If you're familiar with my style, you know I start out with a few explanatory notes. If you're not, get used to it.
I'm not sure whether I reserved _Nimrod_ after just hearing about it, or if I'd heard "Hitchin a Ride" before I went down to Musicland and gave them $2. To reserve it. Not just because I thought a huge, faceless corporation deserved a little more of my money. They gave me a $3 coupon which I ended up using to buy *ta da* the first Yes album at the Mall of America. So I went to Musicland and bought it way back on October 14. I listened to it in my car, and I kind of had an experience. Because my car was full of clothes (I had play rehearsal and p.e. that day) and food wrappers (I had Burger King for dinner). It was the living-out-of-your-car- I've-already-spent-my-next-paycheck-punk-band thing. My first favorite song on the unit was "King for a Day." Cross-dressing humor is always funny. Then a few weeks ago, Jason announces _he_ just bought Nimrod, and then Tuesday at pep Kim said she has it now too. So it's somewhat of a phenomenon. And with good reason. I don't know why it's taken me so long to write a review. The reasons I finally decided to today are two-fold. At the library, I tried to go to some Green Day sites, and it became apparent that Yes is not the only band that inspires a lot of internet hostility. Then, when I came home, the featured selection from the BMG catalog was Nimrod. So here goes.
The CD starts out great with "Nice Guys Finish Last" and it gets you started off with a kick in the butt. It's cool. I found myself walking around singing the chorus to myself, it's that good.
Next comes "the first single of Green Day's newest release, 'Hitchin A Ride.'" I put that in quotes cuz it seems like something some dorky dj guy would say. Anyway, I liked the song the first time I heard it, on the radio in my car. It has a good sense of wordplay, that we first got a big glimpse of in "Walking Contradiction." It's got a good driving beat, I just hate that little endy part. On my CD, I click past it when I remember.
Now we're up to the third song, "The Grouch." This is the one that is written around the nice photo of Billie Joe. It's very funny. I view it as a companion song to "Brat" from _Insomniac_. Of course that could very well be a stupid theory but at least I'm trying, ok? When Kim was talking to me about buying this cd, she said that she had this song in her head.
Now for a change of pace with "Redundant." To date, the closest to a love song Green Day has been responsible for. Since I have no real insights on this one, I'll comment on the layout of the lyrics. I like how they made it look like some of the words were either censcored or crossed out of a first draft of the song.
"Scattered." I heard this one when Green Day was on Modern Rock Live. I guess I like the tune, nothing just stands out about it except that you can really picture the images present in the song.
"All the Time" This is one of those ones where you know about 5 words of the song and go around constantly singing them. I like the song, just that the picture of the guy scares me.
Yaay. "Worry Rock." I love this song. I especially like the part where he sings and there's no instruments or anything (a capella) yes I realize that. Good use of the rock theme with "yelling at brick walls and punching windows made of stone." A new take on the 'it's like talking to a rock' thing. It's actually a kind of sad song.
"Platypus (I hate you)" I have no idea what a poor platypus ever did to deserve being in that title. Its a cool song, I just wish they had the lyrics in there.
This next one is pretty fun. "Uptight" is a good one for when you're in a bad mood and know it. I like the hesitation on the lyric at the beginning.
Jason doesn't like this song, but I do. "Last ride in" I thought it was cool the first time I heard it because it had the ocean sounds in it.
"Jinx" This one is really good. If it has to do with violence in a humorous manner, I usually like it. The music to it is good too, not just the words. Actually they most all are. This is taking a really long time. Since these two songs are continued to each other, it will be one big paragraph. "Haushinka" It reminds me of "Norwegian Wood." Figure it out yourself, do I have to tell you everything? At first I didn't really like it, but it kind of grows on you.
"Walking Alone" I like the lyrics but I don't like the end result of the song.
"Reject" This one is cool, I add little vocal things to it when I think appropriate. It's a pretty happy song, as opposed to the next one...
"Take Back" Perfect for when you're ticked at someone. The growling vocals in the chorus are quite unsettling.
"King for a Day" A hilarious song. I love the horns. Nice rhyme of 4-store-door-4.
"Good Riddance (time of your life)" This song has gotten slammed somewhat on the inter net and loved by people who don't really like the usual Green Day. I like it, and I've even seen the video. The strings are beautiful. I like the false start at the beginning.
One song left awright. "Prosthetic Head" With so many good songs, I sometimes don't get to this one, but it's actually a fairly decent song. The first two lines are easy to get stuck in your brain.
All in all a worthwhile purchase, further proof that Green Day is more than
just a one-song-with-just-different-words band.
CD Reviews
The Land of Rach