Rolling Stone publishes track-by-track review of 'Revolution Radio'
By Matt /Sep. 22, 2016 / Comments
You thought you were excited for Green Day's upcoming album Revolution Radio right? Well, think again.
Rolling Stone this morning has published a track-by-track review of the album, breaking down each track and providing subject matter, lyrics, and quotes from the band.
You can read the reviews of a couple tracks below but be sure to check them all out in Rolling Stone's article here.
1. "Somewhere Now"
7. "Still Breathing"
11. "Forever Now"
[quote]The album's most ambitious track, clocking in at nearly seven minutes, is a surging mini rock opera of sorts, melding several songs, including a reprise of opener "Somewhere Now." "'Forever Now' brings it full circle and honestly, it's so fun to write like that," says Armstrong. "You can just be that little kid in your room and feeling like a rock god." It begins with a lyric – "My name is Billie and I'm freaking out" – that Armstrong calls "the most honest line I've ever written," and ends with the refrain "I ain't gonna stand in line no more": "It's like a slogan for a demonstration," says Armstrong. "Like, I'm not going to accept the status quo or I'm not going to be manipulated. It's like, 'What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.'" The song began as three unrelated pieces that Armstrong jammed together: "It was really hard," he says. "But at the end, when we bring in that big chorus where everything is overlapping with each other and heading back into that riff, it was just fucking beautiful."
"I saw this song change so many times," adds Tre Cool. "The cool thing is that Billie didn't force anything. He just let it happen and he kept trying different shit. And then there was this one aha moment where he was like, 'I think I got it.' And it was awesome. There were goosebumps in the room."[/quote]
Rolling Stone this morning has published a track-by-track review of the album, breaking down each track and providing subject matter, lyrics, and quotes from the band.
You can read the reviews of a couple tracks below but be sure to check them all out in Rolling Stone's article here.
1. "Somewhere Now"
The album opener alternates between dreamy, almost Guided by Voices–like acoustic interludes and Who-style anthemic bursts – Tre Cool thinks he did his best drumming ever on it. Billie Joe Armstrong calls the first line – "I'm running late to somewhere now that I don't want to be" – one of his all-time favorites. "It's my favorite beginning of a record that we've ever had," he says. "I think it's so relatable, whether it's going to your job or going to the dentist." Another lyric, "How did life on the wild side get so dull," touches on Armstrong's post-rehab struggles: "How do you deal with dealing with yourself? Before it was, I'll have a beer. Now, you have to sort of learn how to breathe a little bit more. I have never been good at boredom. I never know what to do when it's, like, you and you're alone with yourself."
7. "Still Breathing"
A junkie on the verge of death, a gambler about to lose everything and a wounded soldier on the front lines are all characters in a slow-building, unsettling track. "That was a very heavy song," says Armstrong. "Sometimes I run away from being too heavy. But sometimes it just comes out that way." The chorus, "I'm still breathing on my own" alludes to the fact that "at some point, we're all going to have to be on life support," says Armstrong. "As time goes on, your thoughts get darker."
11. "Forever Now"
[quote]The album's most ambitious track, clocking in at nearly seven minutes, is a surging mini rock opera of sorts, melding several songs, including a reprise of opener "Somewhere Now." "'Forever Now' brings it full circle and honestly, it's so fun to write like that," says Armstrong. "You can just be that little kid in your room and feeling like a rock god." It begins with a lyric – "My name is Billie and I'm freaking out" – that Armstrong calls "the most honest line I've ever written," and ends with the refrain "I ain't gonna stand in line no more": "It's like a slogan for a demonstration," says Armstrong. "Like, I'm not going to accept the status quo or I'm not going to be manipulated. It's like, 'What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now.'" The song began as three unrelated pieces that Armstrong jammed together: "It was really hard," he says. "But at the end, when we bring in that big chorus where everything is overlapping with each other and heading back into that riff, it was just fucking beautiful."
"I saw this song change so many times," adds Tre Cool. "The cool thing is that Billie didn't force anything. He just let it happen and he kept trying different shit. And then there was this one aha moment where he was like, 'I think I got it.' And it was awesome. There were goosebumps in the room."[/quote]
