logan j. fowler discusses Green Day’s new CD/DVD combo and whether it lives up to its title or not …
In 2005, Green Day fans were given a CD/DVD combo post the mainstream success of the band’s return to glory (American Idiot) with Bullet In A Bible. Shot In Milton Keynes, England, Bullet had a ton of great tunes recorded live, and a documentary about the band’s success. However, there was one glaring problem: While I had no gripes with the CD content (except fans and myself were definitely shortchanged on songs, and the same goes for the footage), the documentary and the music were intermixed, making for one long movie featuring the band and it severely slowed down the pace of Green Day’s amazing concert. The DVD offered no option to watch one or the other. Instead, you had to sit through a song, watch the band talk, rinse, cycle, repeat. For a fan (me, of course), it was a must buy, but the editing was poor choice.
In the wake of the 2009 album 21st Century Breakdown, the band has again released a CD/DVD combo titled Awesome As F**k. The real gift in this package was not just the live footage or CD content, but a rare gem in the band’s back catalogue that, unless you were very lucky, you would never hear (until now). Pre-American Idiot, Green Day had recorded master tapes that were apparently stolen, and among them, a track was on said tapes, titled Cigarettes And Valentines (which also was the name of the album). The song appears on both the CD and DVD in this combo, but beyond that, is this worth checking out?
Well, let me put it to you this way: This is the best you’ll get for a Green Day concert without going to one. I’ve thankfully been to two GD concerts, and these guys don’t mess around. You get back every penny you spend. Again it is not a full concert (you can clearly tell some songs are missing — notice the missing “Longview?” And where’s “Minority?” I rest my case). But there’s no break in the pace of the music. Any additional non-concert footage takes place over instrumental parts that the band is playing in show. There are slow-motion shots, freeze frames, sepia tones, black-and-white tones, and these tidbits are a nice little touch to the overall performance.
This time, the concert footage was shot in Japan, and it’s actually quite interesting how big this band has become internationally. Billie Joe even speaks brief phrases in the language, which is really cool. The concert breezes by, which is not a bad thing, but I still await the day when I get a full-fledged concert that is released by Reprise Records. I may be greedy because I’ve seen the real thing, but whatever the case, Awesome As F***K‘s concert footage is leaps and bounds better than Bullet In A Bible, so at least it has that going for it.
There is also a variation in the CD and DVD content for the combo. Both have different tracks, which I kind of like, but kind of dislike at the same time. I would have loved to see personal favorites “Who Wrote Holden Caufield?” and “J.A.R.” live, but they don’t appear on the DVD. However, I do like it only because you are not listening to the same thing you are seeing. It livens the whole package up a bit.
For the DVD: 21st Century Breakdown, Know Your Enemy, East Jesus Nowhere, Holiday, Static Age, ¡Viva La Gloria!, Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Burnout, Geek Stink Breath, Welcome To Paradise, When I Come Around, My Generation (Cover of The Who’s song), She, 21 Guns, American Eulogy, Jesus Of Suburbia, Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), Cigarettes And Valentines
For the CD: 21st Century Breakdown, Know Your Enemy, Jesus Of Suburbia, East Jesus Nowhere, ¡Viva La Gloria!, Cigarettes and Valentines, Burnout, Going To Pasalacqua, J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva), Who Wrote Holden Caufield?, Geek Stink Breath, When I Come Around, She, 21 Guns, American Idiot, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
One more track on the CD would have been nice to even it all out, but once again, small potatoes. The CD has recorded tracks from around the world, so for instance “Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?” is from a performance in New York, while “Holiday” was in Dublin, Ireland. Not a continuous concert, but that what the DVD is for, right? In any case, I thought the idea to have various tracks from around the world was a good change. Also, it seems that the song handpicked were better for CD anyway, as the audience interaction is given more of a showcase on that front while individual participants (stage divers) were more of a focus in the DVD. Instrumentals and solos aren’t really demonstrated much in either except in a few cases (for example, “East Jesus Nowhere”) but it may have just been to cut down on the time and used to pack as much content in as possible for each respective disc.
So what’s the verdict on Awesome As F**k? Well, I’m going to try to be unbiased in my conclusion as the band ranks as my favorite. My biggest problem with the package is that it is not a full concert. I know this for a fact and as a fan I want that. I don’t mind the touch-ups here and there for show, but I would just like a Green Day concert in its entirety. Also, the tracks being different bother me in some cases, but I won’t split hairs, as I said before, it makes the two different and both worth having.
The biggest compliment that I have is that Awesome As F**K is what Bullet In A Bible should have been; a CD full of music, a grand concert, and while Bullet In A Bible had the interview footage and Awesome As F**k doesn’t, I’d swap out Green Day talking for Green Day rocking. Maybe one day in the future, I could have all three: a CD, a concert and a documentary where the concert and documentary aren’t intercut?
A fan can dream. As for now, Awesome As F**k may not live up to its full potential title, but it’s still pretty awesome. And in the end, that’s all that matters.
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