A track-by-track look back at Green Day's 2012 release, Uno!
UNO! - TRACK LISTING
1. Nuclear Family - Solid choice to lead off the album, it's an up-tempo rocker that definitely "sounds like Green Day." It's catchy. I like catchy songs. Rating: 7.5*
2. Stay the Night - This is my favorite song on the album. It reminds me of Kerplunk-era Green Day. Great melody, great chorus. An instant classic. This is one of their best songs off any album. Rating: 9.5
3. Carpe Diem - I have mixed feelings about this song. It's definitely catchy and fun to sing along to, but it's a little slower than I prefer and parts of it remind me of the song, "Suffocate," that appeared on their 2002 release, Shenanigans. If I'd never heard "Suffocate" it's quite possible my entire perception of "Carpe Diem" would be different. Rating: 7.0
4. Let Yourself Go - A straight-up rocker, this one gets going fast right away and doesn't let up. It's definitely a rocking song, and it will be a nice addition to their live set, but I can't put it in the highest tier of Green Day songs. It's very good but not great. Rating: 7.5
5. Kill the DJ - Unlike the other tracks on this album, this song has a really cool, dark vibe to it. It's a four-on-the-floor dance track, yet it still rocks. Includes a most excellent guitar groove in the middle of the tune. Great song. Rating: 8.5
6. Fell for You - With it's jangling guitars and memorable vocal harmonies, this tune has kind of a 60's rock vibe to it, and they pull it off very well. It's hard not to sing along with this one. Rating: 7.0
7. Loss of Control - This is a really solid Green Day song. It's got the rapid-fire lyrics and hummable melodies that I like, and (as usual) the music is top-notch. However, and I'm putting on my amateur songwriter hat here, I find the lead guitar line during the chorus to be a little distracting and think the song would be better without it. I'm nit-picking, obviously, but hey, this is a tough grading scale. Rating: 7.5
8. Troublemaker - You'll be tapping your foot by the time this one's over. Really catchy tune, and it's got a pretty decent guitar solo as well. Rating: 8.0
9. Angel Blue - As with "Loss of Control," I like pretty much everything about this song, it's fast-paced and catchy... but I could do without the lead guitar line. It's borderline annoying. My rating would probably be a half-point higher if the song didn't have that lead guitar line. Rating: 7.5
10. Sweet 16 - This is a really good song. It's well done on every level: vocally, musically, melodically... it's excellent. It's not my favorite song on the album, I prefer the more up-tempo stuff, but I can't think of a single bad thing to say about this song. Rating: 7.0
11. Rusty James - Has a great chorus and maintains a catchy melody throughout. They really get rocking on this one, and it's a fun tune to sing along with. Really, really solid song. Rating: 7.0
12. Oh Love - My least favorite track on the album. It's too slow, and I don't like it. I wasn't a fan of the band choosing this song as the first single for the album (not to mention the entire Uno-Dos-Tre trilogy), I think it sent the wrong message about what the new music will sound like, and sort of misrepresented the disc. Oh, well. Rating: 1.0
* Ratings are on a scale of 1 to 10. Scale is based solely on how these songs rate next to other songs in Green Day's catalog. For example, songs like "Geek Stink Breath" and "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" are perfect 10's. "Brain Stew" is a 9.5, "Longview" is a 9.0, "Coming Clean" is an 8.0, and so on and so forth. The general assumption here is that even the worst Green Day song is still better than most other bands' best song.
MY TOP 5 ...
1. Stay the Night
2. Kill the DJ
3. Troublemaker
4. Nuclear Family
5. Let Yourself Go
RANDOM THOUGHTS ... Making the Top 5 was tough, and some really good tunes didn't make the list. "Angel Blue," "Carpe Diem," and "Rusty James" are very strong tracks, but I just couldn't put them ahead of any of those I have listed. My Top 5 is heavy on the fast-paced rockers, but that's not really indicitive of the album as a whole. There's definitely more to this disc than just a bunch of tunes in the vein of "Let Yourself Go." These other tracks aren't just filler, either, they're good songs. This is a really strong album and a worthy addition to their collection. ... I think "Stay the Night" is one of the best songs Green Day has ever written. It fits right in the mold of stuff they were doing back in the 90's and could have appeared on Kerplunk, Nimrod or Warning without sounding out of place. It's a truly great song and the number one reason this album is worth purchasing. ... As a whole, this album exceeded my lofty expectations, and that's saying something! Typically (at least with the last couple albums), I'm disappointed after the first listen-through, and then I eventually warm up to the songs as I become more familiar with them. With Uno!, however, I liked the songs right away. I felt happy after the first listen-through. That's when I knew: this one's a winner.
ALBUM REVIEW IN A SINGLE WORD: AWESOME.
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