As expressed in my review of Warning that I wrote earlier, Green Day are a band that have helped me through hard times, and I say that with the true conviction that so many others lack when they make comments like that. When your life gets to a point when you simply don’t want it any more, you turn to someone or something, whether it be a loved one, a pint in the pub or whatever else, but for me it’s my music that helps me. Green Day in particular, along with Nirvana, were the two bands that made me see that I was being petty and needed to think about myself in a whole new light, and for that I thanks them immensely. Whether it be for the lyrics, the music, or simply what they stood for, but for whatever reason they turned me around and made me think how much worse I could have things, but luckily, and most importantly, I have the chance to live a life that some others simply don’t have. That aside, I suppose I actually should comment on the album itself ………….
For a band that released an album of the quality of Dookie in 1994, Green Day were not prepared to accept those 14 million sales and go rest on their laurels. Instead they returned just a year later with probably their weakest work to date ‘Insomniac’. It stood for everything that Green Day were about, hard edged punk songs to wake the neighbours, lyrics to shove down your throat, and a sound to blow your speakers. Somewhere in the wall of sound was a leak, and
all the meaning to the music was leaking out unnoticed and quite frankly, needed desperate repair. The lyrics, compared to Dookie, were weak and meaningless, and you get the idea that this was Green Day trying you loose the ‘mainstream’ tag that those 14 million sales had shouldered them with. As hard as they tried to regain the sound of pre-Dookie material, it wasn’t gonna happen, the band were now mainstream whether they liked it or not. Something that I’ve always deeply admired about the band, and Billie Joe in particular, is that adversity doesn’t bother them. Faced with the fact that they couldn’t go back to their ‘roots’, they decided to go away to a studio deep within California and vow to not return until they had their next masterpiece, their next Dookie if you will.
“Nice guys finish last You’re running out of gas Your sympathy will get you left behind Sometimes you’re at you best When you look the worst Do you feel washed up Like piss going down the drain”
‘Nice Guys Finish Last’ instantly signified that Green Day were well and truly back, and confirmed the fears that Insomniac was just a blot on the Green Day paper that could be easily erased. Just to make my point rather clearer than I’m sure it seems, feel free to like Insomniac, it isn’t a crime, yet personally I believe it to be their weakest work to date, that’s all. The opening track (Nice Guys) is one that would definitely be at home on Dookie, a statement that is both very true and very pleasing at the same time. As also mentioned on my previous review, the question of whether certain songs have personal relevance to Billie Joe or not is a true mystery, and one that makes it hard at times to define personal relevance, but suppose that’s the genius for you, always keeping people guessing. Where ‘American Idiot’ is an album more suited to a political rally (whether it be Kerry or Bush), ’Nimrod’ would probably be more at home as the ’Party Album Vol.2’ following on from volume1, namely being Dookie. The hooks are infectious, the riffs evident, and the quality can be spared more than a simple ’good’.
“Now I cannot speak I lost my voice I’m speechless and redundant ‘cause I love you’s not enough I’m lost for words Now I cannot speak”
‘Redundant’, a personal favourite of mine over the years, touches on the well known subject of relationships. I’m sure from the title that a lot of people perceive this to be about having lost your job, when in fact it isn’t at all. Covering the fact that the relationship has become stale and repetitive, it’s one of the songs that could easily be of use to an unhappy couple on the odd occasion, well I think so anyway but hey what do I know. ‘Hitchin A Ride’ is another of the Dookie prt2 tracks, as if stolen from the mother at birth only to return at a later date, or in this case, a later album. It’s another of the happy-go-lucky Green Day samples that would be best remembered as a track that was great, yet had the potential to be their best. The say that the lyrics confuse would be a huge understatement, with it being the one Green Day song that I’m yet to decipher a tale to in some shape or form.
Another turning point A fork stuck in the road Time grabs you by the wrist Directs you where to go So make the best of this test And don’t ask why It’s not a question But a lesson learned in time It’s something unpredictable But in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life
So take the photographs And still frames in your mind Hang it on a shelf of Good health and good time Tattoos of memories And dead skin on trial For what it’s worth It was worth all the while It’s something unpredictable But in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life
It’s something unpredictable But in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life
It’s something unpredictable But in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life
Excuse the entire lyrics set, but in the name of all things ‘Good Riddance’ I believe it to be fully justified. As A die-hard fan that more than appreciated what Green Day have done, and still are doing to the modern punk scene (if one still exists), there is nothing to top a piece of acoustic brilliance. Spanning the length and breadth of their career, it’s something that’s always come easily to Billie Joe, writing a track that really does play with your emotions (of course big boys don’t cry). ‘Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’, ‘Macy’s Day Parade’ and ‘Are We The Waiting’ are perfect examples of such talent, yet Good Riddance is the Dookie of singles releases. Simply one man and his acoustic, it outdoes anything that an electric and a bass could possibly dream of doing.
Were Dookie to have a long lost brother then Nimrod would be it, copycat sounds, samey topics and hugely compromising sound, yet two awesome albums !
Track Listing
1 - Nice Guys Finish Last 2 - Hitchin A Ride 3 - The Grouch 4 - Redundant 5 - Scattered 6 - All The Time 7 - Worry Rock 8 - Platypus 9 - Uptight 10 - Last Ride In 11 - Jinx 12 - Haushinka 13 - Walking Alone 14 - Reject 15 - Take Back 16 - King For A Day 17 - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) 18 - Prosthetic Head
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
im wantin this album - the only greenday albums i have are dookie and american idiot - i just heard the song - hitching a ride a little while ago on tv - thats a gooood song
Dizzy_Lizzy 05.11.2004 09:14
I love Green day and this cd. Of the bands I've seen live, these guys are probably the best. Great review. ~Liz
Nimrodcame along two years after 1995'sInsomniacand was the first indication of Green ... more
Day's willingness to stretch the boundaries of punk rock. The fullness of the record is first hinted at on "Hitchin' a Ride", which starts out chug-a-lugging and then...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Nimrodcame along two years after 1995'sInsomniacand was the first indication of Green ... more
Day's willingness to stretch the boundaries of punk rock. The fullness of the record is first hinted at on "Hitchin' a Ride", which starts out chug-a-lugging and then...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Nimrod came along two years after 1995's Insomniac and was the first indication of Green ... more
Day's willingness to stretch the boundaries of punk rock. The fullness of the record is first hinted at on "Hitchin' a Ride", which starts out chug-a-lugging and t...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Oct 29th, 2004
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