Green Day – iDos!
After a career spanning nearly 25 years, most bands are usually sat with their feet up, raking in the cash from the release of a greatest hits collection by now.
Not Green Day.
The evergreen (no pun intended), American, punk rock giants are in the middle of releasing a studio album trilogy with the second installment of the series, iDos!, being released in the UK yesterday. The first part, iUno!, was released only last month where as the final chapter of the trilogy, iTre!, comes next month on December 7th to complete the series.
Cover art for iDos!
Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong has described iDos! as being “more garage rock—a little dirtier like you’re in the middle of a party” and after a few listens, it’s easy to see where he’s coming from. The title of the second track, F*** Time, definitely echoes Billie Joe’s thoughts. The song, in a nutshell, is about sex, which is illustrated in Armstrong’s spicy lyrics “You know I really wanna make you mine, Oh baby baby, it’s f*** time”. The song delves into 60’s rock and roll with its catchy blues riffs and solos and is reminiscent of the style of Green Day’s side project, Foxboro Hot Tubs. In fact, a recurring theme throughout the album is the similarities in its sound to Foxboro Hot Tubs, and this differs from the previous release in the three-part trilogy, iUno!, which has a more punk rock vibe to it.
The fourth song on the album, Lazy Bones, is one of the only songs on iDos! which carries Green Day’s full signature sound and could quite easily sit on many of their previous album releases. It contains a chord sequence which has been plucked straight from American Idiot’s, Give Me Novacaine, and has the chord changes and catchy choruses which Green Day have been writing all their careers.
With bass player Mike Dirnt appearing on the artwork for iDos!, I was expecting a big input from him on the album and he obliges on the tracks Makeout Party and Stray Heart. Both songs stand out in particular because of Dirnt—especially the lead single from the album, Stray Heart, which is driven by his signature bouncy, bass lines.
Towards the end of the album there are a few fillers—especially the track Nightlife which comes complete with guest vocals from Lady Cobra—the singer from the band Mystic Knights of the Cobra. The song is very experimental by Green Day’s standards in that it features Lady Cobra rapping and it could be questioned whether it fits in with the garage/60’s rock theme of the album. The final track, Amy, is a fitting way to end the album however. It’s a mellow ending so could be compared to Nimrod’s Good Riddance in that sense. If you pay close attention to the lyrics too, you get the sense that the song might just be dedicated to the late soul singer Amy Winehouse.
Overall iDos! is a good album from Green Day. It might not be as solid as some of their previous albums, and it certainly has a different feel to it, but having released ten studio albums now, the band can’t keep churning out the same material. The overwhelming feel from the album trilogy so far is that Green Day are having fun again and they have taken a new direction after the politically themed albums, American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown. With a career spanning nearly 25 years, some would forgive them for having a little fun.
It doesn’t look like they’ll be sitting with their feet up, raking in the cash from a greatest hits collection (post International Superhits), any time soon.