Bullet In A Bible [PA]

Performer: Green Day
Engineer: Doug McKean
Producer: Tim Lynch; Rob Cavallo
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Green Day: Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar); Mike Dirnt (vocals, bass guitar); Tre Cool (drums). Additional personnel: Jason White , Mike Pelino (guitar, background vocals); Ron Blake (horns, percussion, background vocals); Jason Freese (keyboards, background vocals). Despite the fact that they lifted nearly all their musical moves wholesale from 1970s and '80s punk-pop bands like the Undertones, the Descendents, and the Buzzcocks, Green Day proved a surprisingly vital and relevant force on the rock scene of the '90s and 2000s. The band's politically-pointed 2004 rock opera AMERICAN IDIOT showed the band to be more ambitious than previously thought, and this 2005 live album and DVD bear witness to a band rocking out at their commercial and creative peak. Despite the fact that they lifted nearly all of their musical moves wholesale from 1970s and '80s punk-pop bands like the Undertones, the Descendents, and the Buzzcocks, Green Day proved to be a surprisingly vital and relevant force on the rock scene of the '90s and 2000s. The band's politically-pointed 2004 rock opera AMERICAN IDIOT was the most ambitious recording of their career, and this 2005 live album and DVD bear witness to a band rocking out at their commercial and creative peak. The DVD presents concert footage filmed over two performances in Milton Keynes, England, and also includes interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. Both the DVD and the CD--which include key selections from AMERICAN IDIOT and the band's breakthrough DOOKIE, among others--underscore not only what a tight, professional unit the trio has become, but the rabid enthusiasm of their fanbase (the audience sings along with practically every lyric). BULLET IN A BIBLE may be the sound of punk gone mainstream, but it's still plenty of fun. Bullet in a Bible is a CD/DVD package (also available as a UMD, for those who want to carry it around on a Sony PSP) documenting Green Day's show at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes on their 2005 U.K. tour. The DVD intercuts interview footage with individual members of the trio between the songs on the set, while the CD provides an hourlong distillation of the show. Both the CD and DVD manage to be big, splashy productions -- after all, the DVD is produced to take full advantage of a home theater system, while the CD has a bright, clean kick to its mix -- that still retain a palpable sense of excitement and grit. This isn't the wild, reckless Green Day of the early and mid-'90s -- this is Green Day the arena punk pros, who know how to fill a stadium while still sounding as if they're playing in a packed little club. None of their '90s punk-pop peers have such a large following or can command such large, adoring crowds, and Bullet in a Bible makes it clear why: no other band in 2005 can play to the mainstream while still seeming nervy and vital. In other words, nobody does it better than Green Day, and this live package is a testimonial to the band at its peak. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Uncut (p.105) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[With] breakneck takes of 'Longview' and 'Brain Stew' that leave no doubt they can work a crowd."

Coming out of the grass-roots Gilman St. punk scene of the early-1990s Bay Area, Green Day exploded into the mainstream with their third album, 1994's DOOKIE. The trio's punk energy and pop hooks, influenced by first-generation punks like the Buzzcocks, in turn inspired a huge legion of punk-pop followers. Their energy level flagged a bit following the smash success of DOOKIE, but the band's enormously successful 2004 Grammy-winning political concept album, AMERICAN IDIOT, proved they were mature artists and far from a one-trick pony.

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