Green Day’s renaissance album: Revolution Radio (2016)
Green Day does not need any introduction. The American punk rock trio around frontman Billie Joe Armstrong with bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool have been rockin’ our stages since 1990 and have brought us instant classics such as “Basket Case”, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, “Minority”, “American Idiot”, or “Wake Me Up When September Ends” to name a few. The released Revolution Radio, their 12th studio album, on October 7, 2016, and it is the first Green Day album in a while that has got me excited. And for a good reason: It is a phenomenal album!
Brad Nelson writes in pitchfork.com, “Over the course of 26 years, Green Day have gone from pop punks to rock stars. Their latest, however, has little effect on their legacy and lapses into pandering, embarrassing lyrical misfires.” I wholeheartedly disagree! First off, ain’t many of their lyrics embarrassing in the first place anyways? …which, of course, lies in the eye of the beholder. I enjoy every song on the album and make sense of their admittedly sometimes ‘unique’ way of depicting emotions. Barry Nicolson states in his nme.com article that “if there’s a defining characteristic of ‘Revolution Radio’, it’s Green Day rediscovering the joys of simply being themselves.” Agreed! In my ears, Revolution Radio sounds like an adult version of Green Day’s 1997 release Nimrod. I like to believe that I hear the band’s fun and joy of simply rockin’ out and expressing their true feelings on this album. And it seems as if Jon Dolan at rollingstone.com agrees with me by suggesting that Green Day is older, wiser and mad as hell in ‘Revolution Radio’.
Yup, I gotta repeat myself: For the first time in what seems like an eternity I can put on my headphones, spin a brand-new Green Day record and genuinely enjoy it by singing out loud and throwing my hands in the air like there’s no tomorrow. ‘Revolution Radio’ marks a renaissance for Messrs Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool with instant classics such as “Still Breathing”, “Youngblood”, and “Say Goodbye” that will spin many more times on my turntable.