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Agree 100%, RevRad has some of the most honest and in my opinion also some of the best Green Day lyrics ever. The ones you mentioned are definitely some of my favourites, also: "Hallelujah I found my sould under the sofa pillows" - that's just genious because it makes you laugh first, but when you think about it you find a deeper meaning. That's what I always love about Billie's songwriting and that's what makes him one of the greates songwriters of our time. Yeah, RevRad was a big part of Green Day's and especially Billie's rehabilitation after very troubled times, and that's why it was such an important record for both them and us fans (at least I can say that for myself). And I kind of get that they want to move past this. But what I don't get is that Billie is now talking all of this down by saying that he blames himself for trying to write the "feel good song of the year" (he was specifically talking about Still Breathing) and stuff like that. It makes me sad that he feels like he needs to apologize, and I really wish he could just say in retrospective: "Today I probably wouldn't write it that way anymore, but the song is what it is because that's what I felt back then and it felt right back then." RevRad era was such a happy, personal, positive and also vulnerable time like you said, and right now it feels like he is embarrassed of it. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I can't relate to the new era at all, it just feels like he wants to play the cool, tough guy so much that it feels forced and unnatural. I get that they want to move on, but moving on also means accepting your past and growing through it. Right now it doesn't feel like that, it feel like they're running away.

I can honestly say as a Scot who is against independence and a Brit who is against Brexit - believe me, I really don’t want to get into any of that here - I can totally agree with the feeling of wanting to turn my back on it all and just say bring on the unicorns and fuck of and dance. 😂

@Thatsername I tried to quote you too but the new ios update has been a bitch on my phone. But speaking to Billie’s “new” party attitude, although I like the music and I would be cool with it all if it was just presented as “let’s all escape our troubles and dance” (because I totally feel like escaping these days too) I think I have the most trouble to the throwbacks to the Rev and booze and fuck it all and feel like a badass specifically knowing that this is a person post rehab. For that reason alone it doesn’t work anymore. It’s easier to get on board with a badass character and party with them if they appear consequence free, but it’s less fun when you know the fallout was dire and they were very public about being grateful to have survived it intact. It kills the mood and should make a person feel more cautious. At least it should unless you’re in complete denial or it’s all an act in which case for the first time he wouldn’t be behaving with sincerity and I don’t know which is worse.

Its like Green Day are throwing a massive party that I don't feel like going to. But I'll go along anyway because we're old friends and I may end up enjoying myself.. or I may just check it out and go home early.. At least they seem to be having fun..

Burn the stache.

@solongfromthestars Yes, yes, yes, yes! Every time I see the complaint about RevRad being "safe" I honestly don't get it. Sure, it may be Green Day doing what they do best and they don't do anything super out of left field, but I've never considered it a safe record. Totally agree with everything you're saying here.

I don't think RevRad was all that "safe." Musically it wasn't especially adventurous, but there are some notable moments. Somewhere Now got shit when it came out for being so "chill." The way it comes full circle with Forever Now is pretty unique. The only similarity I can think of is 21st Century Breakdown and See the Light, but I'd call those "bookends" rather than coming full circle. If I compared Say Goodbye to another Green Day song, just sonically it'd be East Jesus Nowhere, but that was a new sound for them at the time. Outlaws has a different, more haunting sound to other Green Day ballads like 21 Guns. It's unique in the way it follows up songs like Christie Road from a middle-aged man's point of view. Still Breathing is basically pop (and I love it). Most songs on RevRad don't really sound like another Green Day song. The thing that really sets it apart from all other Green Day songs, though, is how openly personal it is. Don't get me wrong, Green Day songs have always been personal. Billie making his struggles so catchy is part of what defines Green Day and makes them popular. That personal element is usually hidden by metaphors and those catchy tunes, though, like a bandaged wound we can't quite see. RevRad is like an open wound. The world knew what Billie was going through and what he'd be singing about. Lines like "my name is Billie and I'm freaking out" sound shallow on the surface because they're so simple, but they're simple because real life isn't lived in metaphors. No one stands up at an AA meeting and says "troubled times, I know I cannot lie, I'm off the wagon and I'm hitchin' a ride." Billie called Still Breathing one of the most personal songs he's ever written and I can see why. "My head's above the rain and roses," "making my way to you," "are you scared to death to live?" and "I've been running all my life" are such vulnerable lines. Even "how did a life on the wild side ever get so dull/full?" and "I ain't gonna stand in line no more," with the way it's screamed are. I find Ordinary World as intimate as the rest of the album, too. Money and fame don't mean someone has everything. Billie spent most of RevRad singing about his issues, so obviously he still has them. The world has issues, too. But he's telling the subject that regardless, what they have together is more than enough and he accepts a life that isn't perfect. Whatever I think of this current era, I can see why he doesn't want to write from that point of view anymore.

The band formerly known as Green Day

I found this the other day and it's a Green Day antique! 21st Century Breakdown at #1 in the UK charts on the teletext.

Cuties!!! Yesterday at Howard Stern And last one is just for @Montclare because, Mike's pant length. Edit: I should preface this with, these are from Getty Images, do not remove the watermark or crop them.

I'd say Rev Rad is their most emotional album because of how straightforward it is. Maybe it's the second after Insomniac, but that's very different.

Just listening to the Longshot album and if you eliminate the final track which is a cover anyway there are ten tracks that clock in at around 28 minutes. So I expect FOAMF with a similar number of tracks and total run time if the songs are fun it should feel like a complete album at least.

Thinking about what's happened since the FOAM announcement reminded me of this response from Tre:

When you see this photo from your holiday on your phone and think about GD and the Hella Mega Tour

It was a great poster they should buy it off that artist and sell them.

I don't think Father of All or Fire, Ready, Aim are really that different for Green Day, to be honest. The higher pitched vocals are new but otherwise they're standard pop punk songs, nothing that out of the ordinary. Kill the DJ was different.

I don't think the songs are actually bad. They're catchy for sure. I guess my expectation was just different from GD at this point in their career. They keep going back to this "stipped down, simple rock" music as if they haven't done that for 80% of their career. They keep pretending they are going into new territory but they've DONE THIS BEFORE (Foxboro, Trilogy). I guess I just expected more complete songs that you can tell a lot of work was put into. Songs with more detail and subtlety. People hate on Weezer but at least you can tell that they really take time fleshing out songs. Green Day seems like they want to just write "easy A" songs and present it as some sort of commentary or stylistic choice. I like the new songs, but they've been writing short punk songs since 1988 (with better lyrics and more fully fleshed out). Why do they keep acting like this stuff is new for them?

It's quite a lot like Foxies imo, not only because of the 60's influence but also because of the rev-like descriptions and the aesthetic (I guess). Both Foxies and Longshot are better, but this is a decent continuation of the side projects and Dos. But yes, I must admit that I can't fully shake off feeling somewhat like "are they...okay?", despite the fact that I kind of enjoy the songs and believe that art should be judged independently but...I still can't fully get into the mood, most probably because this era gives me trilogy flashbacks.

Billie looks awesome in those last posted pictures and I'm glad Mike wasn't wearing the gold suit again. The green shirt fits him better. The pants, on the other hand,... that's too short again! Why is the stylist doing a so horrible job with Mike? Having pants too short is a trend from the 1990s' fashion! Even if we can see Tré's socks, atleast his pants are longer than Mike's ones!

I was thinking something somewhat similar. I didn't get it at first when people were making comparisons to the Foxies, largely because I see the Foxies as superior to the two songs we've gotten so far (although I do like them), and then I saw someone on reddit say it's like running the Foxies through a bubble gum filter which made sense, and another person call it the FBHT part three, which made me think, how often does someone say part 3 of a movie series is the best one? Regarding the weird song descriptions, I was thinking if Billie was saying them as the Rev, a character (somewhat), I'd enjoy them. But as Billie, yeah, I'm a bit hesitant. Part of me throws up my shoulders and says, what can you do, might as well enjoy the ride, but there still is that nervousness in the back of my head.

Jees, that was a chart - Green Day, Lady Gaga, The Prodigy, Beyoncé, Bob Dylan and Jim Reeves all on one chart!! Changed days.

Although these two new songs do nothing for me lyrically, I still really enjoy them. Great fun. To me it's Green Day at their most disposable. Fun and exhilarating while you listen, but not something you really think about after. I think if you lower / adjust your expectations, this album should be a lot of fun.

Yep! That poster was cool too. He did say that it was that style and time of music that he used as an influence

Yes sadly...but quickly with Insomniac 😂😂😂

Unicorns have been stalking me for weeks. I see them on TV, in the store, and in random books. My friend is a teacher and showed me a comic his student made...about unicorns. My niece has a backpack...with unicorns. While browsing watch faces for my smart watch I see this: While looking for Halloween decor I saw this: I'm on to you Green Day...

When you're reading something for work and read the word "uniforms" as "unicorns".

Billie has a beautiful head and it’s full of wonderful stuff, he said during the Howard astern interview he has a huge head but he doesn’t, it’s great! He’s looking so good just now 😍😍😍

They could since Billie been bringing up Prince he should go full Prince as Prince said he wasn’t going to put any effort in albums until Warner let him off he would tell interviewers “I’m not putting my best work in for them while I’m a slave to them”

I'm listening to Shenanigans right now, and it flows like a regular album rather than a compilation. Way better than the usual b-sides album, and maybe one of my favorite GD releases now that I'm thinking about it.

I want a time machine right now 😑

I guess what makes this feel underwhelming is that they're basically gping back to what they've been doing 10 years ago so it isn't really moving on, it's regressing I like the idea of doing lighthearted stuff though...it worked for foxboro but they seem to be trying too hard when they try this with gd.

I feel like all the singles will be released up front and then album drops and focus is on Hella Mega I feel like once a month we'll have a date to look forward to whether it's an appearance on a show or a song that's dropping Maybe as we get closer some small intimate secret shows where we get to hear some of the new songs played live

I really want Mike to get rid of that gold suit that's way too short for him.

Agreed. Lyrically, I'd say it's Billie at his most emotionally vulnerable, totally exposed. I wouldn't call that "safe".

Someone needs to setup a chart or spreadsheet or something to see if there’s a correlation between those who say Revrad was safe and those who don’t like FoAM so far, assuming a lot of their problem with it is that it’s so different 😂😂

I'm gonna watch Napoleon Dynamite and Monty Python from all your stories

The nose hair in that first one though.

I was doing my math homework, and one of the problems was 5.647 - (-9.24). What GD importance does this carry? 5.647 - (-9.24). 924 Gilman Street folks! Also on Friday, I had health in portable 924. (I had a mental breakdown)

8.) Bratwurst

Billie with Lenny the dog (from @GDLoT on Twitter via Joey's instastory):

https://thehardtimes.net/music/man-scoffs-at-idea-kerrang-might-know-50-things-about-billie-joe-armstrong-that-he-doesnt/ “He then listed at least 150 additional facts about Billie Joe that were strangely intimate… frankly, we were shocked at the depth of his knowledge. He knew things like Billie Joe’s blood type, wedding vows, and the location of the ‘Cigarettes and Valentines’ master tapes. We’re debating whether to contact the authorities.” "At press time, Sullivan was seen sneaking onto the Armstrong estate 'just to say hi, have a quick beer, and play him some new demos.'" This is disturbingly accurate

Yeah, I get that for some it's like that. But for a lot of the attendees, it's the first time they're seeing it. Neither one (KFAD/HAR) ever gets old for me.

No! That's my favorite part after KFAD.

I would very much miss KFAD. If they have to cut it down, cut out JOS, KYE, Letterbomb, Knowledge, and She.

Exactly! It's punk as fuck.

Has this photo ever existed in colour?

There is a cometbus font http://www.dafont.com/cometbus.font