Released: Dec 10, 2012
Genre: Pop Punk, Punk Rock, Alternative Rock
Label: Reprise
Number Of Tracks: 12
Coming to the end of their trilogy, Green Day sign off with an emotional conclusion.
Sound: On the balance of things Green Day’s year has been average to poor, but trilogies tend to end with a big payoff. Mordor fell in "Return Of The King", Darth Vader got his face out in "Return Of The Jedi" and "The Matrix: Revolutions"... well, it had a lot of fighting. Proving they aren’t blind to convention, Green Day have stuffed final album "¡Tré!" with charged rhetoric and bleeding heart drama akin to their most popular album, "American Idiot". In fact, so determined are they to demonstrate that this is the grand finale, they’ve opened and closed the thing with slow, swaying ballads. We’ll get to "The Forgotten" later but as a curtain-raiser "Brutal Love" sets a certain precedent for seriousness.
The last two albums seemed to reject the pomp and ceremony of the ‘rock opera’ but it turns out they were just saving it all for "¡Tré!", which is slower, more considered and rather sentimental. The ease with which they knock those kinds of tunes out is commendable but yet again the best moments come when they pick up the pace and start bashing out the power chords with a bit of balls. The standout track (and only real exception to the album’s serious mood) is "Dirty Rotten B-stards", a twisted eight minute beast with an attention deficit, jumping from place to place with none of "American Idiot"’s professionalism but all of its vigour.
There’s a natural climax here but, alas, we have two more songs. Quasi-political ditty "99 Revolutions" is entirely forgettable, which leaves us with "The Forgotten". Don’t be alarmed but this is a real "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" type effort – slow, plodding drums, orchestral backing and a nice big guitar solo to top it off. If you’ve gone along with everything so far then this will close proceedings nicely but, even if not, Green Day can get away with this sort of stuff. They’ve done stranger things. // 6
Lyrics and Singing: It seems strange to admit that at one time this was a band that were celebrated for having their finger on the pulse of an apathetic youth and, depending on who you asked, American politics as a whole. Not quite the case anymore. They’re still capable of tying together punk debauchery and pop sentiment nicely at times ("Meet me at the bathroom stall/meet me at the whispering wall") but generally speaking you’re better off ignoring the lyrics as they have a tendency to hit just wide of the mark. As an example I think "Drama Queen" sums it up quite well - it’s a twee, heartfelt bopper which intends well but the refrain of "she’s old enough to bleed now" may have needed redrafting. // 5
Impression: Billie Joe and co. are probably entitled to do whatever they like at this stage, and they could certainly do worse than to bash out a few reflections on a long career and long life. What’s unfortunate is that without the concept, you lose the narrative and for all its hooks this album doesn’t quite click as a long play. The band themselves even said that "¡Tré!" was "cleaning up the mess" from the party started by the "¡Uno!" and "¡Dos!". How much fun does that sound?
Let’s be fair, though, and take a look at this trilogy as a whole. There have been twists and turns, highs and lows, rapping and ballads. The collection holds some of Green Day’s best songs from the last decade and certainly some of their worst. Such a mixed bag can’t be regarded as particularly strong – and "¡Tré!" is probably the weakest of the bunch - but taken as a whole this project has turned out a damn sight better than "21st Century Breakdown", and wouldn’t you have taken that at the beginning? // 5
Genre: Pop Punk, Punk Rock, Alternative Rock
Label: Reprise
Number Of Tracks: 12
Coming to the end of their trilogy, Green Day sign off with an emotional conclusion.
Sound: On the balance of things Green Day’s year has been average to poor, but trilogies tend to end with a big payoff. Mordor fell in "Return Of The King", Darth Vader got his face out in "Return Of The Jedi" and "The Matrix: Revolutions"... well, it had a lot of fighting. Proving they aren’t blind to convention, Green Day have stuffed final album "¡Tré!" with charged rhetoric and bleeding heart drama akin to their most popular album, "American Idiot". In fact, so determined are they to demonstrate that this is the grand finale, they’ve opened and closed the thing with slow, swaying ballads. We’ll get to "The Forgotten" later but as a curtain-raiser "Brutal Love" sets a certain precedent for seriousness.
The last two albums seemed to reject the pomp and ceremony of the ‘rock opera’ but it turns out they were just saving it all for "¡Tré!", which is slower, more considered and rather sentimental. The ease with which they knock those kinds of tunes out is commendable but yet again the best moments come when they pick up the pace and start bashing out the power chords with a bit of balls. The standout track (and only real exception to the album’s serious mood) is "Dirty Rotten B-stards", a twisted eight minute beast with an attention deficit, jumping from place to place with none of "American Idiot"’s professionalism but all of its vigour.
There’s a natural climax here but, alas, we have two more songs. Quasi-political ditty "99 Revolutions" is entirely forgettable, which leaves us with "The Forgotten". Don’t be alarmed but this is a real "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" type effort – slow, plodding drums, orchestral backing and a nice big guitar solo to top it off. If you’ve gone along with everything so far then this will close proceedings nicely but, even if not, Green Day can get away with this sort of stuff. They’ve done stranger things. // 6
Lyrics and Singing: It seems strange to admit that at one time this was a band that were celebrated for having their finger on the pulse of an apathetic youth and, depending on who you asked, American politics as a whole. Not quite the case anymore. They’re still capable of tying together punk debauchery and pop sentiment nicely at times ("Meet me at the bathroom stall/meet me at the whispering wall") but generally speaking you’re better off ignoring the lyrics as they have a tendency to hit just wide of the mark. As an example I think "Drama Queen" sums it up quite well - it’s a twee, heartfelt bopper which intends well but the refrain of "she’s old enough to bleed now" may have needed redrafting. // 5
Impression: Billie Joe and co. are probably entitled to do whatever they like at this stage, and they could certainly do worse than to bash out a few reflections on a long career and long life. What’s unfortunate is that without the concept, you lose the narrative and for all its hooks this album doesn’t quite click as a long play. The band themselves even said that "¡Tré!" was "cleaning up the mess" from the party started by the "¡Uno!" and "¡Dos!". How much fun does that sound?
Let’s be fair, though, and take a look at this trilogy as a whole. There have been twists and turns, highs and lows, rapping and ballads. The collection holds some of Green Day’s best songs from the last decade and certainly some of their worst. Such a mixed bag can’t be regarded as particularly strong – and "¡Tré!" is probably the weakest of the bunch - but taken as a whole this project has turned out a damn sight better than "21st Century Breakdown", and wouldn’t you have taken that at the beginning? // 5
Sound: This album right off the bat has a completely different mood then "Uno!" and "Dos!". When they said that "Tre!" would be "cleaning up the mess" from the two previous installments, and in a sense it does. The songs vary in sound from the slow, soulful "Brutal Love" to the regular Green Day sound on songs like "X-Kid" and "99 Revolutions". But there are also many songs that are more lackluster but it doesn't really make the album unbearable. As a huge Green Day fan, I think this album is one of the best out of the trilogy. // 9
Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics in this album seem to be more mature on some songs, but some are just fun and don't make sense. Some songs deal with missing someone, and getting old then some seem to be just senseless lyrics like an example from a track called "Dirty Rotten B-stards" ("Calling all demons/ this is the season/Next stop is therapy/We're the retarded and the broken hearted/The season of misery"). This song is in the vein of the epics from "American Idiot", "Jesus Of Suburbia" and "Homecoming" but what the song lacks is the seriousness that those song had and this one is also shorter then both songs. Although the lyrics aren't always the greatest, they fit the songs perfectly and that gives the album an even better appeal. Billie Joe Armstrong also does and great job on this album, the way he sings on some of these is something that you have never heard on a Green Day album, one song that really stands out is "Little Boy Named Train". // 7
Impression: This album as well as the other two are all fun and a nice return to Green Day's simpler style of songs. I personally think that this album is the one that stands out the most to me musically. This isn't not my favorite album by them that title is held by 1995's "Insomniac". Clearly the two albums are different in mostly every way so you can't really compare those two. The album most in common with this is "Nimrod" because they both have many different sounding songs on them. The most impressive songs on the album are "Brutal Love", "X-Kid", "Little Boy Named Train", "Walk Away", and "Dirty Rotten Bastards". What I love about this album is the fact it isn't so serious, it is light-hearted... Mostly. The songs are jump back and forth from sound to sound and it is a real trip, plus the harmonies on this album are pretty amazing and they really put alot of effort into getting them right it seems. If I lost this album or someone stole it, I would go right out and buy another copy when I had the chance. If you are a major Green Day fan, you will really love this album no doubt about it, but if you aren't a major Green Day fan, you might find songs that you like, and songs that you just flat out hate. // 8
Post a Comment