When this came out back in 2005, I was very apprehensive about the music on it. In some ways I think I still am. I think when Brandon Flowers (from The Killers) said that there was something messed up about Billie Joe Armstrong encouraging a group of British kids to sing “American Idiot” loud enough “for every fuckin’ redneck in America to hear”, he might have had a point. I guess the younger version of me just felt a little betrayed. I’m an American. In my juvenile sort of way, I shared the frustration expressed on American Idiot. But somehow that didn’t seem to be enough, since Green Day felt like they had to go to Europe to record their live album.
All that aside, Bullet in a Bible isn’t a particularly great live album. I don’t know if it’s because this show took place late in the band’s tour, if the quality of the recording of the performance sucked and they had to release this concert footage, or if Green Day just suck live (I’ve never seen them, so it’s possible), but they don’t sound very good in this set. Armstrong seems to be bouncing between rockstar and preacher, and the sense of fun that this batch of songs originally had in their studio forms feel angry, as though I’m getting yelled at for listening to the band. Meanwhile the rest of the band is putting on a fairly good performance, just getting overshadowed by Armstrong’s attempt to incite a riot. The emotional punch of “Wake Me Up When September Ends” gets buried under a poor vocal quality, sounding flat and pushed. Meanwhile “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” and its value gets squandered when performed when played on an electric guitar.
But there are some highlights. Green Day’s performance of “King for A Day” is amplified in both intentional and unintentional comedy when they segue into The Isley Brothers’ “Shout” to apparent blank stares from the crowd, and then cheers and participation as that becomes “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” from Monty Python’s The Life of Brian. Likewise the rockers carry wonderfully, making “American Idiot” and “Holiday” sound positively epic. But on the whole these moments don’t stack up to Green Day’s studio work, and the band’s apparent cold shoulder to American fans is jarring and a bit off-putting. Here’s hoping the tour in support of 21st Century Breakdown puts to rest any questions about Green Day’s capacity to rock live.
Green Day – King For A Day / Shout (YSI)
==TJ==
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Album A Day, Green Day
Don’t know about the quality of the album’s sound, but have to disagree with you about taking their show on the road for any reason. The American Idiot album was crazy aggressive in the first place, and I saw them here in the States and one of the best things about the performance was Billie Joe’s totally going nuts the way you’re describing. Good for him for keeping it up overseas, too. The Dixie Chicks got in enough trouble for doing that (more than four years ago?).
[...] due out on CD and DVD March 22. Live albums have never been Green Day’s forte. 2005′s Bullet in a Bible wasn’t great, and based on that trailer I’m not 100% sold on this one being much better. If anything is [...]