Green Day Makes You Want to Shout
Written: Feb 12 '06 (Updated Apr 26 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Brilliant performance with a well-worth-it DVD companion
Cons: Some of the concert staples aren't included.
The Bottom Line: hell yeah
|
|
|
| PacManY2J's Full Review: Green Day - Bullet in a Bible |
Seeing Green Day live on their American Idiot tour was an unforgettable experience. As if I needed a reminder of how awesome it was, I now have Bullet In a Bible, a live CD/DVD set showcasing the amazing music and showmanship that Green Day delivered throughout the world. Riding high off the success of American Idiot, Green Day showed just how much they deserved to sit atop the rock world with a series of spectacular performances. Consider Bullet In a Bible their well-earned victory lap.
Appropriately, this London show opens with the title track to the album that made them the biggest band in the world (again): American Idiot. The fast-paced song immediately gets the crowd going wild and singing "so loud that every fucking redneck in America can hear" them. Green Day rolls on with the AI tracks, all getting huge responses from the crowd. The epic, disaffected-youth anthem Jesus of Suburbia is followed by the anti-war rally cry of Holiday, the soft and sweet Are We the Waiting, and the frenetic punk track St. Jimmy.
They then take a break from new material to deliver some old favorites: Longview, Hitchin' a Ride, Brain Stew, and Basketcase. Throughout the show, Billie Joe Armstrong demonstrates his command of the crowd, getting them to react vigorously whenever he asks them too. One of the highlights comes from King For a Day, which was not a single despite being one of their most fun and energetic tunes. From here they transition into Shout and then appeal to the English crowd with a snippet of Monty Python's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.
The fun ceases for a bit with the somber Wake Me Up When September Ends, which, despite a momentary vocal lapse, is performed very emotionally. But they soon crank things back up with the rousing Minority and return for an encore of Boulevard of Broken Dreams and an electrified Time of Your Life. A couple concert staples such as We Are the Champions and Knowledge were cut out, presumably due to time constraints (it's a 65-minute set), but it doesn't stop the album from packing a tremendous punch and showing the immense flair Green Day have live.
The DVD shows the concert footage with a different segment in between each song. You can't just pop it in and zone out to straight music, but the segments are interesting enough to make this an enjoyable movie-type experience. Some segments are funny (especially the ones involving drummer Tre Cool), some are more thoughtful such as band interviews and the piece where we learn the meaning behind the album's title, and some just show nifty behind-the-scenes footage of both the band and their exuberant fans.
Like any great concert album, Bullet in a Bible is more than a best-of collection with crowd noise. It is a completely new album that captures not only the songs but also the band's personality and connection with its fans. If you saw them on the American Idiot tour, there aren't many surprises here since they stuck with the same setlist for just about every show. Instead, it's a perfect trip down memory lane no matter where you saw them perform. For those who weren't there, this album offers more than a glimpse of what you missed. This well-deserved victory lap is something every Green Day fan should take part in by owning.
Also from Green Day:
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
Dookie
Insomniac
Nimrod
Warning
Shenanigans
American Idiot
Warped Tour
Montreal 2005
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
PacManY2J
|
 in Music |
 in Music |
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Matt
Location: Kentucky
Reviews written: 705
Trusted by: 191 members
About Me:
"I wanna live my life with the volume full."
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.