I really didn't want to review this. I wanted to just let this one go. I didn't want to look like TOO big a Green Day fanboy. But three mediocre efforts of this excellent collection of Green Day have incurred the wrath of the fanboy. So be afraid people. Be very afraid....
Anyway, onto the actual review. Ever since Dookie, Green Day was a huge multimillionaire band, putting out solid album after solid album. After Warning, however, the band was in a rut. They were arguing. Billie was scared to show Mike and Tre new songs. He could hear their voices saying "That sucks" in his head. Green Day had forgotten how to be friends with eachother. So after their sub-par studio album Warning, they went on a long, drawn out hi-aidas. It appeared the band was breaking up. So what does a huge successful rock band do on the point of breaking up? They release a greatest hits. Enter International Superhits, a huge collection of the biggest, largest....um....Superhits ever churned out by the California trio.
Now I know what you're thinking. You're on your high horse saying "Oh, every greatist hits sucks, except the ones that have songs that no one knows." Yeah, first off, your defenition of a greatest hits album is completely backwards. But Green Day accounted for you crazy little people. Now, an ordinary band would put out a greatest hits with 18 songs people know and call it a day. But Green Day is not your ordinary successful pop punk band. They came out with a new song, and two songs relatively unknown to the general public. The new song,
Poprocks and Coke, is garbage. But the other two songs,
Maria and
J.A.R. are two excellent pieces of work. To give you an idea of Maria, it is a hot punk song that has (Gasp!) A political edge to it! (Scandal!). Now before you American Idiot bashers raise your fists, it's incredibly easy to not notice the one political line in the entire song. Other than that, the song has a catchy chorus and some good verses. It's the Waiting B-Side, and it is completely better than Waiting in every way. J.A.R. is a song written by Mike Dirnt, and is found on the Angus soundtrack. Shockingly, it doesn't suck. It begins with a fun bassline and has an anthem chorus that Green Day's best work always has. Catch the A Capella ending with Billie and Mike harmonizing with absolutely nothing behind them. That makes the song the cool little diddy it is.
Other than the new songs that are scattered throughout the album, the rest of the hits you KNOW are basically thrown together in chronilogical order. After Poprocks and Coke (shudders), you find that rolling tom roll and that cathcy as hell bassline that make up everyone's favorite song about masturbation,
Longview. Let the nostalgia begin. All of your favorite Dookie hits are on here, from the panicky skater anthem
Basket Case, to the unknown gem of a single
She.
Welcome To Paradise makes it's third apperance on a Green Day album, and it's arguably the greatest song musically Green Day's ever written. The world famous bass solo is truly something to be commended, and truly shows the talent Mike Dirnt could have brought to heights never before seen, if only Billie's later songs didn't greatly hinder his work. Tre's work is also the best here, especially on Basket Case.
The Insomniac section has nothing to complain about. The darker punk anthems of
Geek Stink Breath and
Stuck With Me are absolutely underrated Green Day songs. Stuck With Me has an explosive riff that has that power filled chorus that I already said is part of every truly great Green Day song. Oddly enough, the easiest song ever is the biggest hit off Insomniac.
Brain Stew is a cathcy song, even if it's critics call it just a cash-in on nu-metal. It's repetetive riff is the biggest part of it's charm. Hoever this segways into the furious
Jaded, which is a magnificent play-as-fast-as-you-can diddy that is jam-packed with attitude and several genius lines that get lost in Billie's totally non-understandable spits.
The quality of the work begins to shift from punk to pop here, as we reach the Nimrod section. Starting with the dark Stray Cats ripoff
Hitchin' a Ride, the Nimrod section has some great songs. Hitchin' a Ride has one of the best solo's ever done, with max distortion and a cathcy as hell riff that pops up throughout the song. This is curiously followed by the final single off the album,
Good Riddance. Now if you've never heard Good Riddance, there is literally something wrong with you. It's the most touching, soulful piece of work to ever come out of Billie's head. It's the first song I could ever play on guitar, which is a testament to how simple it is. However that chord progression has become a staple of American culture, giving voice to an aimless genration that was brought up on years of bad TV and the doesn't-know-***-about-music Music Television. The Nimrod section rounds out with the powerful but forgettable [bRedundant[/b] and the fantastic punk anthem
Nice Guys Finish Last. Nice Guys Finish Last is definitely worth a listen even if you don't like Green Day that much. The instrumental work is not noticeable here, a thing that has plagued Green Day's music ever since Nimrod.
The Warning section begins with the magnificent bass heavy
Minority. Minority is a great song that is the last Green Day song taking advantage of Mike's creative bass fills and other work. Minority is the biggest hit off of Warning, and rightfully so. Billie's kickass *** 'em all line is damn well a reason to give this song a spin.
Warning follows, and it's a catchy but forgettable song that uses clever metaphors, but a repetetive acoustic riff dooms the song to mediocrity.
Waiting blatantly rips off "Downtown" and is not a good song by any stretch of the imagination. However all is forgotten with the touching
Macy's Day Parade. Macy's Day Parade is another acoustic ballad that takes pretty much no talent to play. However it is laden with some wisened vocals done by Billie. This gives the song the edge it needs to be a classic. It was the first song I learned on bass, and it's definitely a Green Day classic.
OVERALL
Green Day's success is unparalled by any band in the nineties, and that cannot be denied. They are gods of music, whether you like them or not. Hey did the Greeks like Hades, god of the underworld? No, of course not. But nevertheless he is a god. So shutup all you Green Day haters. This is a victory lap for a great band that was on the verge of breaking up. Thankfully, they did not break up, otherwise I would never have gotten into them, and my idea of punk would be Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, and New Found Glory. And that's just wrong.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
Longview
Maria
Good Riddance
Minority
Stuck With Me
Jaded
PROS:
Yay for Mike's basswork on the 1st half of the album.
21 songs! That's like a third more than rivals' The Offspring and Nirvana's greatest hits.
Every great song you could want by the California trio.
A perfect introduction for any green Green Day enthusiast.
CONS:
Waiting
Seriously that's it.
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