Blasphemy & Genocide: Unpopular Green Day Opinions, Part 2

[Jessie Armstrong]

Brutal love is a great song but it would be better if it was shorter. After the 3rd minute I usually change it.

See You Tonight wins all <3

also, Walk Away is totally underrated. I don't think there's a better song to sing along to.

How can you start a song and not finish it? That's crazy!

[Maid Meringue]

^ Usually I can't either, which makes my previous post all that more serious

[UNICORN VOMIT]

Would it be better if I said commercially and critically successful next record instead of comeback??

I am in the minority and have always liked the trilogy. All I can say is that before iheart in Australia I heard everyday a uno song on the radio. At that stage it was rumoured that GD would tour in March of 2013. Iheart happened & the rest is history. So I guess what I am saying my unpopular opinion is that if Iheart did not happen & with proper promotion everything would have turned out fine. In the end I saw a festival instead of an arena tour - they pulled it off IMO.

[Guest]

Skipping Brutal Love means you get to Missing You faster. I approve.

[Spoopy Doo]

I consider Missing You to be one of the "average" songs on the Trilogy. Nothing particularly special about it tbh.

[Dolphin]

I consider Missing You to be one of the "average" songs on the Trilogy. Nothing particularly special about it tbh.

I agree it was a 7/10 song.

[Guest]

It is a 7/10, but considering the vast majority of the Trilogy averages about 3/10, it really stands out.

[AlissaGoesRAWR]

To go back to my old "Green Day are going to break up" rant, which I curtailed for a while after Jimrod made it embarrassing—unfortunately, the Trilogy carries all the hallmarks of a band on the edge of collapse. It's exactly the same thing as Let It Be or Who Are You—a smattering of great stuff mixed in with an embarrassing amount of filler and retread that sounds like even the band realizes they aren't trying anymore. Band members increasingly pursuing solo interests and acting bored, personal struggles eating up certain members' lives, concerts going downhill in terms of enthusiasm and by-the-numbers setlists. Signature elements of their sound ditched and replaced by nothing good. And, of course, awful production. And to be honest, if Green Day are going to continue in this direction, I'd rather not see them release anything else. I don't see how they can progress as a band, really—Billie seems to have exhausted the material he's capable of writing about, and if the guys refuse to move beyond their four-chord structure any new material is going to be indistinguishable from the old.

Normally I agree with you, but this seems a bit extreme to me. Although I understand your arguments, as some have said, similar arguments were likely made after Warning's failure and things turned out OK. I'm not by any means saying a mainstream "comeback" involving a masterpiece that's the level of American Idiot's perfection is imminent at this point in their careers — and, frankly, at a time when rock music really isn't popular — but I don't think they're done churning out new material. Whether that material will be good or bad is yet to be determined.

I also disagree with your opinions of the concert enthusiasm and by-the-numbers setlists. Compared to many bands, they played a lengthy setlist, covered most, if not all, of their albums and even continued to mix in new tracks for the diehard fans, even when it became apparent the entire project was a flop. It's not as if nobody showed up to the fairly large venues they booked on their tour, too. I'd say they still have a bit of spark left, I just hope they're able to capitalize on it again.

[Guest]

I do have my doubts about Green Day returning to the studio and cranking out another album. Tre just got married, I imagine he wants to have some time to get established with his wife. Billie's busy being a dad and doing his acting thing and just generally seems to be enjoying life, and Mike is dealing with what's been a really prolonged, horrible-looking struggle with cancer with his wife. That alone makes me think it's probably not going to happen for a long time, if ever. Cancer is a really traumatic thing for a family to go through and recover from without the added stress of dad being a rock star. I wouldn't blame them one bit if they never made music or toured again tbh.

[AlissaGoesRAWR]

Well, I'm by no means saying it's going to happen next week or anything. But to play devil's advocate, one could also argue that all these life-changing events could lead to inspiration, or need for a creative outlet, at the very least, and I'd assume music is the most effective outlet for all of them since it's, y'know, their careers.

I wouldn't count them out just yet. I'm truthfully speaking objectively, not as a fangirl, when I say I don't think they're ready to drop off the map just yet.

[UNICORN VOMIT]

I think realistically 5 years before I see them touring here with new material.

[Guest]

That comment about Missing You got me thinking about how I'd rate the Trilogy. So yeah.

Uno

1. Nuclear Family - 7/10 (solid song, but doesn't compare to the stronger parts of GD's back catalogue)
2. Stay The Night - 8/10 (one of the better Trilogy songs. probably helps that it was written during the 21stCB period)

3. Carpe Diem - 4/10 (live/demolicious version gets about a 6 or 7/10, but the production and lyrics are truly appalling)
4. Let Yourself Go - 4/10 (decent energy but terrible lyrics and an ending that goes nowhere ad infinitum really drag it down)
5. Kill The DJ - 6/10 (cool song but the chorus is bad enough to knock it down 2 full points. could have been a classic)
6. Fell For You - 4/10 (just quite forgettable really. not as bad as other songs on the trilogy)
7. Loss Of Control - 2/10 (lazy riff "borrowing", absolutely terrible lyrics, no real chorus to speak of. disaster)
8. Troublemaker - 1/10 (Billie Joe is better than this)
9. Angel Blue - 2/10 (only gets a 2/10 because it's not as awful as Troublemaker)
10. Sweet 16 - 2/10 (sugary sweet to the point of being creepy. sounds like a pop song from the 50s that was rerecorded as filler)
11. Rusty James - 8/10 (borrows heavily from Letterbomb but one of the few Trilogy songs with real bite. Badly needed more power on the guitars.
12. Oh Love - 5/10 (not as bad as many people say it is but not as good as most others say it is either. a good minute too long really)

Dos

1. See You Tonight - 2/10 (doesn't really go anywhere and seems unnecessary. sounds like Billie tried to write a Simon & Garfunkel song and got bored halfway through)
2. Fuck Time - 4/10 (has no place on a GD album, but then most of the songs on this album don't. the generic riff is at least catchy, even if Hendrix did it first and better with Fire)
3. Stop When The Red Lights Flash - 3/10 (utterly forgettable. Only giving it a 3 on account of the fact I have no idea what any of the lyrics are, good or bad)
4. Lazy Bones - 6/10 (poor production and riff recycling mar the one fairly serious song on this album. Still the best track by some distance)
5. Wild One - 2/10 (again, utterly forgettable. people rave about the solo but unless Hendrix came back from the grave to record it nothing can save this turd)
6. Makeout Party - 1/10 (the riff is shit, the lyrics are shit, the whole thing is shit. they get 1 point for not missing when they played their instruments)
7. Stray Heart - 3/10 (it's Mother Mary. don't give me that bullshit. it's a shitter version of a song they've already done. next.)
8. Ashley - 2/10 (something about Michael Jordan and ashtrays. it's shit. but not as shit as the next song)
9. Baby Eyes 0/10 (there is nothing good about this. it is awful. they don't get points for not missing since it would have sounded better if they had)
10. Lady Cobra - 2/10 (sounds like a FBH b-side. and not a good one. is probably better live but they have about 100 songs i'd rather hear)
11. Nightlife - 3/10 (isn't the worst thing on this album. at least they tried something new, even if it was crap. the bassline alone is worth 2 points)
12. Wow! That’s Loud - 2/10 (Wow! That's Shite. apparently it's exactly the same riff as 27th Avenue Shuffle but i'm fucked if i'm listening long enough to find out)
13. Amy - 2/10 (why does this song exist? Winehouse was dead 3 years by the time this song came out. even less relevant than 99 Revs. plus the bridge is fucking dire)

Tré

1. Brutal Love - 7/10 (first signs of any real ambition on these albums. does drag after a while though)

2. Missing You - 9/10 (changed my mind about this. comfortably the best song on these albums and a stone cold GD classic. hope they keep playing it live)
3. 8th Avenue Serenade - 7/10 (catchy little number. very often overlooked in favour of vastly inferior songs)
4. Drama Queen - 3/10 (dodgy lyrics, a slow, plodding beat, very different from the solo acoustic renditions on the 21stCB tour, and not in a good way)
5. X-Kid - 7/10 (very solid song, doesn't quite help that it has relatively little replay value. complete shite live too)
6. Sex, Drugs & Violence - 3/10 (embarrassing. get's an extra point for every line Mike Dirnt sings)

7. Little Boy Named Train - 2/10 (utterly forgettable. cliche lyric piled upon cliche lyric)

8. Amanda - 2/10 (i honestly can't remember anything about this song so it automatically gets a 2 for that. could be worse or it could be better. don't really care)
9. Walk Away - 2/10 (is there another line in this song other than "walk away"?)
10. Dirty Rotten Bastards - 5/10 (the most overrated GD song of all time. it's not complete shit, because of the bass solo, but that's about it. a real mess)
11. 99 Revolutions - 5/10 (had they released this a year earlier it'd easily be a 7/10. missing the zeitgeist cost them heavily. also the demolicious version is a 7/10)
12. The Forgotten - 2/10 (utter cheesefest that i can only assume was designed to satisfy the BOBD and 21 Guns market. In 3 words: boring, cliches, shite)

Do your worst.

[Anaïs.]

2. Stay The Night - 8/10 (one of the better Trilogy songs. probably helps that it was written during the 21stCB period)

5. Kill The DJ - 6/10 (cool song but the chorus is bad enough to knock it down 2 full points. could have been a classic)

9. Angel Blue - 2/10 (only gets a 2/10 because it's not as awful as Troublemaker)

12. Oh Love - 5/10 (not as bad as many people say it is but not as good as most others say it is either. a good minute too long really)

8. Amanda - 2/10 (i honestly can't remember anything about this song so it automatically gets a 2 for that. could be worse or it could be better. don't really care)

Do your worst.

I agree with most of these, but the above are a few exceptions.

I'd personally give "Stay the Night" a mere 6 out of 10. I don't know what it is everyone else loves about it, but to me it's just utterly forgettable. If it were on an album that actually has a lot of good songs, a la Nimrod or Warning, it'd be ranked much lower than it currently is, I think.

"Kill the DJ" I agree with you on, I just wanted to take the opportunity to mention that it also desperately needs distortion; the Dookiefied Guitars version sounds cool enough to almost completely make up for the dire chorus for me.

"Angel Blue" is nothing special, but I feel enough affection toward it that I wouldn't quite give it that low a rating; really, that's entirely unobjective on my part, though, as the lyrics are complete crap.

"Oh Love" gets a 7 out of 10 from me personally, but I very much agree with you in that it needs to be cut down by ninety seconds or so. Tbh the intro is the best part. (Also, "heart on a noose"? As soon as I first heard that lyric I knew something was wrong, despite my liking the song overall).

Lastly, "Amanda" is probably in my top five Trilogy songs. The vocal filter really stands out as something that needs to go, but the melody is catchy and it's one of the only love/relationship songs on the Trilogy that seems genuine to me.

[Guest]

I agree with most of these, but the above are a few exceptions.

I'd personally give "Stay the Night" a mere 6 out of 10. I don't know what it is everyone else loves about it, but to me it's just utterly forgettable. If it were on an album that actually has a lot of good songs, a la Nimrod or Warning, it'd be ranked much lower than it currently is, I think.

"Kill the DJ" I agree with you on, I just wanted to take the opportunity to mention that it also desperately needs distortion; the Dookiefied Guitars version sounds cool enough to almost completely make up for the dire chorus for me.

"Angel Blue" is nothing special, but I feel enough affection toward it that I wouldn't quite give it that low a rating; really, that's entirely unobjective on my part, though, as the lyrics are complete crap.

"Oh Love" gets a 7 out of 10 from me personally, but I very much agree with you in that it needs to be cut down by ninety seconds or so. Tbh the intro is the best part. (Also, "heart on a noose"? As soon as I first heard that lyric I knew something was wrong, despite my liking the song overall).

Lastly, "Amanda" is probably in my top five Trilogy songs. The vocal filter really stands out as something that needs to go, but the melody is catchy and it's one of the only love/relationship songs on the Trilogy that seems genuine to me.

The STN thing is probably a bit of bias from me having really liked it ever since that soundcheck version surfaced. 3 minute love songs are something that GD are very good at and STN shows that well.

I stand by the rest

[Hermione]

Between the three of them Green Day have got married seven times during their career (not to mention divorced four times), had children, done other projects, and I'm sure gone through personal/family problems many times. Obviously what Brittney and Mike are going through right now is particularly difficult but I don't see much reason to think the band won't come back after they've come though that, and all had a decent length break to live their lives and actually have something to write about as they usually do. Making music and performing is what they've lived to do through good times and bad so far, I haven't seen any indication that that's changed.

Brutal love is a great song but it would be better if it was shorter. After the 3rd minute I usually change it.

See You Tonight wins all <3

also, Walk Away is totally underrated. I don't think there's a better song to sing along to.

The end of Brutal Love is the best part though! When he sings "how low is this brutal love" = best moment on the trilogy

8. Troublemaker - 1/10 (Billie Joe is better than this)

It deserves more than that for the awesome "I wouldn't say I'm straight cause I'm bent out of shape" line alone

[Anaïs.]

It deserves more than that for the awesome "I wouldn't say I'm straight cause I'm bent out of shape" line alone

I fail to see how that's awesome. It reads like a bad pun on the inside of a greeting card. Billie has done light-years better.

[WhiteTim]

Between the three of them Green Day have got married seven times during their career (not to mention divorced four times), had children, done other projects, and I'm sure gone through personal/family problems many times. Obviously what Brittney and Mike are going through right now is particularly difficult but I don't see much reason to think the band won't come back after they've come though that, and all had a decent length break to live their lives and actually have something to write about as they usually do. Making music and performing is what they've lived to do through good times and bad so far, I haven't seen any indication that that's changed.

The end of Brutal Love is the best part though! When he sings "how low is this brutal love" = best moment on the trilogy

It deserves more than that for the awesome "I wouldn't say I'm straight cause I'm bent out of shape" line alone

Look at Hermione being all sensible and reasonable and shit lol

[Hermione]

I fail to see how that's awesome. It reads like a bad pun on the inside of a greeting card. Billie has done light-years better.

I think it's a bold statement phrased in a playful and amusing manner, but we can agree to disagree

Look at Hermione being all sensible and reasonable and shit lol

Haha, thanks

[JOE THE X-KID]

I don't agree with the idea that Green Day have run out of ideas. I think the problem was they tried to limit themselves to recreating an old school, back to basics sound, and it ultimately fell flat. I reckon Green Day can really achieve something amazing when they step out of their comfort zones.

[Sauli]

I fail to see how that's awesome. It reads like a bad pun on the inside of a greeting card. Billie has done light-years better.

My first impression was that it is a hideous pun by some homophophic self-righteously humorous unfunnity, meaning either that a) You must have been treated wrong ("bent") if you've ended up as a non-straight or you cannot be of good physical shape if you're not straight. (Maybe related to spine, which can be used as an allegory of one's morality). Did not know Billie is a member of the Tea Party.

Any one-liner that begets ponderings like these must be an unsuccessful one

[Hermione]

My first impression was that it is a hideous pun by some homophophic self-righteously humorous unfunnity, meaning either that a) You must have been treated wrong ("bent") if you've ended up as a non-straight or you cannot be of good physical shape if you're not straight. (Maybe related to spine, which can be used as an allegory of one's morality). Did not know Billie is a member of the Tea Party.

Any one-liner that begets ponderings like these must be an unsuccessful one

It's not that confusing really, to be "bent out of shape" means to be annoyed by something, and Billie himself is not "straight". It's a playful but empowering statement of that imo, I like the way it's slipped into the song.

[Chin for a Day]

Any one-liner that begets ponderings like these must be an unsuccessful one

Or a successful one depending on your point of view, he got everyone talking about it.

[Sauli]

It's not that confusing really, to be "bent out of shape" means to be annoyed by something, and Billie himself is not "straight". It's a playful but empowering statement of that imo, I like the way it's slipped into the song.

If you take it that way, but in order to be a good line it should be less equivocal, in my opinion. Obviously I hate the song so my opinion may be disqualified because of that. How does it fit the general theme of the song though? Obviously it can be argued that as far as metaphors go, it's still lightyears better than the following ones.

"I wanna crack your cranium drenium on the lower east side of your mind."

We hear your wish.

"I like your BMW"

Noel Gallagher got something right. Billie certainly is referencing to "Can I ride with you on your BMW?"

" You got a pair of BM-excelent tits"

The worst metaphor ever. What does it even mean

"Sunburnt in a pink bathing suit"

Nice to know

"Till death do we party"

Till death do us part? An unsuccessful attempt to rewrite the Christian conventions. Would be an improvement, though.

Those aforementioned bits of random words plus the unimaginative composition together do prove why 0/10 is kind of justifiable. A matter of opinion, though

[Maid Meringue]

I actually love Troublemaker I think it's ridiculous lyrics give the song its character. Imagine Troublemaker with well-thought lyrics? yuck.


But this conversation is meaningless because we all know that The Network is far superior to any of this Green Day stuff, as there is no better way to get ready for work.

[The Disappearing Boy]

Skipping Brutal Love means you get to Missing You faster. I approve.

But also means missing Brutal Love. I disapprove.

Also, I agree with most of your ratings. I'd definitely stick Kill the DJ and Lazy Bones on 7/10. And Baby Eyes 1/10, the Demolicious version is damn good, so there is some quality there, but the album version is awful.