The alternative rock trio Green Day is back at it again with their 12th LP, âRevolution Radio.â
Filled with heavy guitar riffs, driving drum beats, politically charged lyrics and Armstrongâs signature vocals, the tracks of âRevolution Radioâ are very pop-punk. Similar to their 2009 album, â21st Century Breakdown,â âRevolution Radioâ has decent tracks and fantastic lyrics. It seems like Green Day is stuck in a musical rut they just cannot get out of, but it works for them.
Each song is different, yet the same. The album is extraordinarily cohesive to the point that certain songs seem to blend together. Listeners will find themselves double checking to make sure the song ended. This is nothing new for Green Day, as some songs from the past, including âHolidayâ and âBoulevard of Broken Dreamsâ from âAmerican Idiot,â are actually one track on the whole album.
âBang Bang,â the albumâs lead single, shows the ferocity fans loved in Green Dayâs pre-âAmerican Idiotâ tracks. It brings fans back to the good old punk rock that they originally fell for. It is fast, it is dominant and everything listeners wish Green Day would continue to be. Ending every chorus with âdaddyâs little psycho and mommyâs little soldierâ before going into a âBang Bangâ displays Armstrongâs authoritative guitar playing that drives the track.
âBang Bangâ is not just a powerhouse single.
âItâs about the culture of mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media,â Armstrong said in an interview with Rolling Stone. âAfter I wrote it, all I wanted to do was get that out of my brain because it just freaked me out⊠I wouldnât even say I was trying to understand it. I was just trying to figure out the character.â   Â
A â21 Gunsâ-esque âOutlawsâ begins as its predecessor, starting out slow, picking up the pace with massive drum beats then coming back down for the verses. Opening up with a quick five-second-long, heavy drum beat, Armstrongâs voice fades in and sounds far away while Mike Dirntâs bass guitar takes center stage in the beginning. But when Armstrongâs voice gets louder, Dirntâs bass is drowned out by a slow and steady drum beat just to take it back down for the next verse. A pleasing slow-ish song, âOutlawsâ could very well be the next punk-couple-runaway song.
Bouncy. That is how âRevolution Radioâ can be summed up in one word. Most of the tracks, excluding âBang Bang,â âOutlaws,â âOrdinary World,â âStill Breathingâ and âTroubled Times,â are interesting and have one of the instruments creating an almost playful line, this includes Armstrongâs vocals.
The albums outro, âOrdinary Worldâ finds the listener listening to Armstrongâs pleas for living in just that, an ordinary world. Lyrically speaking, âOrdinary Worldâ is a brief acoustic song, the only one on the album. A peaceful final track, it is a nice one to go out on considering the heavy punk rock strewn throughout the album.
Overall, âRevolution Radioâ is not one of Green Dayâs finest albums, but it is still an alternative rock gem. Â Â Â






