Revisited FOAM for my year end review. So how did it stack up?
Green Day just can’t win. They make an album that sounds similar to previous releases, people say it’s redundant. They make an album that sounds nothing like their old stuff, people say it’s too different. That’s the case with Father of All Motherfuckers. This album drew so much ire as soon as they released the first single. And according to most fans, it only got worse from there. Because everything from the marketing to the album art to the musical direction was so strange, people convinced themselves it was a joke album or something they made bad on purpose to end their contract with Warner.
Father of All Motherfuckers is weird and it’s not their best album, but damn, is it a lot of fun. Green Day said it was meant to be a party record for the apocalypse and that’s exactly what it is. It’s 26 minutes of unabashed, raw rock and roll. No sentimental ballads. No multipart epics. Just loud, rowdy songs that get your blood pumping and your feet tapping. For once it seems like they put aside the notion of Green Day being this grandiose, epic entity. They’re not trying to top American Idiot or 21st Century Breakdown. Instead, they just go for it and have a good time.
It’s also refreshing because it sees them exploring new territory. Songs like “Meet Me on the Roof,” “Junkies on a High,” and “Stab You in the Heart” incorporate more funk, soul, and R&B than they have in the past. And while it’s not a drastic change, it’s a notable difference from 2016’s Revolution Radio, which is by the book Green Day (still a great record though). Ten months later, I still love this record. It’s nowhere near their best and it may not be the first thing I’ll grab when in a Green Day mood. But all it takes is hearing bangers like “Take the Money and Crawl” or “Sugar Youth” to remind me how fun this record is.