William E. Spevack - Green Day: Every Album, Every Song

by Fiona Hutchings

published: 3 / 7 / 2023

William E. Spevack - Green Day: Every Album, Every Song

[subhead] Noting and commenting on a band’s every album and song involves a lot of facts but how much fun can you squeeze in too? Fiona Hutchings checks out the new addition to the Sonicbond Publishing libraryon Green Day.

Article

Messers Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool are the triumphant triumvirate otherwise known as Green Day. In this slim volume that also features plenty of colour photos of the band, William Spevack has managed to pack a real punch. His exploration of the band’s history follows the now well-established pattern of the ‘On Track’ books. It introduces our players and takes us on a chronological tour of their career. Albums are introduced and then each track broken down. The book functions really well as a reference text of sorts. If you need a perspective on a specific album or track you can dip in and out as needed. But what I also really enjoy with this book is how readable it is from cover to cover. Spevack doesn’t recite facts but shares insights. By scattering in well chosen quotes from the band themselves and various publications including ‘Rolling Stone’, ‘NME’, ‘Time’ and MTV, Spevack offers a succinct and well-rounded picture of Green Day’s career. They are well overdue for this kind of treatment too. ‘American Idiot’ alone has gone eight times platinum. They’ve had four number one albums since the turn of the millennium. This is not just a book for fans of the band, but it offers something for the more casual reader too. The stories and influences both within and outside of the band make it a swift but satisfying read.