Greatest hits- that's hardly very punk is it? (International Superhits - Green Day)

Member Name: hugon

Product:	International Superhits - Green Day
Date:	17/10/02 (1049 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: All Green Day's hits in one place, Excellent starting point to get into band

Disadvantages: Some great tracks left out, Ignores first two albums completely

Hmm, my thoughts on Green Day releasing a best of were very mixed. A bit of a cop out perhaps, but perhaps inevitable considering the resurgance of radio-friendly grunge/punk/rock enimating from the US shores at the moment. The back catalogue isn't exactly weak either - they have 6 albums to fall back on, but in practice only draw on 4, as Warners don't own the rights to the early records '1039 Smoothed Out Slappy hours' and 'Kerplunk'.

If you've heard 'Basket Case', arguably Green Day's biggest hit, you'll know exactly what to expect - easily accessible rock music. This collection throws together a bunch of Green Day's best singles, album tracks and flings in a few new tracks as well. They decide to open with two new songs, Maria and Pop rocks and coke, Maria being the stronger of the two in my opinion, and that track has ended up being the opener for their recent tours. It's not a bad choice in the end - fast, frenetic and aggressive.

The one criticism thrown at Green Day over the years is that all their songs sound the same. If you believe that, put this in your CD player and see if your opinion changes. Certainly their early work would have fitted in with the likes of Sum 41 and Blink 182, quite light and bouncy, but once you pass into later work - particularly the tracks lifted from Insomnia, you'll quickly see a darker, more aggressive and troubled side to the band. The track JAR, which was only previously available on the soundtrack to the film 'Angus' is also present, possibly one of Green Day's finest works to date, poignant lyrics over a fantastic lumbering baseline.

Green Day's most recent two albums, Nimrod and Warning show the more mature side to the band. The songs become more proficient, deviating from the simple 3-chord pop punk to more complex songs - admittedly not incredibly advanced, but we are talking about a punk band after all :)! You have the ma
chine gun assault of Nice Guys Finish Last, the more sedate Warning and Redunant, the Levellers-esque Minority, as well as the calmer, more reflective side of the band in the more acoustic-led Time of your life and Macy's Day Parade.

Green Day are hardly rocket science. They do what they do well - knock out simple, catchy songs by the plenty. Their back catalogue has barely a duffer in it. And it's the same with this album - all the best (well for best read most popular - there are a few tracks I would have liked to have seen, but you can't win them all) tracks are here in one place, and that's one of the virtues of the album - it's nice to sit down, put this on and listen to the band. The tracks are arranged (with the exception of the new tracks at the start) in chronological order, and it's nice to see the band develop over the 7 or so years the album covers.

If you're looking for something to get into Green Day, this could be it. If you're already a big Green Day fan, there isn't a huge reason to rush out and buy it, but you probably have already. The new tracks don't exactly set the world alight, but they're certainly not bad either. A worthy addition to any record collection.

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