Green Day - Uno and Dos
By: James Hagin
So let me begin by saying that when Uno the fist of Green Day’s three part album Uno, Dos, and Tre I was unable to write a separate review of it because I was still busy laughing uncontrollably at the publicity stunt that was Billy Joe Armstrong’s flip out at the “I Heart Radio” festival. Now that part two has come around I feel kind of bad about not even giving it the time of day. No artist deserves to have their work just shrugged off, even if after destroying a thousand dollar Les Paul and cursing like a twelve year old on national television, their “work” only ends up at the 128th slot on the Itunes top albums list. So here is my take on both albums.
Uno, beautifully decorated with Billy Joe’s grinning mug, was for me just another Green Day album. Three chords and a rant ‘til the end I guess, until I got to the last track “Oh Love”. The lyrics were atrocious and the chords were repetitive and droning, the bass line dragged on like a body tied to the rear bumper of a car (my body in this case) but after a short bridge the song takes a drastic turn. A stupendous display of talent on BJA’s part when he plays a not complex but very strong guitar solo. I was stunned. Green Day generally sounds like the baby’s first punk band but this was like one of them just said “hey guys what if we pretend to be somebody other than The Who for a change and focus more on our skills as musicians than our windmills.” I am proud of them. They have made three stunning records in the past with a ton (and I mean that literally) of garbage produced as filler in between, but maybe there is some hope. You know if you ignore this album except for the 15 or so seconds of glory on the very last track.
Dos, is slightly better. This may entirely be because I’m staring at Mike Dirt’s florescent neon green face instead of Billie’s but I think there’s another reason. The last album sounded like Green Day, in that it was about drugs, loose women, and looser politics. This album however seems to be entirely about rough sex. This makes it infinitely more enjoyable than it’s counterpart. Case and point track two “Fuck Time”. This is not a display of hatred or disregard for our inevitable end and rebirth (as anyone who reads way to deep into song titles would think) but a declaration of a need for rampant coitus. It’s not even subtle. It was one thing listening to Robert Plant sing “ the lemon song” with some poetry and finesse, it makes you chuckle. This is so blunt that it could have been written by a child who just found out about this stuff. The song “Nightlife” is another example of how amazingly bad this is. The song features someone called “Lady Cobra” who I can assure you I wont be looking up anytime soon, and is another addition to the list of songs like “Rack City” that can be played in only one setting, the back room of a gentlemen’s club.
Maybe I’m taking it all to seriously this could all be a joke right? I just can’t believe that on of my favorite groups as a kid has turned into such trash. I know they won't ever make another album like Dookie, but I didn’t expect them to fall to this. The first track on Dos reminds me vaguely of the hidden track on Dookie and though it’s not nearly as happy and great there is a sort of eerie questioning as to whether these guys really know how to do what they used to how they used to do it, and that this whole barrage of crap we have been getting since American Idiot has been a crude cruel mean spirited practical joke. I don’t know. I don’t think I want to either. I am happy to pretend that after “F.O.D” Green Day stopped being a thing. I just wish Green Day felt that way.
Uno, beautifully decorated with Billy Joe’s grinning mug, was for me just another Green Day album. Three chords and a rant ‘til the end I guess, until I got to the last track “Oh Love”. The lyrics were atrocious and the chords were repetitive and droning, the bass line dragged on like a body tied to the rear bumper of a car (my body in this case) but after a short bridge the song takes a drastic turn. A stupendous display of talent on BJA’s part when he plays a not complex but very strong guitar solo. I was stunned. Green Day generally sounds like the baby’s first punk band but this was like one of them just said “hey guys what if we pretend to be somebody other than The Who for a change and focus more on our skills as musicians than our windmills.” I am proud of them. They have made three stunning records in the past with a ton (and I mean that literally) of garbage produced as filler in between, but maybe there is some hope. You know if you ignore this album except for the 15 or so seconds of glory on the very last track.
Dos, is slightly better. This may entirely be because I’m staring at Mike Dirt’s florescent neon green face instead of Billie’s but I think there’s another reason. The last album sounded like Green Day, in that it was about drugs, loose women, and looser politics. This album however seems to be entirely about rough sex. This makes it infinitely more enjoyable than it’s counterpart. Case and point track two “Fuck Time”. This is not a display of hatred or disregard for our inevitable end and rebirth (as anyone who reads way to deep into song titles would think) but a declaration of a need for rampant coitus. It’s not even subtle. It was one thing listening to Robert Plant sing “ the lemon song” with some poetry and finesse, it makes you chuckle. This is so blunt that it could have been written by a child who just found out about this stuff. The song “Nightlife” is another example of how amazingly bad this is. The song features someone called “Lady Cobra” who I can assure you I wont be looking up anytime soon, and is another addition to the list of songs like “Rack City” that can be played in only one setting, the back room of a gentlemen’s club.
Maybe I’m taking it all to seriously this could all be a joke right? I just can’t believe that on of my favorite groups as a kid has turned into such trash. I know they won't ever make another album like Dookie, but I didn’t expect them to fall to this. The first track on Dos reminds me vaguely of the hidden track on Dookie and though it’s not nearly as happy and great there is a sort of eerie questioning as to whether these guys really know how to do what they used to how they used to do it, and that this whole barrage of crap we have been getting since American Idiot has been a crude cruel mean spirited practical joke. I don’t know. I don’t think I want to either. I am happy to pretend that after “F.O.D” Green Day stopped being a thing. I just wish Green Day felt that way.