Blasphemy & Genocide: Unpopular Green Day Opinions, Part 2

[Beerjeezus]

On 8/30/2022 at 2:17 PM, pacejunkie punk said:

I wonder if he was a little deflated 

BE: I love Green Day! 😍

BJ: Really? Wow! What’s your favorite song?

BE: All By Myself 🤩

BJ: … but… that’s… 😶

I think that’s exactly what happened

[Zebahar]

I don’t think Tre is all that funny anymore.

Back in the day when he was just a young punk, I think his wild behavior and dirty jokes and weird faces were funny because it fit that character. He’s now an old man, a DAD, and it seems like his jokes are much more forced now.

i could go without ever seeing him make a goofy side eye look again during an interview after making some sexual joke.

[Beerjeezus]

I think he’s basically your average creepy dude but he plays it off as jokes.

[Rumpelstiltskin2000]

1 hour ago, Zebahar said:

I don’t think Tre is all that funny anymore.

Back in the day when he was just a young punk, I think his wild behavior and dirty jokes and weird faces were funny because it fit that character. He’s now an old man, a DAD, and it seems like his jokes are much more forced now.

i could go without ever seeing him make a goofy side eye look again during an interview after making some sexual joke.

I still remember during a Trilogy interview Tré saying "Green Day wants to be inside of you Japan" and Billie cracking up afterwards. He's a bit of a liability (Tré)

[That Dude]

On 8/19/2022 at 1:42 PM, 龑美優 (Miyu Yan) said:

The real unpopular opinion is to love Christian's Inferno. I'm not sure why people like to pretend their popular opinions are unpopular. 

It does have less streams than the rest of Breakdown, except for See the Light.   But 7.5 millions is a pretty high number.   

Another interesting fact is that the title track of Father of All got more streams than much of 21st Century Breakdown.  

 

[Rumpelstiltskin2000]

1 minute ago, That Dude said:

Another interesting fact is that the title track of Father of All got more streams than much of 21st Century Breakdown.  

 

I wonder if that's because streaming wasn't such a "thing" when 21CB was released? 

[Flashback]

5 hours ago, That Dude said:

It does have less streams than the rest of Breakdown, except for See the Light.   But 7.5 millions is a pretty high number.   

Another interesting fact is that the title track of Father of All got more streams than much of 21st Century Breakdown.  

 

I think that‘s because 21CB was released before streaming got to powerful, and I mean this album is more than 10 years old. Compare the sold units of these two album and you will see a massive difference

[Christian's Inferno!]

21CB was released at a time where streaming was barely a thing and as a result, despite being a more popular album, the deep cuts end up having equivalent or less streams than the deep cuts of RevRad while the singles and more popular non-single tracks end up having more streams than the singles and popular non-single tracks on RevRad, most notably 21 Guns & Know Your Enemy having more streams than Still Breathing & Bang Bang respectively

When it comes to Father of All, the non-singles on that album have less streams than every non-single track on 21CB, while the bigger singles of the album (Father of All and Oh Yeah) only have slightly higher streaming numbers than the less successful singles of 21CB which weren't even promoted. While FOAMF and RevRad have the advantage of being released in a time where streaming is much more prevalent, since their releases the rate at which people stream these albums has and will continue to reduce while 21CB should stay more consistent meaning that none of the tracks on FOAMF or RevRad should surpass any of the tracks on 21CB while a lot of the tracks on 21CB will likely surpass some of the tracks on those albums at some point

[Psycho Britney]

I wish everybody would stop referring to GD as a heritage act. No they are not. They are still making and recording new music. OK so FOAM might not be my personal favourite GD album, but I still think it has some good songs on it. Every band has highs and lows, and everyone has an opinion and a different take on the music output, but just to say GD are a heritage act because of the last record (or even because of 'The Triliolgy' is stupid). Maybe not everything has gone to plan with the release of the last few records, (BJ's rehab stint etc) and Covid disrupting record promotion and touring, but that doesn't mean that the band is not proud of it's music or doesn't care anymore. GD have always changed their sound or tried new things on records, they do not just regurgitate the same thing all the time. Sometimes things work better than others, but they try.  Yes it would be nice if GD sometimes mixed up setlists a bit more and played a few more surprising songs, but they have to try to please a lot of people who make up a crowd, who might only know the most popular songs. They want everybody to have a good time at the shows, and I suppose they think by playing the hits, they are pleasing the majority. They will never be able to pick a setlist that will please everybody 100%. OK rant over!

[Doggins]

Bang Bang is one of their worst songs

 

(It's funny whenever people speak of RevRad I often see comments like "Album is OK but Bang Bang is one of the best singles of all time, whereas I'm the opposite. I love that album but always skip that song

 

OH BY THE WAY when it first came out I really liked it...... )

Thanks for listening 

 

[Christian's Inferno!]

On 1/14/2023 at 1:02 PM, Doggins said:

Bang Bang is one of their worst songs

 

(It's funny whenever people speak of RevRad I often see comments like "Album is OK but Bang Bang is one of the best singles of all time, whereas I'm the opposite. I love that album but always skip that song

 

OH BY THE WAY when it first came out I really liked it...... )

Thanks for listening 

 

What do you not like about it??

[dreamykatie]

On 1/14/2023 at 5:02 AM, Doggins said:

Bang Bang is one of their worst songs

 

(It's funny whenever people speak of RevRad I often see comments like "Album is OK but Bang Bang is one of the best singles of all time, whereas I'm the opposite. I love that album but always skip that song

 

OH BY THE WAY when it first came out I really liked it...... )

Thanks for listening 

 

It's a good song but it hasn't aged well, unfortunately. Days after the Uvalde shooting I was at an anime convention and they were playing the song in the Dealer's Room and it was extremely jarring to hear. I'm honestly surprised Green Day played it this summer at some festivals. 

[FOAMfinger]

The song has actually aged incredibly well, the lyrics and messaging are on point. 

[jengd]

I can see there are times when it’s a little too close to home but it’s a massively relevant song with all the shootings in the US.  Painful but as @FOAMfinger says, totally on point.

[dreamykatie]

21 hours ago, jengd said:

I can see there are times when it’s a little too close to home but it’s a massively relevant song with all the shootings in the US.  Painful but as @FOAMfinger says, totally on point.

Yeah, I guess I worded it a bit wrong. It's aged well but in an incredibly unfortunate way.  I guess since I work in the school system now I'm a bit sensitive to it, since (and I know this is veering into too personal) now that's one of major fears now. 

[FOAMfinger]

You are 100% correct. It is a song that one would have wished was no longer as relevant as it is today. A sad reality of the world that so little is being done to truly address this issue in any meaningful capacity. It is tragic that the song holds up as much as it does in terms of cultural relevance. 

[67kurt94]

American Idiot should've been a shorter album, at 48:16 instead of 57:14. 

"Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Whatsername" could've been left off and relegated to Single only, or B-Side or Unreleased material.

[Christian's Inferno!]

51 minutes ago, 67kurt94 said:

American Idiot should've been a shorter album, at 48:16 instead of 57:14. 

"Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Whatsername" could've been left off and relegated to Single only, or B-Side or Unreleased material.

Do you just not like those songs or do you just think they don't add anything to the album's story? Because Whatsername is the conclusion to the story and is considered one of the band's best non-singles and WMUWSE wouldn't have been as big of a hit if it weren't an album single

[Miko]

13 hours ago, Christian's Inferno! said:

Do you just not like those songs or do you just think they don't add anything to the album's story? Because Whatsername is the conclusion to the story and is considered one of the band's best non-singles and WMUWSE wouldn't have been as big of a hit if it weren't an album single

I guess their point was that those songs would be removed due to them not being important to story; WMUWSE is the only song that doesn't have any affiliation with AI's main story and Homecoming could serve as albums closer instead of Whatsername, but that's the only thing I really disagree with. Whatsername is a perfect closer for a perfect album.

I agree that WMUWSE doesn't belong on American Idiot and it could've been released as additional single or even postponed to next album. It's a great song and it absolutely deserves to be a single, but it still should've not been on American Idiot.

[dreamykatie]

13 hours ago, Christian's Inferno! said:

Do you just not like those songs or do you just think they don't add anything to the album's story? Because Whatsername is the conclusion to the story and is considered one of the band's best non-singles and WMUWSE wouldn't have been as big of a hit if it weren't an album single

There was no better time for WMUWSE to come out tbh. Billie was finally ready, and because it was only 3 years after and regarding the subject matter of the music video, people regarded it as a song about losing loved ones to 9/11 and the ongoing war. I regard it as the best song about grief, one of Green Day's best songs, and the best song Billie has ever written. (Although Whatsername is close.) 

Seeing it performed live too... no GD song hits as hard as that one. 

[Christian's Inferno!]

24 minutes ago, Miko said:

I guess their point was that those songs would be removed due to them not being important to story; WMUWSE is the only song that doesn't have any affiliation with AI's main story and Homecoming could serve as albums closer instead of Whatsername, but that's the only thing I really disagree with. Whatsername is a perfect closer for a perfect album.

I agree that WMUWSE doesn't belong on American Idiot and it could've been released as additional single or even postponed to next album. It's a great song and it absolutely deserves to be a single, but it still should've not been on American Idiot.

WMUWSE could be interpreted as Jimmy's depression following Whatsername leaving him in Letterbomb. Obviously that's not gonna be the main message of the song and there's no direct mention of any of the characters or themes of the album's story but I don't see why it wouldn't fit on the album. Even if you don't see that as a valid interpretation in the album's story, the album is more than just a story about Jesus/Jimmy/Whatsername, it's social & political commentary and WMUWSE does commentary in an indirect way, while it was originally written about Billie's dad, the interpretation of 9/11 and war is a popular interpretation of the song and used for the song's music video

Regardless, WMUWSE is a great song and if it weren't on American Idiot, people would be listening to it far less. I hate when my favourite bands have some of their best songs be non-album tracks because I'm less likely to listen to them or to even remember them if they're not on a studio album. I'm glad WMUWSE is on the album and I think it's only done good things for them that the song appears on the album and was released as a single for the album, as it would not be as well known as it is if it were released at another time or as a non-album single

[That Dude]

On 2/24/2023 at 3:27 AM, 67kurt94 said:

American Idiot should've been a shorter album, at 48:16 instead of 57:14. 

"Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Whatsername" could've been left off and relegated to Single only, or B-Side or Unreleased material.

Yes, the story and music would still make sense without those songs, but I couldn't cut them out of American Idiot.  They are so good.   

And I never understood how Wake Me Up When September Ends stands apart from the record.  Whatshername dropped/mailed a bomb to St Jimmy, calling him out on his deepest insecurities, put the blame squarely on his shoulders and then ripped his beating heart from his chest.   And that's what that song is.   It's about hurting.

A girl. A flood. A death.  That's another element of the Idiot story.  Much like Homecoming and Letterbomb shown us Jesus and Jimmy are one person, this shows us that it's also the real life of Billie Joe Armstrong.  It's me. It's you. It's Mike and Tre.  It's George W. Bush.  It's Whatshername.   It's the town bishop.

Even though our hearts don't beat the same, we're all hurting.

 

[Lenny]

On 2/24/2023 at 6:56 PM, dreamykatie said:

There was no better time for WMUWSE to come out tbh. Billie was finally ready, and because it was only 3 years after and regarding the subject matter of the music video, people regarded it as a song about losing loved ones to 9/11 and the ongoing war. I regard it as the best song about grief, one of Green Day's best songs, and the best song Billie has ever written. (Although Whatsername is close.) 

Seeing it performed live too... no GD song hits as hard as that one. 

It got thrown into the hurricane katrina mess too. You’re right there was no better time to drop that song. 
 

Green Day had no trouble shooting out hits for AI but this song was literally a right place at the right time ordeal. 

[Montclare]

I like hand claps.

[Rumpelstiltskin2000]

7 hours ago, Montclare said:

I like hand claps.

Me too