Green Day-Tre!

The final installment in a new trilogy of albums, Tre! comes only several weeks after the recently released and quite underrated Dos!, which surprised many with its deep punk tinge and the general lack of power-pop Green Day has lately become known for. Whereas Uno! was dripping with stadium built songs, Dos! was more stripped back and sounded almost like it was recorded in a garage. Unfortunately, rather than continuing with that reinvigorating step forward, they've taken a half step back here by reaching into the pop filled jar a few too many times. It's not that the slower, more FM friendly songs are bad, it's just that they are incredibly safe and really lacking any kind of punch or power you would expect from you know, a former punk band.

    Take album opener "Brutal Love", which borrows some melody and structure from The Animals, but none of the attitude and swagger that made that band iconic. It's the kind of song that I call "formula music", meaning I think that Green Day could write about a thousand songs of this tone and mood in their sleep, no problem. I've mentioned this before: it's the sound of an artist kind of coasting and resting on what has made them successful instead of consistently trying bold or new ideas. The same logic applies to "Drama Queen", which is a ballad-type that only stands out because the quality is lacking in comparison to other similar songs in their back catalog, such as "21 Guns".

    Luckily for us listeners, they regain form in spots. Goofy lyrics aside, "Sex, Drugs & Violence" is a raucous stomper of a track that catches your attention with how immediate it sounds. When singer Billie Joe Armstrong & Co dial things up even further, the results are more pleasurable; "Amanda" continues their recently started tradition of having awesome throwback punk songs named after females. Just as Dos! standout "Ashley", "Amanda" has a nasty snarl and bite to it that gives it a certain freshness and lasting appeal. "Little Boy Named Train" is also quite good; I love the tempo and rhythm of the track, and the song does wonders to boost the quality of the middle of the album.

    The best of them all, is the long and flowing "Dirty Rotten Bastards", which marks the second time in the trilogy of albums that Green Day scored a successful 6-plus minute track. They explore several different genres all within the same song, from indie rock that sounds almost like The Fratellis, to dirty and grimy punk. Best of all is the guitar solo, which explodes out of the speakers with a Van Halen like intensity. It's quite awesome to hear Billie and the gang tear it up like that, it's something they should unleash more often, especially since they have the technical skills to do so.

    Overall, this album is a slight disappointment when compared directly to Dos!, but is certainly better than Uno!. For fans, this should be comforting enough.

75/100