Do You Have The Time To Listen To Them Live?

I was 11 years old when Dookie was released in 1994,  I saw the video for "Basket Case" and immediately fell in love. Green Day's music was a welcomed departure from the depressing effects that grunge had on me and I fell in love with Billy the first time I saw his face. My parents hated their music videos and turned the channel every time they played one on MTV (back when MTV played videos).  When will parents learn? When they hate something, you end up liking it even more. They wouldn't let me buy the album, so I had my best friend buy me the tape for Christmas that year. They didn't know that I had it, so I would climb into my closet with my radio (I also got my first boom box that Christmas) and listen to this album from start to finish as quiet as I could so that my parents wouldn't hear me. When I finally got caught my dad went through the lyrics and crossed out every song that I wasnt allowed to listen to on the album. The funny thing is that I didn't even know what half of the songs meant, I just liked the music. 

This album will always be one of my favorites from top to bottom, love everything about it and I get excited when I find out that other people love it as much as I do.  If you are as big of a Dookie nerd as I am, you might enjoy seeing local musicians Emily Rose and Greg Blucher perform Dookie live from start to finish at the Black Lotus Brewery this Saturday, March 7th at 9 p.m.

~S

Green Day: Yesterday, Today, and Forever!

When I was a kid I was not allowed to watch TV or listen to music without my parents approval. Naturally, this meant that I snuck around and listened to music and watched TV that I wasn't supposed to in any way I could. Usually I did so by going next door to my friends house whose parents were a little less attentive. In 6th grade I heard a song on the radio and begged that same friend to buy me the tape. That's right kids, I'm old and when I was in 6th grade, you had to buy tapes still. 

That December under the Christmas tree I found an album called Dookie from my best friend. I brought that tape home, hid in my closet and at a very low volume I listened to every note, lyric and beat and my life was forever changed. I have similar stories that I can tell about how I experienced each of the Green Day records. I remember driving away from my parents home to move into my college dorm with “Waiting” blasting on the radio while I wondered where my life would take me. Green Day has always been one of my favorite bands for this reason and many more.

When they announced that they had recorded 3 albums that would come out 4 months apart, I knew that my life was going to be changed again. The albums were recorded from February 14 to June 26, 2012 at Jingletown Studios in Oakland, California. These albums are titled ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! and the first one is scheduled to be release on September 25. 

So far they have released 4 singles called “Oh Love”, “Kill the DJ”, “Let Yourself Go” and “Nuclear Family”. These songs are a huge step away from the epic ballads that have been heard on the last two albums and lead me to believe it when Billy said in Rolling Stone that these releases will be a step back to old Green Day. He describes now as the most creative time in his life and feels that this is his best writing yet. 

Here at Hip in Detroit we received an advanced copy and sat down to listen to a new Green Day album and see what we thought. I pushed play as I drove away from my house on the way to work today. I blasted the record throughout the day at work and a few things are clear. This album is 100% a return to the Green Day I knew that put out Dookie, Kerplunk and Nimrod, but they are older and better at what they do. The weirdest thing is that somehow they have stayed extremely relevant. The CD is full of love ballads, punk rants and even some dance music. My favorite songs so far are “Stay the Night”, “ Let Yourself Go” and “Sweet 16”. The best part is over the next four months there will be more. They are releasing 38 new songs in total. 

I went home and and listened to the CD with my boyfriend while we cooked dinner and I danced around my kitchen. That will be the way that I remember this CD. I may be a little older myself, but I'm also a little punk rock girl who loves a good love song. This CD delivers another great life moment with Green Day. 

¡Uno! drops September 25th. Pick up your copy and let me know what you think!

~S