Green Day
Demolicious

LA RECENSIONE

After the commercial failure of their trilogy, Green Day released this selection of tracks titled "Demolicious," offering a different perspective on those heavily criticized albums.

This is the premise of an album that presents itself in the market as an atypical release for a group that is firmly established in the mainstream. Since the acclaimed "American Idiot," Green Day's popularity has been cemented with a new generation of fans who have increasingly ignored the significant early part of their career that brought the band international success. Having traversed through the years of "21st Century Breakdown," riding the wave of popularity with their new sound (and new image), the band chose to release three albums consecutively within a few months. This triad of albums (Uno, Dos, and Tré), produced by Rob Cavallo (who was replaced by Butch Vig on "21st"), is characterized by a sound that attempts to mix the old and the new, with results some have defined as bland and negligible. Indeed, the heavy use of (sometimes annoying) vocal filters typical of the recent period accompanies sound choices for instruments reminiscent of the studied cleanliness of "Nimrod"; the combination of these elements creates a very artificial and "Cavallo-esque" sound. While everything worked smoothly on "Dookie" and the sounds were fresh and powerful on "American Idiot," Rob Cavallo has sometimes demonstrated an ability to stifle the band's energy with overly polished productions that dull the spark of the tracks. In short, the work on the sounds for Uno, Dos, and Tré is rather controversial and has left many supporters perplexed. This "Demolicious" is born with a curious intent and seems to aim to remedy this problem to some extent; the tracks on the album are all raw versions of pieces from the trilogy and the sounds are typical either of a live session recording or a well-made demo. It's interesting to hear how the tracks improve in these more natural versions, showing a lively and successful punch that hints at the traits everyone loved about the band's early albums. Listening to this particular collection, one can almost recognize the trio that recorded their early EPs and albums between 1990 and 1995, even if the songs are often more classically rock than punk-influenced as in their early days.

In an interview a few years ago, following his rehabilitation, Billie Joe expressed his appreciation for records characterized by live and low-cost sounds, such as the first by the Ramones or The Clash, and stated that the band should sound unified even on record. This "Demolicious" seems therefore to be born from the frontman's desire to follow these tastes of his and proves to be a courageous album in proposing sounds that many (accustomed to large modern productions) would dismiss outright.