Revolution Radio

[Cunt]

3 hours ago, tdlyon said:

Honestly find it hard to believe any huge Green Day fan would ever vote for Trump

I'm a huge Green Day fan. I'm also a conservative/libertarian Green Day fan and I can tell you that it's crossed my mind, but I will never be able to bring myself to vote for him. I'm sure there will be some fans out there that will though. 

[Nowhere Man]

2 hours ago, madafaka said:

I think the new album should've been called "Somewhere Now" instead of "Revolution Radio" - just makes sense, and would've put a different emphasis on the whole record.

Don't know if "Somewhere Now" is how they should called it but I find the name of the album one of its biggest flaws. First of all, Revolution Radio is one of the weakest songs lyrically on the album, maybe the worst. Secondly, the album is much more personal than "Revolution Radio" name suggests, Forever Now or Still Breathing represent its mood much better than the title song. Revolution Radio is far from being as great as American Idiot, regarding a political statement, but from the personal perspective this album is the most honest thing Billie has ever written.

Also one critic in a positive way said the this is the first time Green Day didn't have all the answers, and that is maybe true, so the whole album is more of a worry sign and the title track doesn't really work that way.

[Hermione]

1 hour ago, Nowhere Man said:

Don't know if "Somewhere Now" is how they should called it but I find the name of the album one of its biggest flaws. First of all, Revolution Radio is one of the weakest songs lyrically on the album, maybe the worst. Secondly, the album is much more personal than "Revolution Radio" name suggests, Forever Now or Still Breathing represent its mood much better than the title song. Revolution Radio is far from being as great as American Idiot, regarding a political statement, but from the personal perspective this album is the most honest thing Billie has ever written.

Also just the fact that "Revolution Radio" sounds like the most generically Green Day phrase you could come up with, it really isn't interesting and doesn't stand out as a title. I would've preferred "Somewhere Now" (which might be a less interesting phrase in general but in Green Day terms would be very different compared to previous album titles) or something else that didn't make it sound like a generic American Idiot/21st Century Breakdown sequel. I agree a more personal sounding title would've been better.

Then again they even named the tour for Uno Dos Tre (albums about crazy mid life crisis partying) after the one political song out of the 36 songs, 99 Revolutions, again making it sound like they hadn't moved on since AI/21st CB. Maybe it's a marketing thing to keep that popular American Idiot aesthetic going? I don't know.

[Beerjeezus]

23 minutes ago, Hermione said:

Also just the fact that "Revolution Radio" sounds like the most generically Green Day phrase you could come up with, it really isn't interesting and doesn't stand out as a title. I would've preferred "Somewhere Now" (which might be a less interesting phrase in general but in Green Day terms would be very different compared to previous album titles) or something else that didn't make it sound like a generic American Idiot/21st Century Breakdown sequel. I agree a more personal sounding title would've been better.

Then again they even named the tour for Uno Dos Tre (albums about crazy mid life crisis partying) after the one political song out of the 36 songs, 99 Revolutions, again making it sound like they hadn't moved on since AI/21st CB. Maybe it's a marketing thing to keep that popular American Idiot aesthetic going? I don't know.

I think it is a marketing thing. When you read articles about the album, it sometimes sounds as if people expected it to be the 'pre-election album'. The political side of things must be what general public sees. They are one of the few mainstream bands that profile themselves as political, that's been their market since AI. 

[Chin for a Day]

5 hours ago, tdlyon said:

Honestly find it hard to believe any huge Green Day fan would ever vote for Trump

I don't think any of us are.

[Dakke]

Regarding the album name: I don't think it reflects the nature of the record in a literal, political manner, but it does reflect Billie's musical intentions of breaking with the rock opera era and starting something new. The 'Revolution' is their evolved musical style and being done with the predicaments of the early 2010s, not some BLM protests in New York. The 'Radio' refers to the '70s radio rock style that's prevalent in some tracks (Too Dumb To Die). The real meaning of 'Revolution Radio' is not expressed by the title track, but rather by Forever Now.

'I wanna start a revolution/I wanna hear it on my radio/And put it off another day' + 'I ain't gonna stand in line no more' is the very crux of this album, the synopsis of the Rock Opera - Trilogy era. 'I ain't gonna stand in line no more' is just as personal as it can be political; it's about Billie creating the record he wants to, instead of constantly trying to surpass the previous album (which 21CB and the Trilogy attempted to do). Revolution Radio is Billie's personal musical revolution, a product of fighting his own demons with some songs (BB, RR, Say Goodbye and Troubled Times) reflecting his thoughts on the quandaries of the world. Revolution Radio is just an ambiguous a title as Warning was, as opposed to 21CB and Uno, Dos, Tré, which just exuded political gravity and YOLO.

[madafaka]

8 hours ago, DookieLukie said:

"Somewhere Now" has no punch and doesn't stand out as an album title.

I respectfully disagree.

Revolution Radio sounds so generic. Somewhere Now rings extremely potent to my ear. It is probably the song title that says the most about the record as a whole, and of where Billie Joe and the band was at when making it. That it phonetically doesn't do anything for you is very subjective, but to my ear it sounds great.

I think it speaks directly to songs like Still Breathing, Outlaws, Bouncing Off The Wall, Too Dumb To Die, Forever Now, Ordinary World and of course Somewhere Now (7 songs).
Where RevRad only speaks to Bang Bang, Troubled Times, Say Goodbye and Revolution Radio itself (4 songs).

I think it is more representative.

[That Dude]

10 hours ago, WhiteTim said:

why? because a group doesn't like someone they should hate that person as well? not that I'm defending Trump 

My dad likes Green Day but thinks they are "flakes" due to their political beliefs.   While he disagrees with their political views, he still went to their show and listens to them quite a bit.  So yeah, not all Rock fans agree with Green Day's stance and I'm sure there are even some that are hardcore Republicans that dig Green Day.  It's a touchy issues because most democrats think republicans are racist rednecks and most republicans think democrats are liberal communists.   And while I lean left, the real world is much more gray than black and white.    Break those stereotypes people.   No matter WHO wins the election, the world's going to keep on turning and Americans are going to keep complaining about how everything sucks.   

Revolution Radio is good.  

[DookieLukie]

2 hours ago, madafaka said:

I respectfully disagree.

Revolution Radio sounds so generic. Somewhere Now rings extremely potent to my ear. It is probably the song title that says the most about the record as a whole, and of where Billie Joe and the band was at when making it. That it phonetically doesn't do anything for you is very subjective, but to my ear it sounds great.

I think it speaks directly to songs like Still Breathing, Outlaws, Bouncing Off The Wall, Too Dumb To Die, Forever Now, Ordinary World and of course Somewhere Now (7 songs).
Where RevRad only speaks to Bang Bang, Troubled Times, Say Goodbye and Revolution Radio itself (4 songs).

I think it is more representative.

Out of context of the lyrics to the song, what does "Somewhere Now" even mean? It's really just two words put together than doesn't say anything about this album.

[henrybr]

What I think about Green Day and politics is that their vision of the world, of what is important and everything, is intimately conected and expressed in their music. There are some bands that may write songs that don't correlate directly to their politic view. I don't think that is the case with Green Day. And so, someone being a huge Green Day fan and voting for Trump is a total contradiction in my opinion. And it's not because Green Day explicitly talks against him in interviews or shows. Even if the never said a single word about it, all their music says everything.

Maybe some may be offended, but I think that anyone who likes, listen carefully and understands what Green Day says in their music, and love them because of that content too, never would think about voting for Trump. Even if the band had never said a thing about it.

[Beerjeezus]

15 minutes ago, Jake69 said:

The correlation between music and your political views makes no sense to me at all. I don't feel you have to agree with the bands political to like them. That just seems ridiculous to me. We are all different and we all have different opinions on everything. I nearly disagree with all of Billie's political views and they are my favorite band.

I agree on principle but there are exceptions for me: for example I will never, ever like any alt-right or racist band. Just no. Even if I liked the music, it would stop me from enjoying it. 

I have no problem with people with different views as long as they express them in a civilised, respectful fashion. 

[Thatsername]

RevRad was released three weeks ago today and it already feels like I've known those songs forever. Don't know how I ever did without them. I listen to the record several times a day and there's no end in sight Sooooooo excited for the shows in January!

[Wretched & Divine]

I think I have my four favourites in order. Maybe.

1. Forever Now
2. Say Goodbye
3. Bouncing Off the Walls
4. Youngblood

Ahhh, noooo, this is too difficult. How nice to have this problem again 

[Thatsername]

I totally forgot that I wanted to say something about the title discussion, too. So here I go.

On 27.10.2016 at 9:13 AM, Nowhere Man said:

Don't know if "Somewhere Now" is how they should called it but I find the name of the album one of its biggest flaws. First of all, Revolution Radio is one of the weakest songs lyrically on the album, maybe the worst. Secondly, the album is much more personal than "Revolution Radio" name suggests, Forever Now or Still Breathing represent its mood much better than the title song. Revolution Radio is far from being as great as American Idiot, regarding a political statement, but from the personal perspective this album is the most honest thing Billie has ever written.

I'm happy with the title and I think it doesn't only refer to the political dimension of the record, but also to the personal. I think "radio" is a metaphor and a central theme on the album, spoken and unspoken. It's not only used in the title track, but also in Bang Bang ("Broadcasting live and it's on my radio"), Bouncing Off the Wall ("My radio, my little exorcist") and Forever Now ("I wanna start a revolution, I wanna hear it on my radio").

Plus, I have the strange feeling that the "Say goodbye to the ones that we love" part in Say Goodbye sounds like an announcement on the radio. Decades ago, when the radio was the most important media, it was also the only way to warn people of an approaching catastrophe. I think that's what gives Say Goodbye (and also Troubled Times btw.) the apocalyptic sentiment.

Furthermore, the radio could be a metaphor for the way Billie deals with his personal problems on this album: He's very open-hearted and more honest than he's ever been lycrically, he's speaking out his feelings. That's like broadcasting something on the radio, the message is out there in the world. And the revolutionary part about this is the fact that he was able to change his life. His personal revolution radio

Maybe I'm totally wrong, but I just love to interpret things.

[HAPPY ZOMBIE UNICORN]

After hearing it live, even if just through a crappy video, Forever Now became my favourite song of the record. So good. 

[Joe K]

3 hours ago, MMwhatsername said:

 

Furthermore, the radio could be a metaphor for the way Billie deals with his personal problems on this album: He's very open-hearted and more honest than he's ever been lycrically, he's speaking out his feelings. That's like broadcasting something on the radio, the message is out there in the world. And the revolutionary part about this is the fact that he was able to change his life. His personal revolution radio

This is an amazing analysis. Made me feel really good. Thank you.

[JOE THE X-KID]

After two weeks of not listening, came back to revrad  and wow it still holds up, one of green days best! 

TOP 5 are: 

1.Somewhere now

2.Forever now

3.Too dumb to die

4.Bouncing off the walls 

5.say goodbye 

But it changes a lot and is super hard to pick. I also think bang bang is one of green days best singles

 

 

[Mykee Mexx]

Since I am not the "brightest candle on the cake" (a German saying ;-) ) I just enjoy the album without interpretation. I play it up and down, back and forth, left to right and back again. The more often I listen to it, the more I like it. Can´t believe I hesitated to buy a ticket for the tour, because the album would be enough. Just came home from a meeting, and they played Still Breathing on the radio. Wow, it´s like a drug kicking in, maybe not so clever listening to it while speeding down small, winding roads in the country side...

I love the album, so far there´s not a single song I skip. Some sequences sometimes remind me of Beatles songs (not the first album). Outlaws is special, it´s so melancholic. Like a good-bye to youth. Still Breathing would be my favourite. To me this whole album is vibration, and now I am so much looking forward to seeing them!

[Haushinka!]

On October 27, 2016 at 1:35 PM, henrybr said:

What I think about Green Day and politics is that their vision of the world, of what is important and everything, is intimately conected and expressed in their music. There are some bands that may write songs that don't correlate directly to their politic view. I don't think that is the case with Green Day. And so, someone being a huge Green Day fan and voting for Trump is a total contradiction in my opinion. And it's not because Green Day explicitly talks against him in interviews or shows. Even if the never said a single word about it, all their music says everything.

Maybe some may be offended, but I think that anyone who likes, listen carefully and understands what Green Day says in their music, and love them because of that content too, never would think about voting for Trump. Even if the band had never said a thing about it.

Interesting. I might be in the minority here, but I don't even consider Green Day to be a political band. Sure, they've written a few politically themed songs, but in general, it's not how I view the band. When they do get political, it's not in an overbearing way. I don't see how having different beliefs than a band you love is "contradictory". So you can't respect and love someone just because they have different ideologies than you? I guarantee that 95% of the bands I love have different beliefs than me, especially when it comes to politics.  Just like my friends and family members who have different political leanings than myself, I still love them no matter what!

I could give two shits what any celebrity, or band member thinks politically. I mean, if they want to express their opinions, that's totally fine, but it doesn't effect mine. What's important to me is thinking for myself, and believing what I want to believe. 

[Beerjeezus]

23 minutes ago, Haushinka! said:

Interesting. I might be in the minority here, but I don't even consider Green Day to be a political band. Sure, they've written a few politically themed songs, but in general, it's not how I view the band. When they do get political, it's not in an overbearing way. I don't see how having different beliefs than a band you love is "contradictory". So you can't respect and love someone just because they have different ideologies than you? I guarantee that 95% of the bands I love have different beliefs than me, especially when it comes to politics.  Just like my friends and family members who have different political leanings than myself, I still love them no matter what!

I could give two shits what any celebrity, or band member thinks politically. I mean, if they want to express their opinions, that's totally fine, but it doesn't effect mine. What's important to me is thinking for myself, and believing what I want to believe. 

Agreed, it's more of a marketing thing in my opinion. It's never been a prevailing theme of their songs. I's bet they have more songs about getting high than about politics. However, they are vocal about their views which makes them differ from other mainstream artists who don't focus on politics as much/don't have as strong opinions. 

I've been thinking about it lately because I read several articles that were considering them fairly political - the writers expected revrad to be "the Trump album" and were like "new elections - new Green Day" and it just surprised me a little. I knew this is what they're known for but I still see a lot more different and just as important themes in their music. 

[RougeRogue]

3 minutes ago, Jane Lannister said:

I've been thinking about it lately because I read several articles that were considering them fairly political - the writers expected revrad to be "the Trump album" and were like "new elections - new Green Day" and it just surprised me a little. I knew this is what they're known for but I still see a lot more different and just as important themes in their music. 

Yeah, they want it to be the Trump album or something stupid because that is more appealing to selling their own media. And in the grand scheme of things, If that's what they're "known for" to the general public, then it's an incorrect perception.

Anti-Flag is a political band. Green Day is not a political band.

[Beerjeezus]

2 minutes ago, RougeRogue said:

Yeah, they want it to be the Trump album or something stupid because that is more appealing to selling their own media. And in the grand scheme of things, If that's what they're "known for" to the general public, then it's an incorrect perception.

Anti-Flag is a political band. Green Day is not a political band.

Exactly. It is what sells and it's easy enough to explain and make headlines. And it most definitely is what they are known for, they kind of filled a hole in the market with AI. 

And yes, politics is AF's main focus. When you listen to gd's full albums, you realize it's about a hundred other things alongside politics. 

[Wretched & Divine]

I feel like saying you would remain friends or whatever with someone who has an extremely different political leaning to you comes from a position of privilege, or it's someone who doesn't understand politics properly. I've heard a white man say he thinks it's ludicrous to drop his friends who are far right Trump supporters and agree with everything he says, and I'm here like... well, you'd sure feel fucking differently if you were a person who might ever need the option of abortion, or you were someone who's undocumented, Muslim, black etc.

So yes, I do think politics shape the interests of a lot of people who actually pay attention to the policies of what the major parties support. I would have to part ways with Green Day if it turned out they were in favour of ripping away womens' rights, supported Nazi ideology except where Muslims replace Jews, and perpetrated extremely harmful ideas about Latinx people. And I'm not even American.

[Dakke]

I don't mean to overtly disturb this interesting political discussion, but I think we're diverging from the topic at hand. Talking about politics, RevRad is no political album. It's an album of personal reflections which happens to have a couple of tracks which are politically explicit in nature (RevRad and Say Goodbye).

[DookieLukie]

I'm still not getting into Still Breathing. I thought eventually I'd understand, but I feel like it's such a generic, bland track. I feel some many more emotions from songs like "Outlaws" or even "Youngblood." 

Additionally, I think "Say Goodbye" is sort of overrated. The bow guitar solo is sick, but the lyrics are repetitive (although a few lines are creative). "Troubled Times" is a skipper for me too.

So basically I LOVE 9/12 tracks and never skip them, so that's good. My love of the song "Revolution Radio" has grown after hearing the whole album. One of my favorites now.