Green Day is an iconic American Punk Rock band who has had a very fruitful and surprisingly long career in the music industry. And I say surprising because if you research this band back to their original formation they have been making music since the mid 80s. 1986 was when this band first formed. However, it wasn't until the late '90s they made their major label debut and made their first big splash in the music industry with the hit album "Dookie." It's been awhile since I have listened to that album but I remember it being very edgy and raw both emotionally and musically. The songs on this album had a lot of grit and texture to it. It also had some pretty good songwriting that I feel most teenagers from middle school to high school could relate to. It was a record for people to indulge the darkest parts of their emotions and I still admire the work they did on that record even though I think it has effectively been outgrown by its audience now. Green Day also has a history of digging into politics with their other hit record "American Idiot" which might be my favorite Green Day album. This album was very loaded and relevant for the time it came out in. I feel this album cemented Green Day as a rebellious band who had a cause that people could get behind. “American Idiot” gave this band a purpose and it was a good purpose. Everyone loves a rebel and Green Day at a time made good rebel music. It wasn't ever anything that was controversial, I feel like the band played it rather safe for a mainstream audience, but they still got their points across and I did come away knowing how they felt on certain issues, even if they weren't exactly hot button topics.

This brings us to this record here which is basically Green Day’s failed attempt to recapture the success of “American Idiot.” The only problem is this is 12 year later and Green Day is trying to do what worked for them in 2004, while failing to understand that doing the stuff they did in 2004 in 2016 just sounds like a bunch of rehashed schlock. And that is exactly what this album is, rehashed schlock. Only it’s done with inferior songwriting, soulless instrumentals and production, and sloppier mixing. Basically they’re doing everything that gave them success 12 years ago, but now they’re doing it worse. The biggest problem with this album is that there seems to be no sense of evolution or maturity to this band from where they were in 2004. I alluded to it in the first record how the audience outgrew "Dookie," Green Day has always made music for a younger audience, but that younger audience at this point has outgrown their music. But Green Day is still making their music the same way and trying to act like the rebellious teens that would be attracted to their music. Essentially Green Day isn't growing up with their audience, and it makes for a really awkward and cringe worthy sound.The mixing and production on this thing is very bad. There are moments on here where Billy Joel Armstrong will play acoustic guitar and he will sing just with the guitar and it sounds like he recorded it in his bedroom. The rest of it just sounds like it was recorded on a potato. Also there is this really annoying thing it does where the song will start of really quiet, and you will turn up the volume to try and hear the song and be absolutely deafened by blaring guitars.

There isn’t much else really to say about this project, a lot of it would have gone in one ear and out the other if I wasn’t listening to it with headphones. The lyrics are nearly indecipherable because more often than not they get drowned out by the instrumentals. However, there are a couple of lyrics that do stand out as being good. I won’t say this album is completely worthless as far as its writing. I liked the lyrics to the opening track in particular. But for the most part it just sounds like it’s trying too hard to be edgy and controversial and it is a little uncomfortable listening to the band struggle to do something that used to come so naturally to them.

I will stress some positives before I wrap this up, I like a couple songs on this album. I like “Bang, Bang,” and the title track, which were the two lead off singles for this project. I wasn’t in love with them as singles but in the context of this album I appreciate them more. Mostly because out of all the other songs on this record they are the only ones that actually sound like they have a pulse. “Bang, Bang” has a very powerful guitar riff driving it which underneath the vocals gives the chorus a lot of power and energy to it which I did like. You can bob your head to this track for sure. “Revolution Radio” has an undeniable groove to it, I catch myself humming the chorus to myself quite often. And I did like the song “Say Goodbye” until I realized the reason why I liked it was because it was a direct copy of the song off “American Idiot’ titled “Holiday.” Seriously it’s the same song, same chord progression, just in a different key and a slower tempo. And that to me really drives home my point of how desperately Green Day is trying so hard to regain the relevance that they had back in '04.

I think Green Day is running on fumes. They have been using the same gimmicks since “American Idiot” and have yet to recapture that spark. And with every album they release now, the less likely it seems that they ever will have that spotlight again. In a way I’m not surprised, but I am disappointed how this album fails on just some of the most basic levels of songwriting and production. It’s not well written, it isn’t memorable, and it is not well mixed. The mixes sound so muddy and sloppy that it is barely listenable at times. I’m giving this album a light 4/10 and no recommendation.