Revolution Radio was ALMOST one of their best albums

[Scumfuc Waste]

I remember being a Green Day fan before FOAMF came out. Revolution Radio was the last GD album at the time. Was it better than the trilogy before it?...debatably, the trilogy had some really standout songs like Lazy Bones and Dirty Rotten Bastards but got overshadowed by some of the shittier songs like Nightlife. 

However, I look back at RR and realize it may be better than we may have given it credit for, given that the two albums they'd release after it sucked pretty hard.

Honestly, Revolution Radio in my opinion had the potential to be one of Green Day's best albums, minus the songs Say Goodbye, Youngblood, and Ordinary World. Those songs not only don't fit but worse than that - they're boring.

However, I have a case for why the rest of the songs (with those 3 cut) would have made a far greater comeback from the trilogy without the unholy trinity that I just mentioned...

 

1. Somewhere Now

It's a decent track, definitely not a favourite but I can at least say there are parts that are enjoyable and do remind me of 21st Century Breakdown, which is not a bad thing. Certainly not a bad way to open the album, and it does get better that it starts with this, as you'll soon see...

 

2. Bang Bang 

Not only would I say this is one of the best songs Green Day has ever made, I'd even go as far as saying this is one of the best hardcore punk songs I've heard in general. It managed to be topical in 2016 without being cringe (that's a true feat!), it fucking rips, the bridge is just perfect, and the chorus is so fucking catchy. This song perfectly captures the essence of the mass shooter pandemic we were not only going through then but continue to live and die through today.

 

3. Revolution Radio

The first thing I said about Bang Bang is also something I'd say about Revolution Radio. This is a song that is also very catchy, and makes you feel empowered. It carries that punk message of not letting anyone shut us up, that we'll say what we need to say and then some until our tongues bleed no matter what the oppressors try to do to stop us. Once again, it was relevant then and remains relevant now.

 

4. Outlaws

We're gonna pretend this is the 4th song (obvious reasons). It's a nice change of pace, and has a much more large, epic feel to it. I like the balance between quiet and loud as it's used here, and it does also remind me of their early 2000s work which is a good thing. The solo may just mirror the vocal melody but man, for some reason it just hits. 

 

5. Bouncing Off The Wall

Can't say this is one of the better ones, it's really more useful as a filler track, and typically I don't care for filler songs, but this album (without the 3 shitty songs) could use a more simple fun track to break up the heavy emotional tones displayed in the previous tracks, and if you turn this song up really loud in a good stereo, it's really fun to jump around and bang your head to.

 

6. Still Breathing

Honestly a misfit on this album, but surprisingly it also does fit at the same time? It's like, it doesn't fit, but it doesn't fit in the right way, so it loops back around to fitting. I don't know. I just feel like by this point, the album is calling for a track like this. It's definitely more of a pop style song than a Green Day punk song, but it's one of the pop songs I would've otherwise liked even if Green Day didn't write it. Once again, it's catchy, it hits hard, and I think it earns its stay.

 

7. Too Dumb To Die

We've found another favourite song of mine. It's another one that I'd say is generally one of my favourite Green Day songs as a whole. One thing I'll say is the whole album seems to be produced the same way, but the production style of this album hits so fucking hard in this particular song. This is gonna likely sound stupid, but I'd say this could've potentially fit somewhere on American Idiot or 21st Century Breakdown. I can't get bored of this song. It's so catchy and honestly perfect. I wouldn't change a thing.

 

8. Troubled Times

This song kinda sounds like the signs of the end, and so it's fitting that it's second-to-last (forget about ordinary world, it doesn't exist), the solo is great, the song is catchy, and it just feels right at this point in the album.

 

9. Forever Now

This song honestly reminds me a lot of Jesus Of Suburbia and Homecoming, it has similar qualities to those songs (which are masterpieces), and I love how it bookends with a reprise of Somewhere Now. It really takes you for a ride and is the perfect way to finish off this album.

 

Now as to why they decided to take those 3 bad songs that don't exist and scatter them through this great record is beyond me.

What do you think?

[Flashback]

I think that RevRad has one of the strongest openings of a Green Day album. Somewhere Now, Bang Bang and Revolution Radio are amazing!

[Gonzalo17]

Is the BEST post american idiot GD album and the closest to american idiot sound and style

[jengd]

I like Revolution Radio, think it’s a solid album but it feels like Green Day playing it slightly safe.  

[GreenDayJunkie86]

oooooo I could go for some Rev Rad right now . I LOVE Rev Rad  

[Montclare]

My all time favorite Green Day album.

[jakdokinori]

I love Revolution Radio. IIRC their recording process for it was pretty back to basics too.

[ThranaM]

Bang Bang was their strongest single ever, imo.

The album is absolutely amazing, but it’s a  bit to ‘stale’ if that makes sense, and also (like @jengd) mentioned: They played it a little safe.

Bang Bang and Forever Now are easily in my top 10 GD songs of all time.

[Tre's Busted Drumkit]

I like Rev Rad a lot. Didn't think I would, because I felt like the Trilogy got worse by the song, and I honestly wasn't sure how BJA's very public struggles would affect the band's sound and chemistry. I'm happy I was wrong. I don't really dislike any songs on the album. I think Still Breathing and Revolution Radio should never have been split up in the track order, because they work together as well as 21 Guns and American Eulogy or WMUWSE and Homecoming do. Still Breathing has what I consider the best lyric Billie Joe has ever written, and I will defend that song to the death as vastly underappreciated by fans who can't get past the fact that BJA originally wrote a very different version of it for a pop band. Forever Now deserves a place among GD's best "album climax" songs with Homecoming and the GOAT (American Eulogy). Somewhere Now is also a criminally underrated song. I get that the band may not have wanted another "slow burn" opener like 21CB, or maybe they just didn't want to play the song over again at the end during Forever Now, but I think it would have been a perfect opener for the Rev Rad tour.

I think of Rev Rad as the sort of thing that would happen if Billie Joe walked into a studio and said, "I want lyrics as raw as AI with music as polished as 21CB." Does it always work? No. There are songs that sound "sterile", or like they were trying to make something that sounds like BOBD or Letterbomb. And the elephant in the room, yes, even though I like Ordinary World, it's just stuffing an acoustic track at the end reminiscent of Good Riddance, and it serves the double purpose of using a BJA solo song from his movie to pad the album's length. It's not the best album ever, but I do think it balances out to be their best post-AI work.

[Clockwise]

I love Rev Rad. But I also love the trilogy, FOAM and Saviors. 😈

[Hermione]

Rev Rad is amazing and Somewhere Now/Forever Now is the best two song combo ever

[Gonzalo17]

1 hour ago, Hermione said:

Rev Rad is amazing and Somewhere Now/Forever Now is the best two song combo ever

Agree 100%. I put them together in my album playlist.

[billy1986]

Never understood the hate for Youngblood and ordinary world. Youngblood is super catchy and a great ode to 80! Love it. Ordinary World is beautiful. Say Goodbye and Outlaws I can do without slightly boring, troubled times is eh…it’s one of their better albums I’d say better then the trilogy better then FOAM on par but not better then Saviors. But does not touch 21st Century Breakdown that is a masterpiece. Not better than Dookie/Insomniac/nimrod that era was awesome music. I’d put it over 1,039 smoothed out slappy hours as well as Kerplunk maybe tied with warning I’d put it 7th not better then dookie/insomniac/nimrod/AI/21st/Saviors but better then their first two the trilogy foam tied with warning better than the network releases and Foxboro hot tubs so high middle. B I’d give it 

[Christian's Inferno!]

Say Goodbye should absolutely be on the album. Youngblood is pretty bland and I don't care for Ordinary World. Outlaws is also a track I wouldn't really miss all that much if it didn't exist anymore.

RevRad is a solid album. I used to really like it, it was in my top 5 Green Day albums at one point but it's only gotten lower and lower down in my ranking of their albums. It's much better than FOAM but it doesn't have a whole lot that makes it stand out. Bang Bang is definitely the best song on the album. But I honestly think the trilogy is better. I think the trilogy has actually aged pretty well tbh and people judge it unfairly because of some of the weaker tracks. I expect some weaker tracks on an album trilogy but still think it's remarkably consistent for what it is. Very few bands could make and release a trilogy of albums within the time that Green Day did and have it be as consistent as Uno Dos Tré is imo.

I do think Saviors is a similar album to RevRad but ranks higher for me personally because it has better production and some better lyrical content. I don't really care all that much for the lyrics on either album compared to a lot of their earlier albums but Saviors is their best written post-21CB imo. RevRad suffers a lot from its self production.

I still enjoy listening to RevRad in full but there are a lot of albums I would choose to listen to over it.

[Little Boy Named Booze]

Not only their best album. In my opinion it was their best tour too. The setlist was something.

[Gonzalo17]

It has two bangers: somewhere now/forever now (10/10)

One skippeable song: ordinary world (i think It left and doesn't fit in the album).

All other songs are very good, at least than 7/10.

Dookie, american idiot, nimrod, kerplunk and Rev radio are my top 5

[Cris.]

5 hours ago, billy1986 said:

Never understood the hate for Youngblood

I wanna hold you like a gun, we'll shoot the moon into the sun 😅

Billie Joe is my favorite song writer of all times, by a long shot, but that line is so terrible. And the way the music emphasizes it, makes it impossible to not pay attention. It ruined the song for me.

I also don't care for Ordinary World 🤷‍♀️

The rest of the album is great though. I love Say Goodbye, it's actually among the top songs in the album for me. Agreed that Somewhere Now/Forever Now is an amazing combo and opening and closer (all the more offensive Ordinary World becomes by just popping up after Forever Now 😅).