Album Review: Green Day - Father Of All....

We all know the music business is a business, and often a shitty one at that. Bands find themselves in record deals that suck the life and money out of them, and we're supposed to root for them when they finally get a chance to break free from the corporate shackles and forge their own path forward. I say 'supposed to', because that's not always possible. Let's take Green Day here, as an example. The rumors going around are that this is the last album of their current deal, and was mostly put together for the sake of getting out of that contract so they can start a new chapter of their career. So we should excuse them if this isn't all that great, right?

Well, no. It's one thing to screw over the record label on the way out the door, but there's also the audience to consider. If Green Day was putting out a half-assed album to get out of a contract, what does that say to the fans who have been following them for years? What does it say to the people who are still going to make sure this record is sitting in their mailboxes on release day? What does it say when the fans care more about a record than the band themselves?

I think the answer to those questions is simple; Green Day is playing a dangerous con with their fans. They might think the audience knows what's going on, and it's all wink-and-nod, but that's foolishness on their part. Too many people, both in the media and the audience, will take it at face value that this is a serious Green Day album. And considering the drug-fueled half-assery of their triolgy, this would make four of their last five albums that had little to no care put into making them as good as possible. I'm sorry, but punk or not, that attitude doesn't cut it anymore. Green Day can't coast on their good will, not when it's been so long since they have put in the effort. Inertia has stopped.

But more than that, I fail to see the reason why the band would want their name associated with this horrible collection of songs. Contractual loophole or not, these songs will now be a part of their legacy, and it baffles me why they would do that to themselves, further watering down their career highlights with even more weak filler material. Heck, the album Billie Joe Armstrong put out under the guise of The Longshot was miles better than anything on this 'record'.

"Father Of All..." is a record designed as a middle finger to everyone. It's a middle finger to the label, it's a middle finger to the press that will still give it rave reviews, and it's a middle finger to the fans. That's the one that bothers me the most. Notice that I haven't said much of anything about the music, and that's because I don't have to. Knowing the story behind this album, just saying it's bad should be enough to convince you not to waste your time on it. As a record, it's a bad joke born out of bitterness. It's half an hour of a band seeing how little work they have to put in to still be loved by their fans. It's like going to see an insult comic, but he doesn't know he's a comedian. It's insulting, but it's the mean kind, and it doesn't get better in context.

Green Day thinks it's fun to stick it to their audience. I think it's insulting, and I don't like Green Day enough to let them treat me like this.