Green Day is one of those bands that has managed to stick around over the decades and continues to make good music. I began to lose faith in the band when they started to trade in their three-minute-or-less punk songs for nine-minute rock operas. It just wasn’t like “Dookie” and the other earlier albums that I listened to as I grew up. I wanted the punk side back to Green Day.
That need was finally met with their latest release “¡UNO!” This album goes back to the basics with 12 blasting tracks that all come in under five minutes.
There are three aspects of this album that make it seem like a blast from the past. First, the styles found in this album have that Sixties guitar rumble mixed with late Seventies speed that leaves no room to take a breath.
In other words, it really gets to the root of what punk rock is. The second aspect of this album is that the songs are all written as if every one of them should be released as a single.This reminds me of what The Beatles and many other bands did at that time. The last aspect is that “Uno” is number one of a three part release. “¡Dos!” and “¡Tré!” are due to be released by Green Day later this year.
As I said, every song in this album is written as though it could stand alone as a single and would sell millions. Despite this, there are still a few songs that stand above the rest.
“Troublemaker” is one of those songs. Billie Joe is channeling his inner Johnny Rotten for this song and it sounds like it would fit in fine with any Sex Pistols album. “Kill the DJ” is homage to The Clash with its’ almost dance-able instrument parts and lyrics.The last song that has major punk vibe is, “Let Yourself Go.” It has fast power chords, heavy guitar parts and is full of big gang vocal parts.
If ¡UNO! is a taste of what is to come in their second and third release, we will certainly be seeing a lot of Green Day on the charts this year. I totally recommend this album to anyone who likes Green Day or to those who like a good, solid rock album that has an amazing vintage vibe to it.
