THE RATASS GAZETTE

Green Day - Missing You (Live) - 2013   RANDOM THOUGHTS...  "Missing You" is my favorite song on Tre!  and this is an excellent live performance of it at the Rock am Ring festival in Germany on June 9, 2013. They were the headliners on the final day of the music-fest, and judging by this performance (plus other clips I've seen) and their 26-song setlist that day, it sounds like it was an awesome show. Rock am Ring takes place annually at the Nurburgring racetrack, and if I were to reckon, I'd say there's about 30,000-50,000 people in the crowd (just eyeballing it).  ... Top-notch performance by the entire band here, they really sound great live. Billie's voice sounds strong, Mike is spot-on with the bass and back-up vox, and Tre really kills it on the skins. It's great to see they're still out there rocking and playing this excellent music. Best rock band on the planet!  ... One of the reasons I like the Green Day Trilogy so much is because ...

Green Day - Prosthetic Head - Live MTV Sonic Italy 1997 RANDOM THOUGHTS  ... Haven't done a Green Day a post in a while (which is inexcusable, I know) so let's feast on this nice juicy live performance of "Prosthetic Head" from their Nimrod world tour. This is one of my favorite tracks off that album. It rocks. Actually, the first time I saw Green Day live (I've seen them four times total) was on that same tour, also in 1997. They sounded great then and they still sound great today. 

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 r...

Green Day - "Stay the Night" -  Uno! (2012) RANDOM THOUGHTS... Our favorite rock band keeps cranking out awesome tunes. "Stay the Night" is my favorite track off the recently released  Uno! It reminds me of Kerplunk -era Green Day; simple and melodic, and the lyrics are timeless. It's an instant classic, and, in my opinion, ranks right up there with the best songs they've ever recorded. ... The video is good as well. I like these clips where it looks like the band is rehearsing in an empty room, they did it with the " Nuclear Family " video, too. It reminds me that this is what they are at the root of it all: Just some buddies hanging out and writing songs. Keep on rockin', guys!

Green Day "Walking Contradiction" and "Going to Pasalacqua"  Live on Saturday Night Special in 1996 RANDOM THOUGHTS... This is probably my favorite Green Day late-night TV performance of all time. It originally aired in 1996 on a short-lived Fox TV show called Saturday Night Special , produced by Roseanne Barr.  Special filled in for MAD TV for six weeks opposite NBC's Saturday Night Live , and Green Day appeared in the sixth and final episode.  It's pretty apparent that the people behind the scenes at the network wanted the band to play "Walking Contradiction," which was their single at the time (from the album Insomniac which was released the previous year).  It's also pretty apparent that Green Day wanted to play something else.  Let's be honest, "Walking Contradiction" is a catchy song with a fun music video , but it's a mid-tempo rocker and probably not the most exciting tune in their catalog to play.  So Green ...

Green Day - Christie Road - Live in 2005 - This song originally appeared on Kerplunk in 1992.  Kerplunk was drummer Tre Cool's first recorded music with Green Day, and is arguably a top-3 Green Day album.  Here's a great performance of "Christie Road" live on Fuse Comp'd in 2005 .  Rock! RANDOM THOUGHTS ... This song contains a full metric shit ton of great Tre Cool drum fills.  I actually met Tre Cool after a show at The Rave one time, it was legendary.  My brother and some friends were talking to this shorter guy wearing a leather jacket.  I went over to join them and "shorter guy wearing a leather jacket" is none other than -- yep, you guessed it -- Tre Cool.  His hand was all bandaged up, he said it was from smashing his drum kit at the end of the show, and that's the most rock and roll thing that has ever been said to me.  He actually commented directly to me about the T-shirt I was wearing, which had a print of an original Green Da...

Green Day - Church On Sunday - Here is a fantastic live performance of "Church on Sunday" by Green Day, which appeared on the album Warning . If I'm not mistaken, this TV appearance is from MTV's "First Listen", which aired back in 2000. For most fans, including myself, it was the first time we heard this song. It also features Billie Joe Armstrong playing a Les Paul Jr. guitar rather than his trademark Fender Strat. The song rocks and their performance is great, check it out!

Here is an awesome vid of Green Day rockin' the Much Music (Toronto) stage in 2000.  This song was described by Billie Joe Armstrong as his "favorite song from Kerplunk " on the band's recent live album, Awesome as Fuck . Green Day - Who Wrote Holden Caulfield - Live on Much Music in 2000 RANDOM THOUGHTS... A virtuoso performance by Tre Cool, tons of great drum fills (including a massive one at 2:07) all over the place.  He makes the hardest shit look so damn easy!  I don't know how he keeps up the tempo through the whole thing (let alone an entire set!), but I love it.  He's the best drummer in rock n roll, no doubt about it. ... This appears to be one of Mike Dirnt's favorite songs to play live, I think he really enjoys cranking out the old shit.  He gets to do a lot of singing and lay down a big bass groove.  Dirnt is awesome. ... I think I agree with Billie Joe, and this is my favorite song from Kerplunk .

We've got a double-dose of Green Day goodness today, featuring two fantastic song performances from their Chicago, 1994, concert at the Aragon Ballroom, which aired on MTV.  The music sounds great and the band appears to be on drugs, so it all adds up to a great live show! F.O.D. - First is a hyped-up version of F.O.D. ( Dookie , Track 14).  I've always liked this tune.  Though hateful, the lyrics rock.  "You're just a fuck, I can't explain it 'cause I think you suck."  It's unfortunate that they cut out the obscenities in this version, but that's my only complaint.  This is a top-notch performance, check it out! Paper Lanterns - The Chicago '94 concert includes a superb version of Paper Lanterns ( 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours , Track 11), my all-time favorite Green Day song.  It's a great rock riff and Billie Joe even busts out a guitar solo (1:31) here in this one, which goes completely off the rails at the 2:00 mark.  That...

Green Day - Welcome to Paradise - Live on Conan O'Brien in 1994 This episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien originally aired on NBC in March of '94, about a month after Dookie was released, and according to the clip it is Green Day's first TV appearance.  It cracks me up when they let the guitar feed back during Conan's intro.  Also, at the end of the song, Tre Cool takes off running somewhere, which would become a staple every time they performed on a late-night show.  Classic! 

Green Day - Horseshoes and Handgrenades.   This is my favorite cut off 21st Century Breakdown .  If you haven't heard anything off their most recent album, I encourage you to give it a listen, it's fantastic.  This is a foot-stomping rocker!   First is a clip of Billie Joe, Mike, and Tre giving some background on the track.  Good stuff.     Here is the song with lyrics. Enjoy! GREEN DAY NEWS - Green Day recently did a gig in California where they played about 15 new songs they'd been working on.  Wish I would have been there, I'm sure it was awesome!  Be sure sure to check out their official site, Green Day.com , as well as excellent fan sites like Green Day Authority and Green Day.net to keep up on tours, magazine features, TV appearances, and tons of other great stuff related to Green Day.  They're the best rock band on the planet right now.

Green Day "East Jesus Nowhere" - Live At Abbey Road (2009).   It's been a while since we posted a Green Day video, so here is a great live performance of the band in 2009. "East Jesus Nowhere" is one of the strongest tracks off 21st Century Breakdown , and their musicianship is (of course) excellent in this clip. Check it out!

A look back at Green Day's Insomniac .  The 1995 follow-up to the hugely successful Dookie did not reach the same levels of sales or accolades as it's predecessor, but there are some really strong songs on this underrated album. Here are my five favorites... 1. “Geek Stink Breath” – The first post- Dookie single has been my fave since the first time I heard it.  It’s a shame the video for this song got pulled from daytime rotation (too gory showing a dentist yanking a tooth), thus costing it a chance at being on TRL .  And as anyone knows, in 1995, if you weren’t on TRL , you may as well not exist.  But the song itself kicks ass: a great opening-line of lyrics, catchy chorus, and Tre Cool’s nice decision to use the open high-hat on the drums, rather than a closed high-hat, because he’s a musical genius.  My point is, this song should have been much bigger than it was! 2. “Babs’ Uvula Who?” – I dare you to name a better 2-minute pu...

Here’s a quick look at Green Day’s discography and how many they’ve sold (according to RIAA certifications. Platinum = 1 million copies sold. Gold = 500,000 copies sold.)…  1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (1991)  Kerplunk (1992) – 1x Platinum Dookie (1994) – 10x Platinum – a.k.a. Diamond.  Insomniac (1995) – 2x Platinum  Nimrod (1997)– 2x Platinum Warning (2000) – Gold International Superhits (2001) – 1x Platinum Shenanigans (2002) American Idiot (2004) – 5x Platinum 21 st Century Breakdown (2009) – 1x Platinum UPDATE: 21st Century Breakdown was certified Platinum on February 17, 2011, giving Green Day SEVEN Platinum albums ! Four of those seven have gone Multi-Platinum. They just keep on rockin! GREEN DAY VIDEO DU JOUR... "Going to Pasalacqua" - Live in Chicago .  - This originally aired on MTV in December of 1994, just as they were exploding onto the national s...