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New Green Day album neither inspires nor disappoints

New+Green+Day+album+neither+inspires+nor+disappoints

T.A. Keating ‘13| Executive Web Editor

Following two high-concept albums and a Broadway musical, Green Day has returned to their roots. In their newest album, “Uno,” the pop-punk trio has stripped down their sound substantially, creating an album that is solid, but not without its flaws.

“Gonna ride the world like a merry-go-round!” sings Billy Joe Armstrong in the opening line of the album’s first song, “Nuclear Family.” This explosive start makes for a reckless and high-speed ride through the beginning tracks. When compared to hits from previous albums such as “Wake Me up when September Ends” and “21 Guns,” “Nuclear Family” represents Green Day’s new direction: more power, less ballad.

Coming off of a high energy opener, the transition to the second track, “Stay the Night,” is downright jarring. This track’s initially soft guitar riff feels like a red light on the autobahn. But, luckily, red lights turn green. The rest of the song is almost as fast and frenetic as the previous track, and more than makes up for its awkward start with a strong and catchy chorus. By the end of “Stay the Night,” it’s pretty clear that Green Day still knows its way around a high power rock song, seven years after the iconic “American Idiot.”

The momentum established in the first two tracks carries on through the third and fourth. However, the tracks lack enough contrast to really stand out. “Carpe Diem,” the third track, is catchy and upbeat, but seriously suffers from this problem. The song definitely has power, just not staying power. The same could be said for “Let Yourself Go,” if not for its angrier and more uh… colorful lyrics. Still, when you have to turn to profanity just to keep the listener’s attention, it might be time to switch it up a little.

After four straight songs of high energy pop-punk, the album definitely needs to stop for a breather. The fifth track would have been a perfect place to throw in a ballad, or at least slow things down a bit. Unfortunately, Green Day squanders this perfect opportunity in “Kill the DJ,” one of the worst songs the band has ever put out.

“Kill the DJ” is a faux funk song that literally describes the ways in which they would kill a DJ. The chorus is simplistic in the most awful way possible, containing only the words “someone kill the DJ/ Shoot the effing DJ.” Combined with the cheesy funk guitar riff, the song seems like a creation from Weird Al Yancovic, not a legitimate rock band. The only positive quality of this song is that it perfectly describes my feelings whenever I attend a South dance.

“Troublemaker,” the eighth track, is also a steaming pile of failure. I would go into detail about how much I hate the song’s terrible puns (“from now ‘till death do us party”) or the unnecessary handclap section, but that wouldn’t be worth my time. Green Day’s greatest weakness is that it can’t pull off anything other than a straight up rock song. When it tries to do anything else it fails.

Aside from the previously mentioned atrocities, the album is pretty solid. “Fell for You” and “Sweet 16” are sincere and more focused. The nostalgia-tinged songs feel more intimate and personal, with lines about first loves, broken hearts and poor decisions.

“Oh Love,” “Uno’s” closing track, is one of the best of the album. Although the song isn’t as high-powered as “Nuclear Family,” as sentimental as “Fell for You” or as downright horrible as “Kill the DJ,” “Oh Love” is probably the best overall. This song resonates with anyone who’s ever felt vulnerable, overlooked or rejected. In other words, anyone. This feeling is summarized perfectly, with the lines “talk myself out of feeling/ talk myself out of control/ talk myself out of falling in love/ falling in love with you.” Although initially a bit cheesy, the song is one of the best emotional appeals in the entire album.

Overall, “Uno” isn’t Green Day’s best album, but it’s far from the worst. The only thing the album really lacks is a great Green Day power ballad, a la “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” But, since “Uno” is the first of three Green Day albums coming out in the next few months (the other two are named “Dos” and “Tre”), there may be one yet. Aside from two terrible songs, the album is catchy, with some serious staying power.

 

Grade: B

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