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ARCHIVE - 1/9/07:
December Report
All this controversy over whether it's politically correct to say "Merry Christmas" is just ridiculous. Saying, "Happy Holidays," or "Best of the Season," or "Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwazy Kwanza, and a Solemn and Dignified Ramadan" just doesn't have the same ring to it. But do you know what does?
HAPPY GREEN DAY!!!
In the future, why don't we just stop all this bickering, and wish each other a "Happy Green Day"? In the end, it may be the only option that makes sense.
Green Day was out on the front lines in full force this month, promoting the rights of all people to have a Happy Green Day. December 9th was a particularly busy day for the guys. Tre celebrated his birthday in traditional Tre Cool style - just him, a bigass bottle of Tequila, a couple of burros, and a clown car full of midgets.
Holidays in Hawaii
Meanwhile, halfway around the world, Billie Joe was enjoying a holiday vacation in Hawaii with the family. You can find a sweet pic of him and Jakob playing in the water on Greenday.net. Notice that Billie and Jakob are BOTH bringing back the old - school dirty bleach-blond job - maybe in honor of the impending re-release of "Kerplunk" and "10/39 Smooth"?*
While in Hawaii on December 9th, Billie Joe found time to join U2 on stage for the last show of their Vertigo tour. Decked out in Adeline merch, Billie performed "The Saints are Coming" along with U2 for the second time ever.
Lameness factor: It seems like "The Saint are Coming" is way more U2's baby than Green Day's. The only way that you can buy the studio version of the song is by buying the new U2 album. Thank Jebus for the intar-wubs and all the free media sharing you can choke down, else you might have to actually buy a U2 album! Blech!
This is not to say that the Hawaii show wasn't sweet. You can check out a decent vid of Billie performing here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA9wFSovgfI. Again, notice the Billie-keeping-it-realness with the old-school look and scruffy punk vibe. Aaaaaaall-right.
Interview Goodness
Green Day did a couple of interesting interviews this month which help explain Billie's back-to-basics look and attitude as of late. In NME, they talked about different concepts they're working on for the new album. They've got about 30 different songs they're playing with in the studio - where they've been since they recorded "The Saints are Coming," - and the new tracks fit into these three different category concepts:
First, they're thinking of doing another album with a storyline like "American Idiot." However, they don't want to do anything like "American Idiot," because they don't want to ride on the success of that album and do the same thing over just because it's worked for them in the past.
Second, they're working on some really weird, experimental shit in a similar vein to The Clash's "Sandinista!" This would be an interesting direction to take, as it could go very, very well, or very, very poorly. Many bands (think Pearl Jam, Radiohead, The Beatles…) follow up mainstream success with bizarro experimentation. A bold move because you're bound to alienate a big part of your pop-loving audience, but you can also win back the fans that loved you when you were underground and cool.
Third, Green Day are working on a bunch of songs that recall their punk roots. After all, there's nothing like good old-fashioned punk rock to weed out the kiss-ass coattail riders and bring back the hardcore fans. For many long-time Green Day lovers, a classic punk album would be a much-appreciated follow-up to the scandalously mainstream" American Idiot."
MORE Interview Goodness
When NME asked the guys when we might expect to see the new album, they were reluctant to commit. For Billie Joe, it's important to just live life and have those experiences that give you the fuel you need to write awesome lyrics, and that's not something that you can rush.
Although the next Green Day album is almost guaranteed to be a disappointment RELATIVE to the success of" American Idiot," it seems like our boys are really keeping their heads on their shoulders and doing everything right. Even if the album doesn't sell a million billion copies, it's sure to be fucking crazy wicked and loved by all those with half a brain in their mushy little heads.
And ACTUALLY, in another interview with Kerrang, Billie Joe had even more to say about the future. He emphasized that Green Day is looking to do anything but cash in on their past success with their new album. In the studio, they're getting back in touch with their sense of humor, and cutting some tracks so kick-ass that they are literally giving them chills.
He even when as far as to say that we could probably expect the new Green Day album to be out in 2008. 2008!!! Okay, that might be a long fucking time away, but you know it will be worth it, so don't be such a whiny little bitch!
Billie Joe also revealed that the guys are better friends than ever, and are working hard on dealing with the challenges of massive fame and fortune. For so many years, they've dealt with being the underdogs - always having to fight for their success. But now that they're on top - one of the most famous bands in the world - they've got to keep their shit together in order to stay on top.
Grammy Nom
For now, the guys still exist in that sweet spot where they can do no wrong. This month, they were nominated for Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal for "The Saints are Coming." They are up against "Talk" by Coldplay (lame!), "How to Save a Life" by The Fray (emo!), "Steady as She Goes" by the Raconteurs (pretentious!), and "Dani California" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (boring!).
Obviously, Green Day (and U2) will win.
New Green Day Website Review
A new site - http://www.greenday.net/cc.html - possibly in some way affiliated with greenday.net, has just started up. The site aggregates Green Day headlines from around the internet. It is very, very, very weirdly, even eerily similar to The Drudge Report. Coincidence? Or is there a connection that implies a right wing bias on the part of this new site? Hmm…
The site could be really great…someday. Unfortunately, as of right now, a lot of the links are major duds that lead to nothing anywhere near Green Day, or worse, to Nowheresville.
Maybe someday, Green Drudge Report, but not today.
Brit Bashed
In Green Day gossip this month, Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher decided to beat a dead horse. Gallagher is all bitching that "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is nothing more than a big ripoff of "Wonderwall," and that Green Day kicks the least ass of any rock band ever.
Okay…
For one thing, if Gallagher hasn't been cryogenically frozen for the last two years, he's a little late in the game to be coming out with all of these complaints. For another, if this is Gallagher's big effort to generate attention for Oasis by starting a battle with another band, he should have picked a more up-to-date topic. Instead, he has to get in line with all the other nuts who are insisting that Green Day stole "American Idiot" from them.
Yawn.
Well, that's all the news and gossip for this month. Stay tuned, motherfuckers, because you never know when something crazy is going to happen, and you'll get all the best in-depth info right here, and nowhere else!
*Most unfortunately, the re-release of Kerplunk and 10/39 Smooth has been pushed back to January 9th (assholes!), so if this is all you asked for for Christmas, er, Green Day, then you're little heart is probably broken.
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