By Cara McCarthy
Associate Editor
Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool, and Mike Dirnt – better known as Green Day – have been staples in the punk-rock music scene since the early ’90s.
From albums such as “Dookie” to “American Idiot,” Green Day has left their mark on the music industry for life, that much is not up for debate.
However, as iconic as their music was back then, their recent album releases have been – and I mean this in the nicest way possible – total Nops.
They released the “¡Uno!,” ‘’¡Dos!,” and “¡Tré!,” trilogy in 2012 – all three albums did poorly as they were released within a span of three months.
“Revolution Radio” was released in 2016, and it wasn’t terrible. It even debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 – but it wasn’t the Green Day everyone knows and loves – and for that, it received a good amount of negative feedback from their older demographics.
And with this latest release – Green Day may be reaching the end of its chain wallet.
The album, “Father of all Mother*******,” was released earlier this month in preparation for their world tour this summer.
As someone who has been a fan of Green Day since she was in diapers, I cannot even begin to explain why this album is so disappointing.
Not only do a majority of the songs sound the same, Armstrong’s voice is autotuned to [lth – which makes it hard to listen to without being angry at whoever the engineer was in the studio that day.
One thing Green Day has been known for – as well as what made them so popular in the [rst place – is being extremely vocal about their opinions of the current political climate. One of their most popular songs, “American Idiot,” was centered around former President George W. Bush. Several other songs on “Revolution Radio,” were criticizing Trump, and this album is no different.
The third track, “Oh Yeah!,” was written in response to the upsurge in school shootings in recent years, with the name of the track originally being “Bulletproof Backpack,” but changed to prevent controversy.
“I got blood on my hands in my pockets / That’s what you get turning bullets into rockets / I am a kid of a bad education / The shooting star of a lowered expectation.” The lyrics acknowledge both the prevalence of school shootings in America, as well as the American education system failing today’s youth.
The lyricism in the album isn’t terrible. I enjoy quite a few of the songs lyric wise, if it wasn’t for the auto- tune in Armstrong’s voice, synchronized clapping every other song, and the lack of well-thought-out choruses, I may have felt inclined to give this album a better grade.
One of the semi-good tracks is the title song, “Father of All...” However, once again, Armstrong simply doesn’t sound like himself – and I can’t look past that.
This album is missing so many elements that make Green Day legendary. Tré Cool’s lengthy drum solos, Billie’s crazy lyrics that go on for nine minutes, and the angst that made Green Day legends in the first place.
However, it wouldn’t be fair if I did not take into consideration that Green Day is 35 years old.
No band is going to keep the same momentum and theatrics their entire career – especially a band as old as Green Day.
If this was their debut album, perhaps I would be a little more lenient – but I grew up on this music, and I know they have and can do better.
Green Day broke barriers, brought together a community of outcasts and mis[ts, and changed the music scene forever – while this album isn’t in everyone’s top 5, there are still loyal fans who will be eagerly awaiting the next one – myself included.
Grade: D
“Are we we are, are we we are, disappointed.”