CD Review
Green Day
Revolution Radio
Reprise
2016
Review: Joseph Suto
✰✰✰✰½
Green Day are back with their new studio release Revolution Radio. It marks a return to an album with a direction and purpose following the band’s trilogy of ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré! which were released over a a few months in 2012.
Revolution Radio reflects the current state of violence in the United States according to singer Billie Joe Armstrong. Lead single “Bang Bang” and “Say Goodbye” are prime examples of what Revolution Radio is all about. The song that brings it all home is “Troubled Times”.
With standout tracks like second single “Still Breathing” and the fast paced “Bouncing Off The Wall” leading the charge, this album is full of delectable treats whether you like the slower Green Day or the bone crunching chords the band is primarily known for.
It is hard to believe American Idiot, perhaps the bands crowning album, was released twelve years ago. Reminiscent of “Jesus Of Surburbia” in form, “Forever Now” a multipart song finds Armstrong asking for “a better way to die”. The album’s closing track “Ordinary World” finds Armstrong singing over an acoustic guitar asking for a simple world where he can appreciate what he has while not having much.
Overall Revolution Radio is a strong album and a return to an album with a purpose. Clearly the band’s best album since American Idiot.
Track Listing
01. Somewhere Now
02. Bang Bang
03. Revolution Radio
04. Say Goodbye
05. Outlaws
06. Bouncing Off The Wall
07. Still Breathing
08. Youngblood
09. Too Dumb To Die
10. Troubled Times
11. Forever Now
(i. I’m Freaking Out ii. A Better Way To Die iii. Somewhere)
12. Ordinary World
