November 12th, 2012 
Josh Hammond 
Artist: Green Day
Album: Dos!
Genre: Punk(?)
In a perfect world there would be no pillars to fall from. Expectations would be modest and reasonable, directed to the task at hand. Take for example Green Day, who has spent the last 18 years living in the shadow of their best-selling album Dookie. The trio honestly shouldn’t be held to unrealistic expectations of recreating this iconic album. I mean, life happens right? Over the course of two decades people undoubtedly grow up, and their influences and inspirations shift. So logically, Billie Joe and company should in no way be expected to approach life (and consequent songwriting) in the same manner at 40 years of age as they did in their 20s. I mean seriously, think back to what monopolized your time in 1994. Are you spending your days doing the same thing now? If so, you should probably stop reading this review and Google “life coach.”
That said Green Day really took a Dos! with their latest release. Compiled of hookless tracks and soulless songwriting, the second installation of the ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! triplets triumphs as very little more than a B-sides album. Feeling phoned-in and uninspired, key moments of instrumentation are wasted on meaningless lyrics and half-assed efforts to crank out songs. One could safely assume while spinning this record that Green Day entered the studio with a goal of cranking out 3 albums worth of material and moved forward with quantity, not quality. Any single from any of the bands previous albums would stand out on this effort. There is not a single standout track to be found on Dos. The fact is that this album is one hundred percent throwaway.
“Stop When The Red Lights Flash” and “Lazy Bones” show sparks of a possible zombie Green Day takeover happening about halfway through the album, however, both tracks possess enough mundane and ignorable moments to mesh with the whole of the album. Overall, the problems with the album rest in the message. At his best Billie Joe is both witty and wise. His tongue and cheek lyrics casually raise awareness to the clusterfuck of reasons we raise our middle fingers in this world. Dos!, however, appears rather apathetic. Green Day’s attempts to spice up their music comes off like a tired lover too often bored with the routine of their bedroom escapades. Any attempt to break from the norm comes off as clumsy and awkward. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in change. I respect Green Day for having the courage to do whatever they want musically. If they made a country album, I’d probably buy it. I have never bought into the theory that shifting your sound is selling out. In fact, the act of not making punk after being punk for your entire career because you no longer want to be punk IS fucking punk. Period.
Don’t believe me? Google: The Clash.
However, leaps of faith require careful landings. Songs like “Nightlife” are not going to cut it when making such a drastic change. With trite lyrics, mediocre rap skills and irritating similarities to porn music, the band falls short of a successful shift. This formula can be found throughout the disk. “Wild One” is simple and uninteresting. “Fuck Time” is disappointing lyrically. The album as a whole is a flop.
One can only hope that Green Day have hoarded all of the key tracks for the release of Tré! in some fucked up Andy Kaufman ruse. In my opinion, that’s the only chance for them to save face from the disastrous shitmess that this release has caused.
SCORE: 2/10
Review written by: Joshua Hammond
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