“Father of All…,” the newest album from American rock band Green Day, was released to the public on Feb. 7.
Running 26 minutes with 10 tracks, the record was preceded by four singles: the titular track “Father of All…,” “Fire, Ready, Aim,” “Oh Yeah!” and “Meet Me on the Roof.”
The album goes in a few different directions and seems to take influence from older Green Day material. However, it never seems to find a cohesive groove, causing the record to seem tame with the sound of millennial dad rock. Still, a few of the tracks on this album are genuinely interesting pieces of alternative rock music, showing how much Green Day has kept their ability to create commercially popular alt-rock songs since the 90s.
Highlights
1. “Meet Me On The Roof”
An abundance of tambourine coupled with an effective bass riff help elevate this tune from a stale existence. Armstrong’s voice works perfectly with this style of track, and it gives me a strong desire to dance. A Green Day song making the listener dance isn’t out of the question, though. It’s absolutely a blast to listen to.
2. “Junkies On A High”
With a bouncing drum beat and simplistic guitar riff, this may be my favorite song from the album. The percussion keeps the piece together as Armstrong reflects on life while his surroundings fall to pieces, and the song illustrates that situation perfectly.
3. “Fire, Ready, Aim”
Green Day has been able to reliably produce catchy radio rock since the days of “Dookie” and this song is no exception. Boasting bountiful guitars and more than enough enthusiastic vocals, the song sounds like it was born to be on the radio, and that’s not at all a bad thing.
Background
Formed in California’s East Bay in 1987, Green Day is currently fronted by lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool. With original drummer John Kiffmeyer, the band was signed to Lookout Records 1988 after the label’s owner, Larry Livermore, watched them play an early gig. The next year, the band released their debut extended play, “1000 Hours;” however, they dropped the original name for Green Day, Sweet Children, in order to avoid confusion with another act. The new name was chosen because of the bandmates’ love of marijuana.
Kiffmeyer left the band after their first American tour in 1990 for college, and Cool, who was then the drummer for The Lookouts, filled in. Green Day’s breakthrough came after signing with Reprise Records and releasing their first album on a major label in 1994. That album, “Dookie,” spawned five singles and shot the band into stardom.
Armstrong has stated that the lyrics of “Father of All…” concern “the life and death of the party” along with the “lifestyle of not giving a f—.” The record’s full title is “Father of All Motherf—ers;” however, that title is only uncensored on the album’s limited edition. The new album is also the shortest that Green Day has ever recorded, having five fewer minutes of material than their debut album “39/Smooth.”
You can tell that the band is having a ton of fun recording this album. Every track has a certain flair to it that helps differentiate the songs from each other so that the finished product doesn’t sound like a manufactured monotonous mess.
However, this new material still feels recycled to the point of being almost stale. Despite these flaws, I would still suggest giving “Father of All..” a listen, because the album isn’t a total misfire. Green Day set out to create an engaging album and succeeded, but as they tried to craft a distinct rock record, they missed the mark.
