Welcome everyone to the latest edition of Top Five Fridays! This week, we shine a light on one of the greats in terms of modern punk rock in Green Day. From Dookie to their most recent efforts with Revolution Radio, they’ve been able to stay popular for almost three decades and churn out consistently good music.
Without further ado, let’s get on with the countdown!
5. Know Your Enemy (21st Century Breakdown)
The group’s 2009 release was a little bit more pop punk than some of their previous releases with the big hit being 21 Guns. However, it still had at least one gem I found myself coming back to and Know Your Enemy is that song.
Much like the rest of the album, it’s a very polished track with the guitars not quite having the crunch of previous records. Despite that, I’ll admit that this is a very good song that falls in line with the latter day Green Day which still has some solid hits. Bonus points for being the theme song for Smackdown for a while.
4. Warning (Warning)
The group’s first album of the new millennium doesn’t nearly get the amount of love it deserves. It’s from this point on, you’ll see a change in how they sound (this song has a slight resemblance to The Kinks) but not in the messages of the songs that they write. This song just uses warning labels as lyrics and it’s amazing how well done it is.
It’s a solid opening track for an underrated album by Green Day.
3. Longview (Dookie)
I think I could just have this be a Top Five Fridays with every song being from Dookie. However, I love a lot of their other music because I’m in that age range where I really started listening to them when American Idiot came out (good album, but none of the songs from that album made the cut) and then started listening to the old stuff afterwards.
The irreverence in the song was a signature for the group over the years and this was truly a song for a generation that in some cases was living in an area where there was nothing really to do.
2. When I Come Around (Dookie)
I’ve always enjoyed the sound of this song and how it seems to be a ballad, but with the crunching punk rock guitars in the background it strays from the norm much like the group did in the early 90s.
However, after finding out what the song is actually about, I wound up loving even more. He’s writing about the struggles of being on the road and being away from the one he loves (Billie Joe wound up marrying her by the way) and wanting to make it up to her when he comes back from tour. I wonder if that was in their prenup?
1. Brain Stew (Insomniac)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played this track over the years. From the second the opening riff plays, I was hooked. It makes sense considering this song is about Billie Joe dealing with insomnia (hence the title of the album) and I have some days where I just can’t quite get to sleep.
I think this was the song that turned me into a longtime fan of Green Day and ever since then, I’ve enjoyed the stuff they have put out over the years.
-Clint@1063RL