Review Summary: Saving their own careers, Green Day return with their finest album in almost two decades
Father of All was a misstep. I know it, you know it, your dog knows it, and your grandma who’s never listened to Green Day in her life knows it. It was a short album with very few memorable moments outside of a catchy chorus or two, complete with awful lyrics and odd production choices. The rumors that it was meant to be a fuck you to Reprise Records do nothing to soften this blow. Since then, it’s been quiet in the land of emerald dawns, with the band releasing little beyond a few singles that were wholly unmemorable.
Then, as 2023 began to enter its final stretches, Green Day, with little prior promotion, dropped “The American Dream Is Killing Me”, introducing the world to their newest album,
Saviors. And it was... good? Like, genuinely good, no bullshit, no reservations aside, honest-to-god
good. More singles followed in short order, and by the time Green Day dropped “Dilemma”, hype for the new album was in full swing. Of course, 4 singles does not a good album make. So feelings were high as I cramped myself in to the halls of a record store to hear the album 6 days before its official drop.
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow degenerates of Sputnik, it gives me the greatest of joys to proclaim that Green Day have officially returned.
To put it simply,
Saviors is the best album Green Day have released post-
American Idiot. It is the sound of a band renewed, with genuine energy behind each and every one of the songs here. It’s evident from the opening chords of “American Dream”, as producer Rob Cavallo returns to production duty to help each note brightly shine, while Billie Joe belts out lines about conspiracies and TikTok. Cheesy? A little, but Green Day have always written music with tongue firmly in cheek. If anything, compared to the cringe cheesiness of
Father of All, this feels like a return to classic Green Day lyric work.
The momentum continues as the album goes on, with second single “Look Ma, No Brains!”, “1981”, and “Coma City” providing pure shots of energy to the arm. You get the sense that these songs were written as apologies for the band’s less-than-stellar previous album, because the more upbeat songs here feel like direct counters to efforts like “Fire, Ready, Aim”.
The ballads here are also incredibly on-point for the band. “Goodnight Adeline” and “Fancy Sauce” provide great moments to slow down amidst the largely energetic track-list, but the standout is the tearjerkingly gorgeous “Father to a Son”, a heartfelt tribute to Billie Joe’s son that is guaranteed to leave some eyes misty by the time it wraps up.
What’s even crazier is the fact that, 14 albums and almost 40 years into their career, Green Day are still capable of new tricks. Just listen to Armstrong’s striking vocals on “Bobby Sox”, unique among both this tracklist, and really Green Day’s entire catalog.
Granted, it’s not entirely perfect, as some of the songs have a bit of a problem with repetitive choruses (“Bobby Sox”, “American Dream”, and
especially final single “One-Eyed Bastard”). However, in a unique twist of fate for Green Day, even at the album’s lowest point (again, “One-Eyed Bastard”), none of the songs are so bad that they warrant a skip. At worst, they’re catchy and enjoyable, nothing enters the realm of truly bad or unlistenable.
Father of All sparked fear that Green Day was officially done, that they had run their course. Never have I been so happy to have a belief be proven wrong.
Saviors is not just a return to form. It is a phoenix rising from ashes, the strongest statement Green Day have made since the god damn 2000s. With energy galore, and genuine great songwriting, the California legends have reclaimed their glory. Welcome back, boys. Welcome back.
