Have a listen - the new album by Green Day
· Updated: · 4 min read
The wait is over: on 7 February, punk rock legends Green Day are releasing their 13th studio album. We’ve put “Father Of All …” through its paces ahead of the Californian trio’s major world tour, during which they’ll be performing their new songs and tried-and-tested hits in Germany too.
Where have all the riots gone? Where have all the riots gone, Green Day asked in their 2004 song “Letterbomb”. Who would have thought that exactly this question would spring to the listener’s mind 16 years later. “Letterbomb” was part of the Grammy-winning album “American Idiot”. The title track of the same name and other singles such as “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “Holiday” and the Bohemian Rhapsody-esque five-part “Jesus of Suburbia” delighted rock fans, whilst the Americans turned to softer tones for international mainstream radio stations with “Wake Me Up When September Ends”.
So, where have the riots gone? Musically, they’ve definitely landed on the new album “Father Of All …” (whereby “…” can safely be replaced with “Motherfuckers” away from American censorship authorities). On the first single release, “Father Of All …”, the listener doesn’t have to wait three seconds before the trio rock their way out of their nearly four-year slumber with heavy riffs. What follows is two and a half minutes of melodic fireworks, accompanied by an engaging music video. What’s missing: the voice of lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong, which is barely audible.
Catchy potential
The second single released in advance, “Fire, Ready, Aim”, doesn’t feature a fast-paced music video. Nor does it need to, because after the first chords of the electric guitar, fans of the Berkeley band will immediately be reminded of the mega-hit “American Idiot” anyway. The artificial effect at the start is too similar, before Armstrong brings the listener back to the here and now and denounces the daily hyperbole (“Baby got the hyperbole”). The catchy song definitely has the potential to stick in your head, but the lyrics are rather thin on the ground and the fun is over in under two minutes.
It’s a different story with the third track released in advance, “Oh Yeah!”. For around three minutes, the band rubs salt into the wound of digitalisation’s dark side: the increasing self-promotion on social media (“I’m just a face in a crowd of spectators”), which the punk rockers naturally can’t stand. Visually striking, thanks to the excellent work of director Malia James, who has previously collaborated with Rita Ora and Bishop Briggs. The song really lacks just one thing: a few longer passages featuring Armstrong’s unprocessed voice, which here too is often hidden behind the computer – what irony.
Entertaining, but something is missing
Thus, a mixed picture emerges across the ten tracks of “Father Of All…”. The entertaining songs build on old hits, yet simultaneously set out with the ambition to open a new chapter. The sound of the music is spot on, as is the thematic approach – according to the band themselves, they were inspired by the concerns of workers in the US who, due to job losses and gentrification, have “become very desperate about their situation.” So far, all typical Green Day.
But there is a catch: Billie Joe Armstrong’s voice is no longer as prominent as it was on previous hits like “Basket Case”. Has the frontman perhaps grown old? Or is the band fundamentally reinventing itself after more than three decades? It would be a shame to hear Armstrong only through a filter, as his voice always carried something raw, daring and punk about it. Like a sung-out rebellion. Where have all the riots gone?
