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| Green Day: Bullet In A Bible |
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Live to the
world - from Milton Keynes...
I was recently lucky enough to attend
the UK premiere of Green Day's
new feature length movie Bullet
In A Bible.
Recorded on the 18th
and 19th June 2005,
at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England, Bullet In A Bible
documents the best songs
recorded at those monumental gigs (130,000
people attended both dates), and
intersperses the music with insightful
individual interviews and footage
of the usual Green Day tomfoolery.
The result is two hours of pure
entertainment.
Anyone who's seen Green Day live will know just how
good they are. They are possibly
the most fun
anyone can have at a live concert, and are as practised
and coherent
as a band could possibly be.
Their sense of humour
and spontaneity
is as finely-honed
as you could imagine, which comes across in their performances.
Bullet In A Bible captures this perfectly. |
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Pros
Masterfully filmed.
Brilliant performances.
Insightful & funny.
Cons
There aren't any.
Comment
Superb documentary. Essential Green Day! |
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"We're still (rightly)
lapping it up. American Idiot is simply an album that defines where
we are in history right now, and - even a year after the album's
release - it's still as powerful and relevant as ever.
Bullet In A Bible clearly proves that." |
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"England!"
As a fully-fledged Limey it is no
small thrill to experience Green
Day strutting their stuff in my country, but for them to choose
England to record their biggest headline shows - and release them
world-wide as a movie - is as close to nirvana
as it could possibly get (no joke intended).
Green Day always treat the crowd as a friend
- they fuck around with them (witness the band going silent after
inciting the crowd to chant), involve them in the gig (Green Day
always drag fans on-stage and give them instruments), and generally
put on the most wonderfully tuneful
sing-along shows in the history
of punk rock. Bullet In A Bible demonstrates - over it's 14-song
running time - Green Day's skill
with a large crowd.
From the rabble-rousing opener, American Idiot; through the rest
of that eponymous album (Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday, Are We The
Waiting, St. Jimmy, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Boulevard
of Broken Dreams); into the land of past
classics (Basket Case of course;
Brain Stew, Longview, Hitchin' A Ride, King For A Day, Minority
and Good Riddance (Time of Your Life); and the odd cover (Lulu's
Shout
- surprisingly no We Are The Champions - Green Day's cover of choice
these days) we are treated to a unique
view of Green Day and their music.
And at times it's enough to send
a shiver down your spine. |
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"No man can eat 50 eggs"
Musically and vocally the performances
are blistering. Singer/guitarist
Billie-Joe Armstrong,
bassist Mike Dirnt
and drummer Tre Cool
hit the form of their careers for the cameras.
But this movie is not just
about the live music. The interview sections, intercut
with the show, work well too.
We see the individual members of the band preparing for the show
and discussing Green Day past and present; people from the audience
excitedly extolling the virtues of being a fan; crew and bystanders
even get a look-in from time to time. It's often
hilarious (especially the section
showing members of the audience playing their favourite Green
Day songs on guitar to camera), and sometimes poignant,
though thankfully never boring.
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"Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed?"
Green Day totally
shine throughout Bullet In A Bible
- never dropping a note but always appearing relaxed. This is probably
something to do with the fact that they've been playing American
Idiot live for over 18 months now, and we're still (rightly) lapping
it up. American Idiot is simply an album that defines
where we are in history right now, and - even a year after the album's
release - it's still as powerful
and relevant
as ever. Bullet In A Bible clearly proves
that.
If I had any criticisms
of Bullet In A Bible it would be for tracks
missing, than anything else. Which
isn't
very fair. Green Day's repertoire spans more than nine
studio albums and over fifteen
years of songwriting. As much
as I would have liked a four-hour Bullet In A Bible: I don't think
the bigwigs would have gone for it...
At the premiere of the movie in London one of my friends complained
that the interview sections were too jarring (he just wanted the
music - no chat), but I disagree: the interviews are great
punctuation to the event itself
and add necessary context
to the proceedings. Especially Tre Cool dressed as a Mountie...
:-)
Hard as it may be to believe: there are still plenty
of people out there who have never
seen Green Day live. If you're
one of those people: first console
yourself for missing the best
live act on the planet, then secondly: buy
Bullet In A Bible. Not only is
it a superb documentary,
but it's also the next best thing
to seeing them live. |
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Green Day comprises
of childhood friends Billie
Joe Armstrong (guitars, vocals), Mike
Dirnt (bass) and Tre
Cool (drums). The band came together in California
when Armstrong and Dirnt formed a band named Sweet
Children while in their teens. When drummer Al
Sobrante was added to the line-up in 1989:
Green Day was formed - though Tre Cool became the band's
permanent drummer after the release of their first LP
and after Sobrante decided to go to college.
Official website: http://www.greenday.com/
1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
- Released: 1990
Kerplunk! - Released:
January, 1992
Dookie - Released:
February, 1994
Insomniac - Released:
October, 1995
Nimrod - Released:
October, 1997
Warning - Released:
October, 2000
International Superhits
- Released: November, 2001
Shenanigans - Released:
July, 2002
American Idiot - Released:
September, 2004 |
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| Bullet In A Bible
Track Listing |
1.
American Idiot
2. Jesus of Suburbia
I.
Jesus of Suburbia
II.
City of the Damned
III.
I Don't Care
IV.
Dearly Beloved
V.
Tales Of Another Broken
Home
3. Holiday
4. Are We the Waiting
5. St. Jimmy
6. Longview
7. Hitchin' A Ride
8. Brain Stew
9. Basket Case
10. King For A Day
/ Shout
11. Wake Me Up When
September Ends
12. Minority
13. Boulevard of Broken
Dreams
14. Good Riddance (Time
of Your Life) |
TWO CD SET...
Disc one: audio CD
Disc two: DVD movie with photo gallery |
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Green Day Bullet
In A Bible
Product:
Live LP and DVD movie of the American Idiot tour
Aimed at:
Music lovers and punk rock mosh monsters
Label:
Warner Reprise Price:
£10.99
Features: Two discs.
Disc one a 14-track audio CD, and disc two a two-hour
documentary movie. The DVD also features a photo gallery
with a 'karaoke' (ie. non-vocal) version of Boulevard
of Broken Dreams. At just over ten pounds this two-disc
pack is incredible value for money!
RATING:
95 out of 100 |
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| Good places to buy
Bullet In A Bible : |
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