Revolution Radio

[Cath]

THEY ARE COMING TO MONTREAL AND QUEBEC THIS ISNT THE TOUR THREADS I DONT CARE IM FUCKING EXCITED OMG OMG OMG

[Dakke]

I find it really astonishing how they succeeded in achieving the goals of the trilogy with just Bouncing off the Wall. It shows how more focused writing and producing influence their music.

[SuperXCsabre495]

Looks like I'll be trying to go to Worcester, I don't want to drive to Brooklyn haha. I'M SO EXCITED!

[stories and songs]

2 hours ago, Dakke said:

I find it really astonishing how they succeeded in achieving the goals of the trilogy with just Bouncing off the Wall. It shows how more focused writing and producing influence their music.

Dos has some amazing standout songs that I wouldn't trade for anything, but the whole vibe they were going for particularly with that album could be summed up with this song—and in a less self-destructive sounding way, too. 

[Christian's Inferno!]

9 hours ago, Sixtrix said:

Just heard a commercial for the new album on the radio! They also said "including the new single Still Breathing" which sounded like they are considering it a hit already

The Green Day facebook page also posted this:

"Hey Germany! Today is the day! Green Day's new album ‘Revolution Radio’ including the single ‘Still Breathing’ is out now!
You can grab your copy here:http://wmg.click/GreenDay_RevolutionRadioYo
https://youtu.be/iQD0vvLcMFM"

So maybe SB is a single

[KGLWW]

6 hours ago, Ellen Caulfield said:

Is it me or this review doesn’t make much sense?  The author seems to be really keen on finding all possible negative reasons to dislike this album. For me at least RevRad is way better than Uno and Dos together (no offense). ’’Revolution Radio feels like the product of three people committed to making the idea of a Green Day record in 2016, but with reduced abilities and without direction.’’  Well, I just disagree. 

Pitchfork really needs to do themselves a favor and stop reviewing green day albums. They gave them pretty good reviews for the most part up until 21 CB where they basically took back everything nice they said about AI and completely trashed them even more so than in this review. Unless they give them a good marks going forward they should just stop embarassing themselves with these biased reviews

[Bobbybarebum]

The sticker on the UK vinyls also lists it as "Featuring Bang Bang, Revolution Radio and Still Breathing". It's about as much a single as you get these days.

[Leni.]

4 minutes ago, Skull Collision 21 said:

Pitchfork really needs to do themselves a favor and stop reviewing green day albums. They gave them pretty good reviews for the most part up until 21 CB where they basically took back everything nice they said about AI and completely trashed them even more so than in this review. 

OK, now I get it and I’m quite happy I’m not weird for not getting the point of that review  

[James11693]

Where is the bow guitar on the record?

[Asik]

6 minutes ago, James11693 said:

Where is the bow guitar on the record?

Its in somewhere now at the beginning. 

[tdlyon]

9 minutes ago, James11693 said:

Where is the bow guitar on the record?

 

That weird sound at the beginning of Outlaws

[amberwhite]

Got tired of waiting for my book/cd to come in the mail and went out and got the regular cd. Ripped it open into the parking lot and listened to it on the way home.  HOLY SHIT !!! So  Good! Listening through my crappy  phone speakers was nothing. I had goosebumps the whole time. 

[SuperXCsabre495]

For the tour they gotta open with Somewhere Now and close the pre-encore with Forever Now. It would work so well live

[PurpleIron1039]

On October 9, 2016 at 8:29 AM, SuperXCsabre495 said:

Can't stop listening to Forever Now, the song just kicks so much ass in just under 7 minutes.

This. I think that it has become one of my favorite GD tracks ever.

[Hermione]

22 hours ago, Sixtrix said:

I guess the "Produced by Green Day" already kind of covers the writing credits. Though I agree that the booklet kind of seems incomplete and missing some small bits of information that you would expect there. Maybe the piano parts were too small to be worth a mention. But so was the trumpet, only difference is that the trumpet was played by an external person so maybe it is safe to assume Billie Joe did the small piano part himself. Also, no mention of the bow guitar in the booklet.

I'm thinking maybe they liked the idea of simply putting Billie - guitar & lead vocals, Mike - bass & vocals, Tre - Drums and percussion and did it that way as a stylistic choice to go with this more stripped back album? Maybe because it was them that did the other instruments (I'm assuming that if it was anyone else they'd be credited like Ron Blake) they weren't required to credit themselves for it and chose not to for that reason. Is unusual not to see lyrics by Billie and music by Green Day, but again maybe they're not technically required to say it and know that everyone knows it by now anyway so took another opportunity to keep things simple.

[Hero_Of_The_Hour]

 

Green Day go nowhere, fast on the uninspired ‘Revolution Radio’

It’s been four years since Green Day’s last run of albums – an overwhelming triple-serve of half-ideas in the form of Uno!, Dos! and Tre! – as well as four years since a very public meltdown from the band which lead to frontman Billie Joe Armstrong finally checking into rehab and the band completely reconsidering their future. It’s now time to see if their 21st century breakdown was worth the ordeal, as we take a look at Revolution Radio – an album that’s being billed as their first concept-free release in over a decade. Will these pop-punk hitmakers be welcomed back to paradise? Or has their recent brain stew simply left them too jaded? DAVID JAMES YOUNG dives in.

1. ‘Somewhere Now’

We begin with solitary acoustic guitar, and Armstrong singing in a surprisingly-understated manner. It simultaneously recalls Neil Young – specifically, his timeless drug-fucked ode ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ – and The Who, a band that served as major influences on the more large-scale numbers on American Idiot. It’s a curveball, perhaps indicating that there might be more to this album than first suspected. Although there had to be some sort of payoff eventually, the full-band arrangement feels cluttered and meandering. Worse are Armstrong’s lyrics, particularly: “I put the riot in patriot.” Initially promising, but not a strong start.

2. ‘Bang Bang’

A clearly plotted-out, devised attempt at throwing back to their early days – and that’s just the problem. No-one would have an issue with Green Day going old-school – in fact, many would approve. The problem, instead, comes from how explicit and unsubtle they are in doing so; resulting in a track that feels artificial and calculated as opposed to rollicking and riotous. Armstrong’s back in atrocious lyrical form, too – “I got my photobomb/I got my Vietnam” is the top clunker. Points to Tré Cool for a solid drumming effort, though; especially on the lightning-quick fills toward the end.

3. ‘Revolution Radio’

Let’s get the lyrics out of the way early: Lines about “the anti-social media” and “legalise the truth” make Billie Joe sound every one of his 44 years. Thankfully, the music he’s surrounded these lines with make him sound at least a decade younger – this is the tidiest, sharpest and catchiest song the band have written in years. Instead of overcomplicating things, this genuinely feels like a return to the three of them playing in a room together. It wouldn’t feel out of place on any record between Nimrod and 21st Century Breakdown. Worth a spin (pardon the pun).

4. ‘Say Goodbye’

An interesting direction taken here, in which the band takes a rock shuffle and add elements of blues and country to its mix. It feels like the sour aftermath of the reckless abandon found in American Idiot single ‘Holiday’ – while that song sped off into the distance and watched the world burn from the rear-view mirror, “Say Goodbye” is what happens when you wind up back in the same place and you realise what has been left behind. In this case, it’s not much at all – which matches the seething, sombre tone of the song. Lord have mercy.

5. ‘Outlaws’

Here’s some of that MOR mediocrity that no-one was crying out for – ‘Outlaws’ is a plodding, lifeless mid-tempo ballad in the spirit of ’21 Guns’, which also doubles as one of the band’s most boring tracks. Any goodwill that may have been built up in the early stages of the record are more or less deflated in one fell swoop. Intended as a reflection on the band’s youth, it sucks the life out of the album as it proceeds like some sort of funeral dirge. “We destroyed suburbia when we were outlaws,” sighs Armstrong. Well, now you live there.

6. ‘Bouncing Off the Wall’

Things get back on track slightly with this passable – if slightly forgettable – nod to both glam-rock and power-pop. Think a healthy dose of Cheap Trick with a hint of T. Rex, in the style of ‘Know Your Enemy’, and you have a basic idea of what they’re going for. It’s not exactly inspired, but it’s a tight two-minutes-forty that takes note of the KISS principle that has worked wonders for the band in the past. At the halfway point of what’s been a fairly inconsistent record, it’s anyone’s guess what they’ll end up doing next.

7. ‘Still Breathing’

We now move on to one of the more unremarkable songs on offer across the tracklist – a safe, radio-friendly pop-rock number that could have been put together by a Ryan Tedder type. It attempts to convey personal conviction on Armstrong’s behalf on account of its simile-laden lyrics, which fairly unsubtly hint at his struggles with addiction. Any hint of sentiment, however, is steamrolled over by the glossy production and uninspired hook. It is mind-blowing in and unto itself that Green Day could have possibly thought that this was the right creative direction to take at such a crucial point.

8. ‘Youngblood’

Another turn of power-pop, a la ‘Revolution Radio’, except this time there is an imbalance that sours the song to the point of no return. While the title track’s lyrics were not great in parts, the catchiness of the song and its energy managed to offset that. Here, the lyrics are as bad as they’ve ever been (“I wanna hold you like a gun,” for one; and “She’s a loner/Not a stoner”); while the chorus only sticks on account of just how annoying it is. “Youngblood” is mercifully short – if you blink hard enough, you might even miss it.

9. ‘Too Dumb to Die’

It’s absolutely anyone’s guess what in fuck BJA is talking about when he sings “Looking for a cause / But all I got was Santa Claus.” There are more choice duds – describing himself as feeling “like a cello” springs to mind – but the blow is softened by the quickened pace and its pop-punk throwback arrangements. Think the better parts of American Idiot matched up with Alkaline Trio circa Good Mourning and you have an idea of what’s on offer here. It’s not exactly exciting or interesting, but there’s enough circulating through it to pass through the filters without much hassle.

10. ‘Troubled Times’

The well feels considerably dry when you consider the vitriol the band were able to get out of Bush circa American Idiot in comparison to what they’ve come up with at a time when Trump is running for president. “We live in troubled times” might be intended to succinctly sum up the political climate, but instead it comes across as a cop-out. That’s the best you guys could come up with? Especially when put to such a nondescript mid-tempo drudge? What should have been a reclamation of their political edge ends up saying, doing and standing for nothing. A shame.

11. ‘Forever Now’

‘Jesus of Suburbia’ – and, to a lesser extent, ‘Homecoming’ – were revolutionary within the fold of Green Day, expanding their horizons further than anyone probably ever thought possible. 12 years on from these two American Idiot cuts, the band have attempted to recapture that lightning in a bottle. The results are mixed – not least of all because it involves a reprise of ‘Somewhere Now’ which was both unnecessary and off-sets the idea of this being a “concept-free” release. Taken in three parts, ‘Forever Now’ feels more like a collection of half-ideas than a cohesive structure like ‘Jesus’ was.

12. ‘Ordinary World’

Nope, this isn’t a bonus track – for whatever reason, the band decided to throw in this folk-lite snoozer in at the end despite having the single most obvious ending to an album ever. This is a Return of the King-level false ending – and the worst part is that it wasn’t even worth tacking onto the end of the record. It’s light, airy and pleasant enough… but Lord, is it boring. Actually, come to think of it, maybe that’s the point. Maybe ending on an uninspired, confusing and dull note sums up Revolution Radio better than anything else could.

_

Revolution Radio is a revolution in the literal sense – right round, like a record. This is, disappointingly, an album that goes nowhere fast. It had all the potential to kick things back into gear for the next phase of Green Day, and yet instead gave us more of the same. American Idiot is even older now as that album itself was to Dookie – and, instead of showing us how far they’ve come, Revolution Radio shows what little the band has achieved in that time.

4/10

 

http://fasterlouder.junkee.com/green-day-go-nowhere-fast-uninspired-revolution-radio/867412

[Sixtrix]

19 minutes ago, Hero_Of_The_Hour said:

 

Green Day go nowhere, fast on the uninspired ‘Revolution Radio’

http://fasterlouder.junkee.com/green-day-go-nowhere-fast-uninspired-revolution-radio/867412

Just out of curiosity. Do you write these reviews?

[JOE THE X-KID]

11 hours ago, James11693 said:

Where is the bow guitar on the record?

I think the section on say goodbye just before the solo is bow guitar

[heart on a noose]

Just bought the copy in local cd shop.  Gonna listen to it now for the very first time, woo 

[Hero_Of_The_Hour]

5 minutes ago, Sixtrix said:

Just out of curiosity. Do you write these reviews?

 

Yes as well as having multiple accounts on here I also am a journalist for multiple websites/magazines all in the name of hurting the feelings of sheltered, obsessive fans who think that nobody could possibly have an opinion that differs from theirs.

[AlissaGoesRAWR]

15 minutes ago, Hero_Of_The_Hour said:

Yes as well as having multiple accounts on here I also am a journalist for multiple websites/magazines all in the name of hurting the feelings of sheltered, obsessive fans who think that nobody could possibly have an opinion that differs from theirs.

What a noble goal. Sounds like very well-intentioned journalism. 

[stories and songs]

That review in no way attempts to make a constructive critique of the album. But that's cool, different strokes for different folks. 

The thing I'm finding the strangest about some of these reviews is that they're saying Green Day isn't being specific enough in their political songs. This is by far the most specific they've ever gotten about politics. Zeroing in on mass shootings for an entire song and also referencing Flint and police brutality is pretty specific. It's not like American Idiot went into great detail about what their political gripes were. There's a strange bar that was set for this album by some folks that I don't find particularly necessary or fair given their past work.

[Hero_Of_The_Hour]

1 hour ago, AlissaGoesRAWR said:

What a noble goal. Sounds like very well-intentioned journalism. 

Sounds like very well-intentioned sarcasm 

[Hero_Of_The_Hour]

1 hour ago, AlissaGoesRAWR said:

 

[Hero_Of_The_Hour]

1 hour ago, AlissaGoesRAWR said: