Unpopular Green Day Opinions

[MaraGreenDay]

I think Lady Cobra it's a great song, one of my favorites from ¡Dos!

[fromdecimateddreams]

I'm iffy about Lady Cobra, it's decent but not one of my favourites.

I love love love Ashley and Baby Eyes though. The chorus of Baby Eyes is a little dumb, yeah, but the verses are pretty awesome imo.

[John Aquino]

Amy is my favourite song from Dos! Don`t listen to the other songs as much i like Uno! and Tre! more

[HolyHandGrenade]

Dookie and Insomniac > 39/Smooth and Kerplunk.

I shouldn't even have to say that

Nimrod + Warning > Dookie + Insomniac > 1039/SOSH + Kerplunk

In my book, Nimrod is tied for my favorite GD album with American Idiot. Although their early punk years helped define the band, Nimrod and Warning had some amazing and unexpected songs, along with some of the catchiest tunes (Castaway). Without these two, A.I. wouldn't have even been a consideration. And although the latter and its follower (21CB) had great plots and lyrics, I think gems like Misery, Scattered, and Deadbeat Holiday are even better lyrically. I also love the blunt or comical aspects of The Grouch, Platypus, and King for a Day. I admit that many others don't live up to that standard, but the sum of their respective parts always impress me.

Another opinion: Warning is a poor man's Walking Contradiction

[munns6691]

Warning is probably the weakest song off Warning

[tdlyon]

Yeah, I don't like the song Warning very much. It's way too long for how repetitive it is, and it's not a very good opening track, especially for such an amazing album.

[Caractériel]

Warning is probably the weakest song off Warning

I've never liked that song really. It's a bit monotonous for my liking, but it's by no means the worst song on that album. That dubious honour goes to Hold On.

While we're on the debate of 39/smooth. I think it's a solid album. It's raw, the lyrics are sincere and have a beautiful naivety about them. There are a few shitty tracks on it, but they were young, just starting out and were writing about things from a teenage perspective. It's not as good as Kerplunk, but it deserves a bit more praise I think. As for it being lyrically better than the Trilogy... No. The Trilogy has it's flaws (Make Out Party, Nightlife, Fuck Time) but overall it's a fun trilogy of albums to listen to and it beats the ever loving shit out of 21CB in terms of quality and production.

[The Grouch is Tracy]

I've never liked that song really. It's a bit monotonous for my liking, but it's by no means the worst song on that album. That dubious honour goes to Hold On.

But I love the lyrics of both of them.....

[Caractériel]

But I love the lyrics of both of them.....

It's not so much the lyrics I don't like, it's that Warning as a song drags a little bit and is repetitive and perhaps a little unimaginative. It's not a 'bad' song though. Hold On just sounds like they were running out of ideas. I love Warning as a record though. Church on Sunday and B.S.A.B are two of my all time favorites.

[Z J]

For me it's that sincerity of 39/smooth that makes it a lyrically stronger album than the Trilogy as a whole anyway. And I feel like there are fewer cliches on 39/smooth.

iDOS! is a real grower. Or at least certain tracks are. Lady Cobra rocks pretty hard.

Not big on Lady Cobra or the trilogy lyrics as a whole. But there are still some pretty good verses and the overall structure is better. But yes the sincerity is something that makes certain songs off 39/Smooth really stick. The trilogy lacked a lot of that feeling I thought. It's upbeat and supposed to be humorous I guess but you just don't feel any emotion or passion behind a lot of the songs (when sung live) Granted more than half haven't been performed.

Nimrod + Warning > Dookie + Insomniac > 1039/SOSH + Kerplunk

In my book, Nimrod is tied for my favorite GD album with American Idiot. Although their early punk years helped define the band, Nimrod and Warning had some amazing and unexpected songs, along with some of the catchiest tunes (Castaway). Without these two, A.I. wouldn't have even been a consideration. And although the latter and its follower (21CB) had great plots and lyrics, I think gems like Misery, Scattered, and Deadbeat Holiday are even better lyrically. I also love the blunt or comical aspects of The Grouch, Platypus, and King for a Day. I admit that many others don't live up to that standard, but the sum of their respective parts always impress me.

Another opinion: Warning is a poor man's Walking Contradiction

I disagree on the ranking of the albums, but I will say I agree with a lot of what you write. Castaway is a top 10 GD song for me. Love The Grouch and Platypus too. But the pure anger and fire behind Insomniac and the endlessly relatable Dookie tracks make it hard for me to say that Nimrod or Warning are better.

it's a fun trilogy of albums to listen to and it beats the ever loving shit out of 21CB in terms of quality and production.

Oh come on

[munns6691]

It's not so much the lyrics I don't like, it's that Warning as a song drags a little bit and is repetitive and perhaps a little unimaginative. It's not a 'bad' song though. Hold On just sounds like they were running out of ideas. I love Warning as a record though. Church on Sunday and B.S.A.B are two of my all time favorites.

Warning has good lyrics it just is too long since its repititive. I like Hold On, it's a fun song and the hermonica is badass

[Clean Cut Asshole]

Why are people bashing on 1,039/SOSH? That is my second favorite GD album behind Insomniac. I disagree with people bashing the music on it, I think it's great! I love the raw sound (I really want the guitar tone on the record). The lyrics are brilliant, it has the best solos Billie has ever done, period end of story. It's just a great record overall.

PS: On a side not, I associate 39/Smooth and all the EPs and such together. Mainly because back when I bought it, I didn't know it was a compilation. Plus, all the songs sound close enough (there is difference, but they're all close enough) that they all could be from the same sessions.

[SmoothedOut]

"Every joke can have it's truth but now the joke's on you. I never knew you were such a funny 1, 2 - 1, 2, 3, 4!"

I'm honestly getting tired of the 1, 2, 3, 4's and some of the crowd rallying. I'm being honest. There were some great performances by Green Day in recent years that involved all of their signature stage-playing and crowd rallying and it was perfect for 21st Century Breakdown and the meaning behind the songs on that record but now it's just becoming repetitive. I'm sure the live crowd loves it and I'm sure I wouldn't even mind it if I was in the live crowd myself but I'm being honest here in saying that I'm a little concerned with how Green Day handles their songs. The 1, 2, 3, 4's are just all over the place and sometimes it just ruins the song when Billie says it out of nowhere or during a chorus or some of the best parts of a song. I think it's just completely irrelevant to shout 1, 2, 3, 4 or "Let's go crazy" in the middle of a song like "She" unless you really don't care about the lyrics at all and you're are just jumping up and down like a brain-less buffoon in the mosh-pit. The point is, I'm just disappointed Green Day seem to be aiming for a different direction when it comes to their shows. Sure, they may be one of the best live bands out there thanks to what they do but let's not forget that some people are into them for their lyrics and sound. I prefer an honest Green Day to an overly-entertaining (to the point they sacrifice parts of their songs) Green Day sometimes. Only sometimes.

I agree that 39/Smooth has more lyrical credibility than most of the songs on Uno Dos Tre. Again, for me it's about an honest band that I can relate to over a band that's just relying on the reaction of the crowd to their songs to produce albums. The sad thing is, Green Day would get the crowd going even before American Idiot just by playing their songs the way they used to.

[Guest]

To anyone complaining about the 1 2 3 4's, look at Bruce Springsteen, who's been doing it for the best part of 40 years, and is considered one of the best, if not the best live performer of all time. Literally says it before every song, and does it on most of his records too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qsvvIfcoKU

And if you say that Bruce Springsteen isn't an "honest" performer I will "honestly" laugh in your face.

[SmoothedOut]

As we've discussed before, crowd-interaction is like Green Day's hallmark, and it is part of what makes their shows some of the best shows around. Also, someone was saying awhile back that Billie's other purpose in all of his "1, 2, 3, 4,"-ing is to keep the band from getting off track.

I understand that crowd-interaction is just so important in live-shows and I know Green Day has been very intimate with their audiences (in one way or another) ever since they formed. I didn't say they should completely abolish crowd interaction in their live shows because they are just class when they perform on-stage and they're undeniably one of the best live bands out there. I'm just concerned with the manner in which they achieve that title of being the best live band in the world. They sacrifice parts of songs to replace with 1, 2, 3, Go's and Let's Go Crazy's. They let Jason do the solo for Dominated Love Slave. Sure, all of these little things make for a better live atmosphere and a more impressive sound but that's what I'm concerned about. It's like nowadays it's just all about getting those songs out there and getting them played the right way and getting the crowd pumped up in the right way but never Green Day being Green Day and the songs being the songs. And that's why we ended up with a trilogy that just doesn't seem right.

To anyone complaining about the 1 2 3 4's, look at Bruce Springsteen, who's been doing it for the best part of 40 years, and is considered one of the best, if not the best live performer of all time. Literally says it before every song, and does it on most of his records too.

And if you say that Bruce Springsteen isn't an "honest" performer I will "honestly" laugh in your face.

I don't think saying 1, 2, 3, 4 before a song is bad at all. Dee Dee would say it before the Ramoens would play their songs. It's just that lately Billie's been inserting the phrase in between many of their songs when playing live and I just find it irrelevant to the songs being sung sometimes.

And I don't think Green Day's even reached 30 years yet.

To me, honesty in Green Day performing "Dominated Love Slave" is Tre playing the guitar, Billie Joe playing the drums, and Mike playing the bass. And when it comes to the solo part, it's just Tre not doing the solo and the whole band going wild. That's "Dominated Love Slave" for me. Not Jason playing the solo part simply to replicate the studio version and make the song sound well-composed. If they want to start replicating all their songs just to get that sound out there to the audience and put on a great live show then they might as well recruit some beer-toasting drunkards to toast their beer-glasses around during "Knowledge" to add that extra "atmosphere" to the song. It woudl sound great. But to me they would just be a once great band losing it's original character.

There are benefits to how they perform nowadays but there are also some notable sad truths.

[DookieLukie]

I understand that crowd-interaction is just so important in live-shows and I know Green Day has been very intimate with their audiences (in one way or another) ever since they formed. I didn't say they should completely abolish crowd interaction in their live shows because they are just class when they perform on-stage and they're undeniably one of the best live bands out there. I'm just concerned with the manner in which they achieve that title of being the best live band in the world. They sacrifice parts of songs to replace with 1, 2, 3, Go's and Let's Go Crazy's. They let Jason do the solo for Dominated Love Slave. Sure, all of these little things make for a better live atmosphere and a more impressive sound but that's what I'm concerned about. It's like nowadays it's just all about getting those songs out there and getting them played the right way and getting the crowd pumped up in the right way but never Green Day being Green Day and the songs being the songs. And that's why we ended up with a trilogy that just doesn't seem right.

I don't think saying 1, 2, 3, 4 before a song is bad at all. Dee Dee would say it before the Ramoens would play their songs. It's just that lately Billie's been inserting the phrase in between many of their songs when playing live and I just find it irrelevant to the songs being sung sometimes.

And I don't think Green Day's even reached 30 years yet.

To me, honesty in Green Day performing "Dominated Love Slave" is Tre playing the guitar, Billie Joe playing the drums, and Mike playing the bass. And when it comes to the solo part, it's just Tre not doing the solo and the whole band going wild. That's "Dominated Love Slave" for me. Not Jason playing the solo part simply to replicate the studio version and make the song sound well-composed. If they want to start replicating all their songs just to get that sound out there to the audience and put on a great live show then they might as well recruit some beer-toasting drunkards to toast their beer-glasses around during "Knowledge" to add that extra "atmosphere" to the song. It woudl sound great. But to me they would just be a once great band losing it's original character.

There are benefits to how they perform nowadays but there are also some notable sad truths.

"Green Day being Green Day and the songs being the songs."

What?? Sounds like a pretty weak argument. And "getting the songs out there" and "getting the crowd pumped" makes concerts GOOD, not bad. That's the point.

[munns6691]

"Every joke can have it's truth but now the joke's on you. I never knew you were such a funny 1, 2 - 1, 2, 3, 4!"

I'm honestly getting tired of the 1, 2, 3, 4's and some of the crowd rallying. I'm being honest. There were some great performances by Green Day in recent years that involved all of their signature stage-playing and crowd rallying and it was perfect for 21st Century Breakdown and the meaning behind the songs on that record but now it's just becoming repetitive. I'm sure the live crowd loves it and I'm sure I wouldn't even mind it if I was in the live crowd myself but I'm being honest here in saying that I'm a little concerned with how Green Day handles their songs. The 1, 2, 3, 4's are just all over the place and sometimes it just ruins the song when Billie says it out of nowhere or during a chorus or some of the best parts of a song. I think it's just completely irrelevant to shout 1, 2, 3, 4 or "Let's go crazy" in the middle of a song like "She" unless you really don't care about the lyrics at all and you're are just jumping up and down like a brain-less buffoon in the mosh-pit. The point is, I'm just disappointed Green Day seem to be aiming for a different direction when it comes to their shows. Sure, they may be one of the best live bands out there thanks to what they do but let's not forget that some people are into them for their lyrics and sound. I prefer an honest Green Day to an overly-entertaining (to the point they sacrifice parts of their songs) Green Day sometimes. Only sometimes.

I agree that 39/Smooth has more lyrical credibility than most of the songs on Uno Dos Tre. Again, for me it's about an honest band that I can relate to over a band that's just relying on the reaction of the crowd to their songs to produce albums. The sad thing is, Green Day would get the crowd going even before American Idiot just by playing their songs the way they used to.

More importantly, they played Jackass live recently?

[Z J]

That part in She where he says "let's go crazy" replaces the lyrics "to smash the silence with the brick of self-control" If you read the lyrics the "let's go crazy" is really not out of place. And when he sings the line all the way through he shouts it, which is also kind of symbolic of the lyrics he's singing.

For an Unpopular Opinion I'll throw this out there: Awesome As Fuck is a better concert than Bullet In A Bible.

The AAF dvd is poorly edited, making it hard to watch, but after watching them both again recently, almost everything else is better in AAF than BIAB.

The vocals being the biggest difference. BIAB wasn't great vocally for about half the songs. The only truly great performance was Brain Stew, there were a few other decent ones but BJA sounds strained during some songs.

The 2nd biggest thing is the song selection. AAF had more songs and covered more of their catalog.

Third is just how incredibly tight the band played. The band was great in both, but the 21CB songs seem to be more complicated to play, yet everyone was so in sync. Watch American Eulogy and you can tell how hard they work on timing the vocals and everything else.

Last is the audience. The audience at BIAB was great, but it's very enthusing to watch 20,000 Japanese people staring in awe at BJA while he plays Good Riddance alone. Watch that one too.

BIAB would've been better to me if the emotion and anger behind the album AI was really transferred to the stage. There was something off to me about them singing AI and Holiday in Britain. They lacked some punch. It would have been far better/believable to me if they were somewhere in the U.S., preferably DC. THAT would've made the DVD so much more than just what it was.

[fromdecimateddreams]

For an Unpopular Opinion I'll throw this out there: Awesome As Fuck is a better concert than Bullet In A Bible.

Definitely. The DVDs and editing don't really matter that much to me, but the AAF CD is so much better. I don't really listen to live recordings of things that often, but ever since I got AAF I play it constantly and I actually find myself skipping a lot of the songs from BIAB.

Also AAF has Cigarettes and Valentines which is a winner right there.

[fromdecimateddreams]

I agree, - Awesome As Fuck is better in so many ways, but I still think BIAB is the live GD album for the ages regardless. Maybe it's the focus on "American Idiot" in it, since AI is one of their most important albums, but even though I like AAF better in a lot of ways, I always recommend BIAB to noobs first.

Oh yeah, of course. BIAB is definitely the better one to listen to for someone who's just getting to know the band and want to hear some live stuff, considering how much more of their popular material it had. AAF is aimed more towards people who have been fans a while and know more of their stuff, I think, cause it has songs like J.A.R and Cigarettes and Valentines and a few others that a newer fan wouldn't necessarily know.

They're both great regardless, but AAF is way better imo.

[Z J]

I agree, - Awesome As Fuck is better in so many ways, but I still think BIAB is the live GD album for the ages regardless. Maybe it's the focus on "American Idiot" in it, since AI is one of their most important albums, but even though I like AAF better in a lot of ways, I always recommend BIAB to noobs first.

yeah I understand that angle. It's a grander stage during a period when they were at the height of popularity. I liked it more than AAF until about a week ago.

Definitely. The DVDs and editing don't really matter that much to me, but the AAF CD is so much better. I don't really listen to live recordings of things that often, but ever since I got AAF I play it constantly and I actually find myself skipping a lot of the songs from BIAB.

Also AAF has Cigarettes and Valentines which is a winner right there.

I agree the CD is better. Of course they did take songs from a bunch of different shows so naturally each song is likely their best effort. As for DVD vs. DVD, songs that were played in both shows I tend to like the AAF one better. For example

Good Riddance in AAF > Good Riddance in BIAB

Jesus of Suburbia in AAF>BIAB

Holiday in AAF> BIAB

BOBD is a toss up, but I do like the live track better with out that pre-recorded synth noise or whatever that is

[fromdecimateddreams]

^^ Agreed. I think there's a little less of the audience screaming in the recordings on AAF, which I like better.

And the noise thing in the beginning of the studio version of BOBD is just a distortion pedal on the guitar, I think. It's a pretty nifty sound but it is kinda long, yeah.

[BetterThanAir]

... I'm a little concerned with how Green Day handles their songs. The 1, 2, 3, 4's are just all over the place and sometimes it just ruins the song when Billie says it out of nowhere or during a chorus or some of the best parts of a song. I think it's just completely irrelevant to shout 1, 2, 3, 4 or "Let's go crazy" in the middle of a song like "She" unless you really don't care about the lyrics at all and you're are just jumping up and down like a brain-less buffoon in the mosh-pit. The point is, I'm just disappointed Green Day seem to be aiming for a different direction when it comes to their shows.

I don't think they're aiming for a different direction. They're aiming to entertain people and give them a night to remember. It'd be pretty boring to just see people sing and not get into the show aspect. For example, I used to be a really big Muse fan. I do still like them and I have seen them twice but I think their stage presence is nothing compared to what Green Day has. It isn't like he's randomly screaming numbers out or anything. It's always to the beat of the song and he never cuts into the middle of lyrics. He may not say the end of a line or something but like someone above said it's probably to keep everyone on track. It has nothing to do with not caring about lyrics. If they didn't care about a song anymore they'd probably just not play it, like how (again, for example) Muse hasn't played any of their brilliant songs all the time anymore. I personally love the audience interaction. And also, I wouldn't pay money to go to a concert and just stand or sit. I pay money to have a fucking great time so you bet your ass I'm going to be jumping around. It's not like the crowd rallying affects their songs in any way. In my eyes, if they can rally up a crowd AND play well, that's pretty amazing. The only point I see that's somewhat valid in this argument is maybe it'd be a bit of a downer if he said some numbers instead of your favourite lyrics of a song, but it's a show and at a show you go there to see a band you like, listen to music you like, AND have a good time. Entertainment is a huge factor and if you just want to listen to straight lyrics, that's why they have the song on an album. You pay money to be entertained by the music AND performance, ultimately.

I'm not trying to bash your opinion or anything. I mean, I don't agree with it but I just want you to know how some other people see it.

[WhiteTim]

If BIAB didnt cut away from the concert I'd say it'dhelp be better than AAF

They should have had the interviews and stuff as a documentary as a bonus footage

[bagelfeet]

More importantly, they played Jackass live recently?

If they did that would be awesome! Haha that's my favorite song off of Warning (unpopular opinion?)