Green Day: Rock Band Review

Rock Band and Green Day junkies rejoice, because the newest addition to our ever-growing arsenal of songs is here: Green Day: Rock Band, the second band-centric Rock Band game since The Beatles: Rock Band. But, how does this game stack up to the previous Rock Band games?

If you are a Green Day fan, then this is hands-down a must buy. The game comes with 47 songs (all of which are Green Day, suck on that Activision!), three entire albums: 1994's Dookie, 2004's American Idiot, and 2009's 21st Century Breakdown (counting the six tracks already available as DLC), along with eight of their older hits from other albums thrown into the mix; nothing off 39/Smooth or Kerplunk however. However, if you're not a Green Day fan, then I suggest renting the game and at least giving it a shot, you may be surprised at what you find.

Now, I myself am a big fan of Green Day, and I found myself loving every minute of this game. The graphics and animations actually seem to be a step up from Rock Band 2, thanks mostly in part to the band actually being motion-captured (which obviously could not be done with The Beatles) and Harmonix did a wonderful job making it seem like you are at an actual Green Day concert.

Oh, how you've changed... Green Day, not the gameplay.

In terms of game play, I found that the guitar and bass are rather repetitive, but I found myself enjoying the songs so much that I never got sick of playing. Singing is... well, it's singing, if your familiar with the songs then you will, without a doubt, enjoy it; and the three-part harmonies from The Beatles: Rock Band return here. But, if you're not a big Green Day fan, but you love playing drums, then you are in luck, for the drums are the definite strong point of the game. I've listened to Green Day for years, but it never really hit me just how good of a drummer Tre Cool is until I played some of these songs. I don't see myself getting bored of ANY of these songs anytime soon, they give just enough challenge to satisfy your every drumming need. Constantly changing beat, tons of drum rolls, and he even presents possibly the hardest drum solos in Rock Band yet (seriously, they are insane!).

All in all, I would have to say that Green Day: Rock Band is a must buy for Green Day fans, and it is certainly worth a rent for the average Rock Band/Guitar Hero player, maybe you'll even find a new found love for some good old fashion punk rock.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

Green Day: Rock Band is available in both regular $60 version and a $70 PLUS version which includes a voucher to export the songs to Rock Band and Rock Band 2 (eventually Rock Band 3 as well) and includes the 6 21st Century Breakdown DLC tracks. This review was based on the PLUS version for Xbox 360, which is basically just like the regular edition, but PS3 and Wii versions should play the same (minus the visuals on the latter) .

After Thoughts: Green Day - Madison Square Garden; July 27, 2009

Kind of a backwards process from last year's Foo Fighters' concert After Thoughts, as I've already posted all the media prior to this. But one year later, the feature has become refined.

As the title states, the concert was at Madison Square Garden, right in New York City. The show was the first of two nights at the arena, and the first show of the tour with Kaiser Chiefs opening (The Bravery opened for the previous shows, and Franz Ferdinand will replace Kaiser Chiefs later in the tour). Personal fact, this was also the first concert where I was actually excited to see both the opening and headlining bands!

Kaiser Chiefs opened with a bang, starting the show off with "Never Miss A Beat" without any introductions. A bulk of the crowd was poser-punks and younger kids sadly, so not a lot of people were getting into the band. I was a distance away, but I enjoyed them no less and really dug Kaiser Chiefs' stage presence, particularly lead singer, Ricky Wilson's energy.

Kaiser Chiefs' set list was surprisingly short, only playing eight songs which lasted about thirty minutes:
1. Never Miss A Beat / 2. Ruby / 3. Everyday I Love You Less and Less / 4. The Angry Mob / 5. I Predict A Riot / 6. You Want History / 7. Take My Temperature / 8. Oh My God

But despite the set list being short, it featured some of the band's finest songs, not to mention the B-side track, "Take My Temperature", which I never heard prior to the show was pretty awesome. So all in all, it was a short but sweet opener, and I love to see Kaiser Chiefs live again.

However, the reason most people in the building came to the show was for Green Day, obviously. Interesting fact, prior to the band coming out, next to where I was sitting there was this little VIP section, and Billie Joe Armstrong's wife was there; nothing exciting, but I'm just saying. Soon after, the lights went out, and "Song of the Century" started to play, with the familiar piano playing of "21st Century Breakdown" starting to play, the back drop lit up, and BAM! the band started to play. And lucky for you readers I recorded the whole thing and uploaded it.

Now, while Kaiser Chiefs' set was short, Green Day's was not, in fact it was about two and a half hours, spanning over 30 songs! Here's the run down:
1. Song of the Century / 2. 21st Century Breakdown / 3. Know Your Enemy / 4. East Jesus Nowhere / 5. Holiday / 6. The Static Age / 7. Before the Lobotomy / 8. Are We the Waiting / 9. St. Jimmy / 10. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams / 11. 2000 Light Years Away / 12. Welcome To Paradise/ 13. Castaway (sort of..) / 14. When I Come Around / 15. Disappearing Boy / 16. Brain Stew / 17. Jaded / 18. Longview / 19. Basket Case / 20. She / 21. King For A Day / 22. Shout (The Isley Brothers cover) / 23. 21 Guns / 25. American Eulogy // Encore: 26. American Idiot / 27. Jesus Of Suburbia / 28. Minority // Encore 2: 28. Drama Queen (Billie Joe solo) / 29. Last Night on Earth (Billie Joe solo) / 30. Good Riddance (Billie Joe solo)

As you can see, the first hour or so of the concert was all about 21st Century Breakdown and some of American Idiot (grr). But then the band surprised me, in a really good way by playing two tracks from Kerplunk in a row, "2000 Light Years Away" and "Welcome To Paradise" (though that was also on Dookie). After, "Castaway" (from Warning:) started playing, and in the middle of singing Billie Joe stopped, saying, "I f***ed up the words," and then "When I Come Around started. My personal highlight was when "Disappearing Boy" started to play, because that's off of 39/Smooth, the band's first album and my personal favorite. And if you're like me, thinking that Green Day has forgotten their roots, hearing that live, in 2009, was something special in my opinion.

There was a lot of fan interaction which I found really cool though. Numerous times the band would have audience members come on stage to either sing, play guitar, or to just screw around with. And during the transition of "Brain Stew" to "Jaded", Billie Joe got out a huge water-gun and sprayed the crowd, and also used this peculiar toilet paper thing and also shot out some t-shirts; and you can watch it all here! Speaking of fans, as I mentioned before with Kaiser Chiefs, a bulk of the crowd was poser-punks and younger kids, and even parents... not my choice crowd to be honest. And I noticed something, during the American Idiot/21st Century Breakdown tracks everyone's really into it, but when Green Day started playing older material, particularly "2000 Light Years Away" and "Disappearing Boy", all those posers and kids looked lost, and that was really annoying but certainly proved a point.

The hour of older stuff closed out with "King for a Day" (from Nimrod) which transitioned into the necessarily long "Shout"; with "21 Guns" and "American Eulogy" closing out the set... But, of course, Green Day took the stage again, thanked the fans, and said they'd "play the show till we die". So "American Idiot" and "Jesus of Suburbia" played, with "Minority" closing out once again. But it was not over yet, as Billie Joe Armstrong came out solo this time, to play a three song acoustic set.

Overall, the concert was pretty awesome, and considering it was my first show at Madison Square Garden it wasn't too shabby either. Seating was OK, though it'd probably be nicer to be a little closer to the stage next time; regardless, the experience was great, and I certainly would love to see both Green Day and Kaiser Chiefs live again in the future!

If you missed all the links, be sure to check out my photos and videos from the show.

Media Update: Kaiser Chiefs and Green Day at Madison Square Garden

I know, it's 3:30 AM right now, and I'm tired as hell. While my After Thoughts for Green Day's concert at Madison Square Garden last night may not be up yet, I've already gone and posted some photos on our Flickr and some videos on our YouTube channel, VFHvideo, of both Green Day and opening band, Kaiser Chiefs.

(click to see the whole gallery at Flickr!)


Kaiser Chiefs - "Everyday I Love You Less and Less"
(Also watch "Oh My God" at VFHvideo)


Green Day - "Song of the Century" / "21st Century Breakdown"
(Also watch "Jaded" at VFHvideo)

Not much to go by right now, I know, but I assure you the After Thoughts for the show will be up later today. And yes, if you're curious I did take more photos, but Flickr has a lot of file/bandwidth limits so I had to really pick and choose what would be posted or not; as for videos, what you see is all I took, though I'm sure you'll be able to find more on YouTube sooner or later. Enjoy! And just in case you were curious, the show was awesome!

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

While I may have covered Foxboro Hot Tubs' debut (and probably only) album yesterday, today is all about Green Day's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown; the follow up to 2004's American Idiot, which gained the band some critical acclaim, but I can't say I was a big fan of that album. Does Green Day continue to alienate old fans, or does this new album have something for everyone?

21st Century Breakdown continues the, dare I say it, "rock opera" style of American Idiot, though this time around the album is split into three acts which follows a story of young couple, Christian and Gloria. Because of this, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at each act individually.

Act I: Heroes & Cons
This first act actually starts off with the second track, the first track being "Song of the Century", which isn't much of a song as much as it's just Billie Joe Armstrong on a low-quality mic for fifty seconds. However, when the act starts, it's start's off big with the titular track, "21st Century Breakdown", which is one of the finest tracks I've heard from the band in a long time. Yes, the political overtone is still there, but in terms of sound it is one of the band's more "epic" tracks, and a great opener. Next though, is the first single from the album, "Know Your Enemy", which while not a terrible track, is a really repetitive track and I think was a misleading way to promote the album. "¡Viva La Gloria!" brings Green Day into piano rock territory, with violins to boot, which seems weird at first, but the track soon turns into classic Green Day style pop-punk, and that's nice to hear; the same can be said for the following track, "Before The Lobotomy", which starts off slow, but again turns into a classic Green Day sound and is one of my favorite tracks of the album.

The end of the act starts with "Christian's Inferno," which sounded to me like a mix of "Castaway" from Warning: and "Letterbomb" off of American Idiot; showing there is a balance of new and old Green Day here. Though, the closer, "Last Night On Earth," brings back the piano, and sounds a lot like The Beatles' "Free as a Bird," at least in its chorus; not a bad song though, not at all actually, just a very different type of song from the band.

Act II: Charlatans & Saints
As the new act arrives, the tone left from "Last Night On Earth", is completely turned around as Act II's first track, "East Jesus Nowhere," get's into your face and eardrums; but it too sounds like I've heard it elsewhere ... in five other Green Day songs. And the next song, "Peacemaker", sounds very much like a fast version of "Misery" from Warning:. But not everything sounds like I've heard it before, "Last of the American Girls" and "Murder City" sound like old Green Day, but in a completely new light; and they're certainly the highlights of this act if you're looking for that pop-punk sound. Closing off are "¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)", which yet another mix of piano rock and pop-punk, and "Restless Heart Syndrome" which is just straight up piano, and sounds very Beatle-esque like the previous act close r... which oddly enough, sounds great again; I'm perplexed at how that works.

Act III: Horseshoes & Handgrenades
Act III's opening track, same as it's title, once again drops the piano in favor of in your face punk, and certainly will wake you up after the second act's closer. "The Static Age" continues with the pop-punk sound, but the following track, and probably my least favorite on the album, "21 Guns", slows down the pace of the act; and yet it's the longest song on the album, running at 5:21. "American Eulogy," the next track, is actually split in half. The first half, "Mass Hysteria", sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it; and "Modern World" just sounds like it came off Insomniac, so I guess that's neat(?). The album closer, "See The Light", uses the same piano notes as "21st Century Breakdown", but soon goes into pop-punk anthem mode, and then dramatically ends with the same piano notes; a fitting end.

Final Thoughts
All in all, 21st Century Breakdown is a a great step in the right direction for Green Day. Yes, it's still in similar tone to American Idiot, but there's enough evolution here, as well as a nice return to the band's older pop-punk style, for hardcore and casual fan alike to find a part of the album they enjoy. The thing that surprised me the most though was how much I liked the tracks with piano, because on first listen they seemed really out of place on a Green Day album, but repeated listening made them much more appealing. Now I'm just curious to see where they go from here.

Overall Score: 9.3/10

Listen to the album on MySpace

Hidden Gems: Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!!

With the upcoming release of Green Day's latest album, 21st Century Breakdown, I thought I should take the time to tell you about a Green Day project you may missed out on, for one reason or another.


This is the first review under the Hidden Gems banner, which as you may remember is a way for us to review older, lesser known titles, while still making them relevant. Interestingly enough, despite being a Green Day side project (though not originally revealed to be the band, much like their previous side project, The Network), Foxboro Hot Tubs didn't really generate that much buzz when the album released almost one year ago. And it's shame too, because in my opinion, Stop Drop and Roll!!! is a much more appealing album then 2004's American Idiot, which turned Green Day into a political band instead of just having fun.

Which brings me into my first point about the album; as a long time fan of Green Day, I was personally disappointed with American Idiot's overly political tone, which greatly departed from Green Day's pop-punk sound. Oh, and they started wearing eye shadow too, what's with that? None the less, Foxboro Hot Tubs' sound is different than both Green Day's pop-punk sound and their broody political work, instead opting for a very garage rock sound, making them sound more like a late 1950s band.

That's what I really like about the album though, is that it offers a side of the band we've never really heard before; and instead of changing the sound again and calling it Green Day, they took the smart decision and made it into something else completely. With that change though, comes the adaptation of that 1950s garage rock style, which not only affects the sound of the album but the physical release as well. The album itself comes in a CD sized cardboard sleeve, with another paper sleeve inside, giving it the feel of a tiny vinyl record; the album itself is even printed to look like a vinyl record, though doesn't go the extra step of having black plastic (like Weep's album). Sure, it may be novelty, but the authenticity is appreciated.

In terms of sound, Stop Drop and Roll!!! is full of intentionally low-quality, but catchy tunes, and really sounds great when listened to as a whole. But if I were to pick and choose, I definitely suggest you check out the titular track, "Stop Drop and Roll!!!", "Mother Mary", "Sally", "The Pedestrian", and "27th Ave Shuffle", but the rest of the album is still good. And really, the only thing that would stop me from believing that this was actually a late Fifties garage band, other than my preexisting knowledge of Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong's voice, is some of the lyrics and choice language. Otherwise the sound of the album overall is pretty authentic, and that's just a cool factor.

Overall, Stop Drop and Roll!!! is a great start if Green Day ever plans to continue with the Foxboro Hot Tubs project, though that seems unlikely at this point, with a full tour planned to promote 21st Century Breakdown. But as stated before, if you're like me, and were a little disappointed by Green Day's change in tone, Foxboro Hot Tubs offers the feeling that the band you used to like still exists somewhere, and that's always nice to know.

Overall Score: 9/10

21st Century Breakdown?

Green Day is slowly releasing more info on their upcoming album, 21st Century Breakdown, set for release in May 2009. While I can I say I was a big fan of the band in their earlier days, I can't even bear to listen to 2004's American Idiot. Call me stubborn, but there's just something about 40 year old emo men that rubs me the wrong way. However, there was some redemption when the band's garage rock side project, Foxboro Hot Tubs, released their debut album, Stop Drop and Roll!!! last year, which I'll admit to having really liked.

Anyways, onto something I found peculiar. The recently released album art of 21st Century Breakdown reminded me of one of my favorite albums, Blur's 2003 release, Think Tank. Take a look:

See a resemblance?

I mean, sure, it's not a blatant rip off or anything. But the black and white, stenciled graffiti of the Green Day album clearly takes inspiration from artist, Banksy's signature style. Banksy being the artist who designed the art for Blur's album cover. However, after researching, I found out the Green Day cover was designed by another graffiti artist, Sixten, who is also known for using stencils in his work.

They say copying is the best form of flattery, so be it. Being as I have every other Green Day album, I assume I am obligated to purchase 21st Century Breakdown when it releases this May; be sure to look out for a review some time then.