Green Day – Uno!
Label: Warner Bros
Released: September 2012
Reviewed by Shayne McGowan
8/10
Obviously there is a bit of controversy surrounding Billie Joe Armstrong at the moment, due to his on stage rant a few weeks ago, and talk of a stint in rehab, but do not let that overshadow the fact that Green Day has just released an absolute cracker of an album.
UNO! Is possibly the ultimate Green Day record, in the way that it pays homage to all of their previous work, with added emphasis on elements of Dookie and American Idiot, which were the bands two biggest releases in their career. UNO! Is of course the first in a series of three albums to be rolled out over the next six months, which is definitely a huge work load for a band, especially by todays standards of artists spending 4 or 5 years between releases.
I’m not even going to run through the songs track by track, because I think all are great. Funnily enough “Oh Love” which was the first single, is actually the weakest song in my opinion, with the frantic rocker “Let Yourself Go” and the dance inspired anthem “Kill the DJ” being the two biggest highlights for me. Elsewhere on the album, “Stay All Night” and “Troublemaker” provide some fantastic listening, while an honourable mention has to go to “Carpe Diem”.
I think that Billie Joe has spent the last twenty odd years as a much underrated song writer, guitarist and vocalist, and is really attempting to highlight his talents, while also venting a little bit of anger and regaining a little bit of the edge that Green Day might have lost in recent years. The rhythm section of Mike Dirnt on bass and Tre Cool on drums is extremely tight, and provides the backbone for the Green Day sound that we all know so well.
After their last album “20th Century Breakdown” failed to impress me, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the band next, so it’s fair to say I have been pleasantly surprised. As a long time Green Day fan, I am very glad to see them return to form, although I am interested to see where they will go on the next two releases in this series, because UNO! just might be a hard act to follow.
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Category: CD Reviews