Saviors. Green Day

The album opens with 'The American Dream Is Killing Me'. Is this it, I thought?  I'm definitely disappointed. The song doesn't sound good and haven't we heard this kind of melody and the message before, about 20 years ago?

Thirty years after 'Dookie' and 'Basket Case', the song that changed their lives, Green Day is a huge band of course, easily filling very large venues and packing festivals as headliner. The downside of heaving such a large legacy, is that most old fans are not interested in new songs and newer fans become fans mostly because of the old songs they heard at their parents' homes and on whatever medium they listen music to today.

Should this observation ring true, it'd be a huge shame, because Saviors is strong and varied album. Billie Joe, Mike and Tré are in great form and dare to show a few sides to their musical game, With Saviors Green Day moves beyond the punkrock and finds itself in pop territory as well. Ever so smooth. Who would have thought. There's no excuse like "we play the acoustic guitar in a very punky way", like Billie Joe Armstrong said years ago after releasing 'Good Riddance'. 

Pop was always present in the music of Green Day. A good punkrock song can be a perfect popsong as well, as Green Day's biggest hits show. People want to be able to sing along to a good song and Green Day has plenty of them. Go through the 16 songs on Saviors and you will find so many of them. The band had to make amends from a string of (somewhat) weaker albums of the past decade. With its new album it does.

So, Green Day shows it pop side more. I am taking you to the title song, hidden at the near end of the album. This is pure pop music, but then, The rhythm section totally goes for it. Tré Cool is ramming his skins as if there's no tomorrow. There's so much power in his playing turning a pop song into a punkrock song by sheer will. Mike Dirnt's bass does his characteristic moves between solid rhythm and playing all these melodies and echoing the guitars in the breaks. I know, this is standard procedure for most bassists, but when Dirnt does it, a song can become a monster with ease. Billie Joe Armstrong only has to lay down a few guitars and the song is there. 'Saviors' is a great song added to the Green Day oeuvre.

In the last song 'Fancy Sauce' things even get cheesy and even with that Green Day gets away. In the fourteen songs before these two the band had made its point more than convincingly. Green Day had the inspiration to make a great album and then did. Saviors is up with the best of them.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Saviours here:

https://greendayofficial.bandcamp.com/album/saviors