SONG REVIEWED: "Minority"
The first time I saw Green Day they were opening up for Rancid at the filthy yet prestigious Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. It was an amazing show, seeing them for the first time ever in their hometown was priceless. The next time I bumped into Green Day they were in NYC at The Roseland opening up for Bad Religion. It seemed like all their fans from Berkeley had literally followed them out to New York City. Green Day was great that night and left a huge impression on me. Two or three months later someone hands me "Dookie", I looked up at the television and there they were. Green Day was one of those bands that you didn't know personally but were excited for because you "knew about them first."
Green Day's 15 minutes seemed to last a good half-hour, opening the flood gates for bands to come such as the great Blink 182 (God help us all). I think Green Day's new found fame rattled them and the Berkeley contingent and due to typical punk rock guilt they had to do something to remedy that. So they dusted off the old, tried and tested "I never wanted to be famous" tricks and attempted to shed their "fake fans" by releasing a record that was nothing like what kids were anticipating, expecting and demanding. "Insomniac" sure did the job. People were disappointed at best and Green Day pretty much fell completely off the radar. They popped back up with the tear jerking "Time of Your Life" single which was an out of character acoustic ballad. They even won some award for it. It was funny seeing the entire band accepting an award for a song played by one guy with an acoustic guitar.
This new song, "Minority", is decent and catchy. It almost has a reggae dub bounce to it not unlike what Rancid has been up to lately. Seems like everyone is dusting off their old Clash records. I've listened to the song about twenty times now and its still decent. I'd hate to sound like a typical fan but I think most of Green Day's magic is behind them. Those first few records, pre-MTV explosion, were simply brilliant. The melodies were infectious. I doubt I'll be humming this new tune in the shower tomorrow morning but its still...good.
Green Day certainly did not invent pop punk they were simply in the right place at the right time with some good songs. But hearing them now...its just not there anymore, its just not alive. The Wright Brothers may have helped invent the first plane but today most people are more concerned with the Boeing 757. How's that for a f-ing analogy...
