Green Day - Bullet In A Bible (CD/DVD)
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Free Music Notes for Bullet In A Bible (CD/DVD)
Free Music Review: Green Day ----- Bullet In A Bible (DVD)
Hit: 5 Stars
Note: I received the Bullet in a Bible DVD, but not the live CD that accompanies it for review. The CD is the band's entire live performance of twenty songs. This review pertains strictly to the 115-minute DVD.
One of the band members asks a rhetorical question during some of the backstage footage, and it pretty well sums up the world's view of Green Day. "Why are there no clouds in the sky?" he asks. "Because God
wants to watch his favorite band again." Bullet in a Bible is quite possibly the thing that Green Day fans across the planet have been waiting sixteen years for. Here we have a band that has been around longer than many of their fans are old, and they're rocking even harder than they did way back when. Bullet is a look at Green Day's two performances in the Milton Keynes National Bowl in England on June 18th and 19th. They played to 130,000 fans in the two days, hailed as their biggest shows ever. The DVD covers the majority of the band's set and sprinkles in interviews with Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass), and Tré Cool (drums). The CD has the complete set, sans the interviews. It's a quite nice balance for any fan.
In the first half-hour of the DVD, the production is admittedly a bit annoying. With the camera switching, the viewer feels like he or she is in a state of sensory overload. They rotate between band members, helicopters, pit cameras, and even color versus black and white in a span of seconds. Luckily this irritating problem seems to remedy itself as the DVD continues-either that or one gets used to it.
For those wondering exactly how the DVD earned its name, there is an interview with the band at the Imperial War Museum. They walk through the museum, and one of the employees points out a Bible indeed with a bullet through it. This is one of a number of mini-features that divide up Bullet in a Bible and the bands song performances. Sometimes they're just simple interviews with the members about the upcoming song or the album or touring, and other times they're truly a behind-the-scenes look at Green Day. Drummer Tré Cool comes off as an utter goofball with his Mountie uniform and hat during the interview sessions, while Billie Joe is the focused, serious one. Mike Dirnt is most definitely the rose between two thorns. Tré, in one interview explains, "I can count to four and repeat. I'm a drummer." Armstrong later in the performance refers to him as "the best drummer in the history of rock `n roll." While these two statements are polar opposites on the exaggeration scale, he is one of my favorite drummers of all time. He's the real deal-talented, charismatic, and absolutely priceless.
The DVD has something for all walks of Green Day fans. Plenty of American Idiot finds its way into the setlist, but old favorites such as "Longview," "Basket Case," and "Minority" don't disappoint. In fact, in the years since the older songs came out, their live performance of them gives the songs a whole new life. No longer is Billie Joe Armstrong the fresh-faced kid singing about masturbation. He's the nearly middle-aged man singing about masturbation. That's the thing about Green Day; they transcend generations. During a featurette on the band's slightly nutty English fans, one mother tells the camera how her daughter grew up listening to the band because she's been a fan for so long. Their shows aren't just concerts; they're events.
Having seen one of the later dates on this tour when they came to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, I did have a bit of insight into their setlist and performance before watching Bullet in a Bible. Some might be disappointed to hear this, but Green Day choreographs 99.8 percent of their stage show, and their setlists are just about rock-solid. That means that at times the DVD comes off as overly theatrical if you've seen them on the American Idiot World Tour. What it does offer is a chance to see the band close up. You can watch the sweat pour from the band members' faces as they power through a roughly 90 minute set. You get to see Tré Cool's wacky facial expressions and drumstick tosses-all 100 or so of them. For those of us who didn't have front row seats, this was a fantastic opportunity to see them like never before.
I really enjoyed Bullet in a Bible; it's definitely a good way to spend some hard-earned cash, especially if you've never seen Green Day live. They're spectacular and just about flawless. If you can sit down and devote just under two hours to this DVD, it's worth picking up. Green Day has been around 16 years, and with performances like this, they should have no problem doing another 16.
Free Music Review: The little band that could just did it . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
Yeah sure, so the setlist sucks. We all wanted "We are the Champions". Most of us wanted "Whatsername". I especially wanted "Letterbomb". But there again if I was picking the setlist, we'd have "Panic Song", "Densensitized", "C#(tion)", "Bab's Uvala Who?", "Road to Acceptance", "Android" and a bunch of other songs the majority of Green Day fans have probably never even heard of. Then there are other more, shall we say, obnoxious things. Pyrotechnics went out with spandex, didn't they? The choreography and Mike Dirnt's exaggerated moves sometimes look like they'd be better placed in a Bollywood musical. And then, of course, there's the mood-shattering inter-song featurettes and the dizzying array of ever-changing camera angles. I'm sure I'll have more gripes later too. In totality, though, "Bullet in a Bible" (bless that title, hands down one of rock's best ever) is an unmitigated triumph for Green Day fans everywhere. Just a couple of years earlier, this is a band even those of us diehards were telling ourselves to forget about. A lukewarm album, a meandering trajectory, nothing we could really get our hopes up about. Yet Green Day, that archetypal little band that could, rose to become the undisputed biggest band in the world. As I write this, they indeed are the champions. Bigger than U2. And "Bullet in a Bible" captures that very sweet moment when Billie Joe, Mike, and Tré are at the very cusp of realizing just what a monster they've given birth to, how important they all now are. It's clearly an ecstatic moment for them, and for those of us too who have followed this band throughout its journey over the undulating, unpredictable seascape of stardom. What is especially sweet about it is Green Day conquered the world only by embracing all that had built them up. "American Idiot" is, at its core, a quintessential punk album anchored in themes familiar enough to everyone who know enough about what punk is to not ever dare to define it. Those themes, borne out well in staples of the genre like Screeching Weasel's "Anthem for a New Tommorow", NOFX' "The Decline", and the gorgeous writings of Aaron Cometbus (see "The Cometbus Omnibus"), are illuminated brilliantly, put to amazing music reflecting the very best of punk rock, and woven together with a commitment to coherency that comes only with the true care you almost never see anymore. "American Idiot" was punk taking over the mainstream and transforming it, and not - as not has so rampantly been the case over recent years - the mainstream taking over punk and destroying it. That's a brilliant, beautiful thing. For there are kids everywhere who need punk. Not the music per se, but the self-reliance and the empowerment that it provides. With "American Idiot", Green Day brought not hope, but satisfaction with reality to millions of kids across the mindless sprawl of suburbia. "Bullet in a Bible" celebrates that in all of the glory it deserves. So the setlist is tepid, the choreography painfully contrived, and everything from the band uniforms to the fireworks is strikingly anachronistic. This ain't U2's "Zoo TV" either - for innovation in your entertainment, look elsewhere. For the revolution is not on the jumbotron, it's in the hearts and minds of the 130,000 people seeing this show and, particularly, in the 3 band members on stage. For me at least, that's a joy to watch.Free Music Review: This is not "American Idiot Live!", but it kicks ass!
Hit: 5 Stars
I've read many complaints about the "missing six songs." In reality, who cares! BIAB is an attempt, and a damn good one, to capture Green Day's reflections on the AI CD and tour. In other words, it is a documentary. This is a snapshot of the band at this point in time. If you are, as many of you have put it, a "Real Green Day Fan," you what take this package for what it is.
As far as the CD/DVD, it's pretty damn good. You get Billie Joe's insight on many of AI's most important tracks and you get to see the rest of the band reflecting on recording, touring, familym life, etc. You must remember that when an artist/band release a CD or DVD, in the end, it is what they would like you to see or hear. It is also, in the artists opinion, the most important and entertaining stuff they could find. Many of these complaints sound a great deal like the anti-Dookie rabble that permeated the Bay Area once Green Day hit.
BIAB's production and sound quality are awesome. While a concert DVCD cannot reproduce the concert experience, this DVD gives the viewer a great sense of being at a big time rock show. It was nice to see that GD have seem to accept that they are no longer the San Francisco club band that they once were, and take up the mantle of social conscience. While bands like The Clash and U2 have never been shy about the importance of their music, GD have always been reluctant to, in a sense, grow up. Well, the guys have grown up and into on of the great American bands of their time.
So, to those of you who are ready to label Green Day as "Sell Outs," remember your history! This has happened once before to this band and they proved all of their detractors wrong. American Idiot is a great accomplishment for GD and for the american music scene. At a time when questioning the powers that be is extremely unpopular, Green Day not only question but criticize the current administration, and in the end they made a great CD. I think one day when all of the 19 & 20 year old Green Day fans have hit thirty-something like I have they will l;ook back with fondness on to the fall of 2004 when those guys that made "Dookie" finally grew up and really had something important to say. While many of us will forget about GWB, we'll probably still be sitting in our cars, driving to work singing "Don't wann be an American Idiot!" at the top of our lungs. Green Day reminded me that music can still be loud, abrasive and have a point. I saw The Clash on the Combat Rock tour and U2 on Joshua Tree and I am glad to see three punks from San Francisco stand on stage and raise their middle fingers at the small group of billionaires that run this country. I'm not ready to bury Green day just yet.
Free Music Review: Is There A Better Live Band Still Touring Today? Probably, But...
Hit: 5 Stars
You had to figure that Green Day couldn't let their biggest year, 2005, pass by without some sort of celebration. Their great come-back album, 2004's "American Idiot" was not only massively successful and dominant over the radio, but was easily the most interesting and inspiring piece of music to come out of that year as well. So, in comes "Bullet In A Bible," a DVD/CD set that covers Green Day's biggest show to date, a two-day concert at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes where they played to over 130,000 English fans.
The concert/documentary runs at about two-hours long, and spliced in between each song are interviews and behind the scenes footage that document Green Day's rise back to the top and the nervousness that comes with playing to such a large crowd. As far as the performance, the boys are on top of their game. I saw them back in April, and let me tell you: it was the best concert I have ever been to, and I have a hard time imagining any concert I go to in the future being that good. They play roughly the same set that they did for the U.S. "American Idiot" tour, with a few differences. One noticeable omission is their popular cover of Queen's "We Are The Champions." "She," "Maria" and "Knowledge," the song where they bring fans onstage to play, are also missing as well. But what is here is superb. The band blows through nearly the first half of the "American Idiot" album, saving "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" for the encore, and then gets into some choice older material such as "Longview" and "Minority." "King For A Day" is fused with a cover of "Shout," which is just brilliant (although Billie skips the floor-humping here that he did for us). The final song, "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" has Billie Joe going solo with an electric guitar and freshening up a song that got played to death in it's day. It was worth buying this set just to have that version on the audio-CD that is included.
My only gripe with this performance/documentary is Samuel Bayer's direction. I love his videos, especially all he's done for Green Day, but he overdoes it with his direction for the concert. The cameras dart around way to fast, and he inserts so many unneccessary and distracting effects. He complicates something that should have been fairly simple and straight-forward: letting the viewer watch one of the best acts of our generation. But the fact remains, this is Green Day at their best. This concert is a monster, and they pack so much energy into each song, it's hard not to be moved. I was a little disappointed that more "American Idiot" stuff (i.e. Music videos, making-of) wasn't included, but I'm sure that stuff'll surface one day.
Free Music Review: The representative from Michigan has the floor...
Hit: 5 Stars
With the release of Bullet In A Bible, it has become recorded proof, both in picture and sound, that Green Day are one of the best live acts and greatest rock bands of all time.
Frontman Billie Jo Armstrong's energetic performance, along with Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool, has elevated the band of three to a level, not even they ever expected, of nostalgia, greatness, and rock royalty with the likes of bands such as Queen. Actually, Billie Jo's onstage antics, humor and performance is somewhat similar to Freddy Mercury's.
I was lucky enough to go watch Green Day at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit on September 11, 2005. The show blew me away. Billie Jo kept the crowd on its feet and their hands in the air shouting, screaming, and singing along throughout the concert that lasted more than 2 hours. I have never been to a concert where I didn't get bored not even for a second, or get tired by the end of the show. This is evident on the recording as well. The song King For A Day, which appeared near the end of the set, which mixes into a medley featuring the song You Make Me Wanna Shout (the Detroit show also featured the classic Stand By Me), was one of the highlight moments, and the crowd were so into it, you can hear them shouting so hard and singing along...it's just too good to be true.
Bullet is a dual disc, one of which is the audio CD of the concert recorded in Milton Keynes, England, and the other is a visual/audio DVD of the same live show. What can I not say about it? It's remarkable to say the least. It was also very reminiscent of the Detroit show (the same exact lines that Billie Jo would say to the crowd, the crowd responses and sing alongs...etc.) so the band have got their act well figured out.
The concert begins with a string of songs from 2004's American Idiot: the title track American Idiot, Jesus Of Suburbia (featuring all 5 parts), Holiday, Are We The Waiting, and St Jimmy. The response of the crowd is astounding to each one of these numbers, it gets quite deafening if you have the volume all the way up. Green Day then play a set of their greatest hits including the songs, in no order, Basket Case and Longview from 1994's Dookie, Brain Stew and Jaded from 1995's Insomnia, Minority from 2000's Warning, and King For A Day and Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) from 1997's Nimrod. American Idiot is revisited later on during the show with the hits Boulevard Of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends.
The DVD also features behind the scenes footage of the band discussing the songs and their worldwide mega success.
Recommended
A