Bullet in a Bible (CD+DVD)

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). Recording information: Resonate Music, Burbank, California; Milton Keynes, England (06/2005). 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 bands 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 bands 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 bands 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 its still plenty of fun.