's so long. It's a very good album for long drives imo.
I'll be honest, I know by now I've heard the full album, but I've never made it through a straight listen.