Green Day – ¡Tré!
Review by Morgan Waldorf
The fast paced release of the new Green Day albums hasn’t left much time to get used to each record before the next has been released, making it truly seem like a big collection of 37 songs. The third album is already here and it really rounds the trilogy out nicely. While ¡Uno! and ¡Dos! felt like high energy, party records this one takes it down a notch with more ballads and classic Green Day sound and less high strung songs about sex, drugs and rock and roll.
“Brutal Love” sets off the album perfectly as a slow, 60’s style song that really showcases Billie Joe Armstrong’s vocals. “Missing You” takes the band back to their sound in the late 90’s. It’s simple, melodic and sounds like classic Green Day.
“8th Avenue Serenade” and “Drama Queen” are both acoustic, the former again sounding like it could have been on the bands record Warning. Songs such as “Little Boy Named Train,” “Amanda” and “Walk Away” are all standard pop punk anthems that are perfect to include on any fun, upbeat playlist.
“X-Kid” is a standout of this record, a perhaps autobiographical song for Armstrong about growing up and realizing where you are in your life. “Hey, little kid did you wake up late one day and you’re not so young, but you’re still dumb and you’re numb to your old glory but now it’s gone.”
“Sex, Drugs & Violence” is a fast pop punk track that adds a touch of the carefree theme back into this record with bassist Mike Dirnt singing lead for a verse. And “99 Revolutions,” a song about the Occupy movement, provides the political commentary Green Day have become so famous for. It features lyrics that question the status quo and proclaim “we live in troubled time.”
The best song on the record however has to be “Dirty Rotten Bastards.” The song feels like a small, self contained rock opera reminiscent of American Idiot, specifically with many similarities in sound to the b-side “Shoplifter” towards the end. It’s the kind of song you can picture being played in huge arenas with millions of fans singing along.
Now that I’ve heard each record I’m not sure if I can choose a favorite because each has it’s own vibe and different things I love about them. I think that’s why this trilogy was a success. Green Day managed to put out three different records each with it’s own sound, but they all feel like a collection and fit in great with the rest of the band’s discography. It’s something that not many bands could do and I can’t wait to see what Green Day will do next. For now however I have plenty of new music to tide me over!
Overall Rating: 4/5
Recommended Tracks: “X-Kid” and “Dirty Rotten Bastards”
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