¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tre! – A Review

I’m going to start this post with an apology.

First, to you, the reader. I’m sure, if you don’t know me from facebook or the U2 message board where the idea for this blog came to fruition, you came here expecting me to lambaste the band like I did on my review for 21st Century Breakdown.

Well, I’m sorry.

I’m not going to do that. I’m going to review The Trilogy without being mean, bitter, or sarcastic. So if that’s what you came for, and if that’s what you want, don’t continue reading.

Secondly, I want to apologize to Billie Joe Armstrong. I’m sorry that my fandom of your band has led me to be overcritical of some of the things you’ve done. And, if part of what led to the meltdown was anything anyone posted online that you read, I recognize my role in that and I do apologize. The Internet is not as anonymous as it used to be, and saying things with the thought that “s/he will never see it” is naive. I am sorry, Billie Joe. I sincerely hope you’re able to get past the demons you’re dealing with and I look forward to seeing you on the other side.

On with the review:

Damn it, I had fun listening to this album. I really did. Kill The DJ has shades of Franz Ferdinand. Loss of Control and Troublemaker have some interesting but fun lyrics. Also, the guitar solo (or whatever that is) in Troublemaker is pretty fucking awesome. If that’s Jason White, I applaud you, sir. If that’s Billie Joe actually laying that down, hot damn. I will never doubt your playing skills again. I heard a lot of the dynamic bass playing from Mike that I love, and while Tre didn’t do anything too memorable, his playing was still engaging and kept everything bouncing ahead. And this time around, I kind of liked hearing recycled bits and pieces of other songs. Kind of a throwback to the old with the new. A few of the songs sound like they fit into Green Day’s back catalogue and I half-expected to hear Billie’s twenty-two-year-old self singing them. Sure, it’s populated by big, dumb, love songs. But all of Green Day’s albums are sprinkled with big, dumb love songs, so anyone claiming otherwise has some very selective amnesia. Or if not strictly big, dumb love songs, songs about chicks at least.

I admit, I approached this one with some trepidation. A rap song? And a song about a rapper? Dear God, what has happened to my Green Day?! But See You Tonight is sort of a spiritual successor to The Ballad of Wilhelm Fink, and to me, that bade well. And I have a feeling Fuck Time was written during the Foxboro Hot Tubs sessions. Silly shit, and they obviously knew it. Honestly, I’m just surprised they didn’t put Tre on lead for that one. Lazy Bones could almost be called the anthem of Billie’s breakdown, if he were into that shit, but he’s not. I have a confession to make. I giggled at the “you got a purty mouth” line at the beginning of Makeout Party, cause, yay, Deliverance references. Gave the song a slightly different flavour for me. I also giggled at Ashley, but only because I had a similarly complicated relationship with someone called Ashley (not the contributor here) and because I am bitter, mean, and sarcastic, I laughed my ass off in my head, directing that song at her, especially the “you ain’t no fuckin’ saint” line. Sigh, Lady Cobra and Nightlife. Can I just pretend these don’t exist? They might grow on me, but this is the low point of the trilogy for me. Amy is sweet and beautiful and tear-jerking.
¡Dos! wasn’t as much of a good time as ¡Uno! but that’s alright. If ¡Dos! had just been another rollicking album like the first, then I’d be annoyed that it was too same-y. And laugh at him all you want for giving Makeout Party a juvenile title, but don’t judge it by that alone. It’s not your typical I Want Sexy Times song. I also noticed a running theme of insanity through some of the songs on these two albums, notably Loss of Control and Wild One. Don’t know what it’s about, but it was something I picked up on.

From the first notes of Brutal Love, I knew ¡Tre! was going to be an entirely different animal than the other two, which is a statement one could make about the drummer himself. He’s definitely a distinct personality from the other two. But now is not the time for my fangirling. And yeah, the first three songs are big dumb love songs and he hasn’t dropped a curse word yet, but see the above regarding Green Day and big, dumb love songs. As for the curse words, I think he filled his quota on the other two albums. Oh, wait, this appears to be the “clean” version. Fuck you, Spotify. Bass and drum solos on Brutal Love, too! I love the shit out of Drama Queen. I don’t know why, I just do. Ah, there’s Mikey on Sex, Drugs & Violence. I was hoping he’d get to sing something. Part of me really wants to see them parody Disney’s Imagination Movers if they do a video of that song. I don’t know why. It doesn’t make sense, nor would it be funny. Let’s just blame it on the fact that it’s after midnight when I’m writing this. I just included the words “Disney’s Imagination Movers,” “Sex, Drugs and Violence” and “Queen” in the same paragraph. You’re welcome, Google search bots! Dirty Rotten Bastards feels like one last epilogue to American Idiot, between its length and the different sections in it. 99 Revolutions is the only politically-charged song I’ve heard on all three albums, but it’s good, clever. Sums up the political climate of 2012 quite well. I could make a comment about them singing about the 99% while being very close to being members of the 1% themselves, but it’s not fully forming in my head, and that kind of falls on the other side of the bitter, mean, and sarcastic line I don’t to cross. The Forgotten is the perfect closing to all three albums. I’m almost shocked that they had something like that inside of them, and yet I know I shouldn’t be after being fans of their for so long. One might call it even “U2-esque.” And Jason White. Jason fucking White. Ever since American Idiot, I’ve kind of railed against him being the unofficial fourth member of Green Day, but after what I’ve heard tonight, goddamnit, don’t ever let him leave!

And now, dammit, it’s over. Damn it, it’s over. I had this same feeling when I first listened to “No Line On The Horizon” and Cedars of Lebanon ended. It can’t be over. I’m not ready for it to be over yet! Aww. All in all, this trilogy is pretty fucking awesome. Green Day has come back from a sophomore rock opera slump to making great collections of songs again. Is it perfect? No. But I don’t want it to be, either. Is it a bunch of filler with a few gems? It’s not that either. Honestly, you could easily finish Warning and start ¡Uno! and not miss American Idiot or 21st Century Breakdown. Yes, I just said I wouldn’t miss American Idiot. I am still in control of my mental faculties, I promise.

Billie, Mike, Tre (and Jason!), you made three fantastic albums in three years. I don’t know how the fuck you did it, but I’m so glad you did.

And Billie Joe, get well soon, my man. I mean that. And I’m sorry I’m a fucking bitch.