Tag Archives: green day

My iPod #475: Green Day – Green Day

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An old old old Green Day song today. “Green Day” is a track from the band’s first album 39 Smooth released in 1990 when they weren’t signed to a major label and didn’t have Tré Cool as their drummer. Weird to think, huh? But it’s very true.

You may think it a bit strange to have a song with the same name as the band itself. I know I did for a long time. But it was after realisation that the track was probably written whilst the band weren’t known as “Green Day” but by the name of “Sweet Children” initially. It’s known that the group changed their name to the former just because it sounded better – which I’m sure we can all agree on – and the context behind it is pretty funny too. When you smoke weed, it’s a green day.

And so, that is what this song is about. Smoking weed. Seeing strange things whilst under the influence. All set to an unpolished production of punk rock. Niiiice.

My iPod #406: Green Day – Geek Stink Breath

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If you’re a bit squeamish, have a nervous disposition, or specifically are not interested in observing close-ups a tooth being pulled out of a person’s mouth… then the video above is not the one to watch. And yet, it was the treatment Green Day chose to be used in the video to promote the first single from their upcoming album “Insomniac“. Last seen aimlessly walking around the streets of California at night singing about an up-in-the-air relationship a few months before, the band were now louder, harsher, and in-your-face, and performing in a bright red room bursting out a track about methamphetamine use.

And those descriptions above are a few reasons why I tend to prefer “Insomniac” over “Dookie” sometimes. From what I’ve noticed the consensus is that “Insomniac” is “Dookie’s little brother”, and is okay-but-just-not-as-good as that album. It seems a bit hypocritical to say that the two shouldn’t be compared to one another, seeing as I just did that in the first sentence of this paragraph. But I will say that “Insomniac” is a underrated as hell. Give it some respect. Turns twenty this October, I want some recognition.

Admittedly “Geek Stink Breath” was not a song of theirs that I liked when I first began listening to Green Day a decade ago. The video might have had something to do with that feeling. It might have had a lot to do with it, actually. But the track, to me, sounded very, very, very simple. Didn’t really like the song’s chord progression. The vocal melody wasn’t didn’t have the effect like others such as “Minority”, “Longview”, or “Stuck with Me” had on me…. and Billie Joe sounded too snotty and grimy too. I just couldn’t get into it.

Listening to a song over and over again can have a strange effect sometimes, though. I wouldn’t say it is one of Green Day’s best songs; it’s not one of the best songs on “Insomniac”. But I think it’s choice as a single was very appropriate. The perfect song to present the band’s new sound and image. Overall, it’s alright.

Mash-Ups

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So as I was saying yesterday, 2009-2010 was my Beatles year. And because of my sudden interest in the group, I got “The Beatles Rock Band” as a present early in the first month of the new decade. Now I was able to play along with George, Ringo, John and Paul on 45 of their signature tracks (and three albums extra as DLC). Undeniable fun was had. Though once all the songs were there and I’d played them all that fun faded away. Hope that every Beatles song would be added to game was dashed as days passed.

But  buying the game led me to joining its official forum where I chatted to some cool people. They owned the game, and liked The Beatles as much as I did. What could go wrong? That’s when you expect the heel-turn. But nothing did go wrong. It was a good few months on there.

The best thing I did on there, was contribute to a ‘community mash-up’ album conceived by another member. It was meant to be in the style of the ‘LOVE’ album of 2006 made for the Cirque du Soleil show. Obviously, ours weren’t as professional or on the same level as those tracks. But the process of making it was one of the most exciting things, and the ending product was pretty well done. The album’s title? “Melodies of Memories”. Very nice.

You can follow the album’s making by clicking here. You can also watch each song’s video on YouTube via clicking on this whole sentence. I am the member named ‘JAMZFTW’. I have reasons behind the name, but I won’t tell them. I also made some extra songs that didn’t make it on there, either because they didn’t fit or because it was too late. That ended up being an “EP” which I appropriately named “PEACE”. ‘Cause ‘Peace and Love’, get it? Click on here to download it.

I got so hyped up over the ‘mash-up’ idea that I ended up making many more. A sequel to “Melodies of Memories” was initiated by another forum member literally days after the first. That member then disappeared, and didn’t log in for a long time. How did it end? Well, the sequel was released eventually entitled “All Things Must Return”. That album and the songs from “Peace” would be on YouTube had the company not terminated my account, which I’m still sad about to this day.

I was even determined to start a part 2 to *that* incorporating the use of Beatles solo material to do the mash-ups. That album died. No one cared. And to be honest, I didn’t either. Songs were made though. Those are all in my Mediafire account. I will share those below. A Green Day Mash-Up album was also started. That died too. As did a Pink Floyd/Beatles mash-up album.

But a huge shout-out goes to the members on those forums. Glad I got the chance to participate in something that was so fun, creative and very productive.

IN SUMMARY, CLICK ON THESE LINKS:

Melodies of Memories (April 2010 – May 2010): The Beatles Community Mash-Up Album and the aftermath of its ‘release’.

PEACE (May 2010): The above’s accompanying “EP”.

Echoes of Love (Started July 2010 – died): The Beatles/Pink Floyd Mash-up album that didn’t quite happen. Though here are two tracks I did for it. Download here and here.

Green Day Community Mash-Up Album (Started August 2010 – finished never): Started in dedication to the then new release of “Green Day: Rock Band”. Wasn’t finished. Good songs were made for it though. All download links are on that forum.

The Beatles Acoustic Medley Pt. 3 (October 2010): A little something something requested by a forum member which I was happy to do.

All Things Must Return (May 2010 – January 2011): The sequel to “Melodies of Memories”. The Beatles Community Mash-Up Album II and the aftermath of its ‘release’. As I already said it’s not on YouTube anymore. You can still download the album here though.

All Things Must Return II (Started 2010 – Never finished): I actually did the first song for the album in 2010, combining “How Do You Sleep” by Lennon, “Too Many People” by McCartney and “Wah-Wah” by Harrison to make the song “Thinking of You” – a phrase taken from the latter song. Fitting because all three songs were written with the other Beatles in mind. However, actual work on the album didn’t start until February 2011, when the first “All Things Must Return” was done. As you can see, nothing really came of it. The mash-up era was over.

Enjoy listening to whatever you can though. Hope you have as much fun listening as I did making them.

My iPod #347: Green Day – Extraordinary Girl

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Well, well, well. It has come to this. After a month and a few weeks, I have reached the end of the ‘E’ section of My iPod. It has been good fun. I hope I have encouraged you to listen to some of the songs I hear on a regular basis, even if I don’t use any technical language or various adjectives in any of my posts. I write with feeling, you know, so who needs those things?

And so to end it is “Extraordinary Girl”, a track from Green Day’s album “American Idiot” which will have existed on this planet for ten years this coming September. It’s not their best one, but I would say that it is definitely the band’s last great album. “21st Century Breakdown” was ehhhhh…. (some songs from it are cool, but as a whole it’s not brilliant) and the “Uno,Dos,Tre!” trilogy….. not a big fan, I’ll leave it at that.

So anyone who owns “American Idiot” will know that it’s a rock opera and there’s a whole story narrated throughout the tracks. Anyone who doesn’t can look it up for themselves because I can’t be bothered to go through it all now :D.

What I will tell you is that “Extraordinary Girl” comes at the point where the main character has found love in “Whatsername”, the female character in the story, and the track takes on an omniscient narration on how both characters are feeling at this point. It is not going too well, and (spoilers) by the next track the relationship is over. Very sad. I think you have to listen to the album to feel the emotion, ’cause I know I sound like I don’t care at all.

That’s the song story-wise. Musically, it’s very nice to listen to. It begins with some sort of Middle Eastern sounding tribal percussion which quietly gets the ball rolling for 40 seconds until Tré smacks the snare drum and the track properly starts. Billie Joe throws in some alveolar trills here and there, and that along with the high guitar riff that plays during the introduction and breaks makes the song sound a bit Spanish sometimes. With relaxing, simple chord progressions and a steady pace to it “Extraordinary Girl” is a track to chill out to after “She’s a Rebel” and also something to get you eased up before the roller-coaster “Letterbomb”. Real sweet one.

AND THAT’S IT. The E’s are finished. Probably won’t be hearing from me for a while. I will try and think of something to put on here. You know I hate to leave you, but I’ll be back again.

My iPod #321: Green Day – Emenius Sleepus

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This is “Ememius Sleepus”, a song by Green Day on their classic album “Dookie“. It’s one that has lyrics written by the band’s bassist Mike Dirnt, and according to their Rock Band contains some of the most difficult drumming in a Green Day song. Being part of those four under-two-minute tracks near the end of the album, the track may be overlooked and underestimated by some. I actually really like this song. I don’t even have “Basket Case” on my iPod, that’s how highly I regard this track.

The track is from the point of view of a person who sees a childhood friend after a period of not seeing them. They have changed…. for the worst. The narrator is disgusted by this, and wants to go home. I haven’t experienced this as of yet, but I get the feeling that when I’m much older I definitely will. In the end, the narrator ponders on whether anyone tried to help the friend, but forgets about it and decides to actually go home.

So, like every other song on “Dookie”, there is probably only four/five chords on this song. All very typical on punk albums like “Dookie”. I think all the magic is in the rhythm section. Tré Cool goes ape on the drums as per usual as you can see in that Rock Band video above (even though doesn’t really represent real drums), and Dirnt plays his trademark bass lines where he plays on the low strings before skipping to a higher one for a brief second before returning to the low ones again. His playing during the bridge section is quite nice too.

It is a short track, that is very true. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s just as important as all the other thirteen (fourteen?) tracks that accompany it on the album.