¡Uno! is Green Day having fun again. They've said their piece about the state of the world. They've proved everything there is to prove. And now they have the wicked gleam of a great idea in their eyes. An idea full of stomps, claps, and loud guitar solos. No wonder "Stay The Night" starts with "Well I ain't got much time so I'll get to the point, do you wanna share a ride and get the fuck out of this joint?" It's midnight on the first day of summer and it's time for adventure.Almost all of the next forty-two minutes deliver, like the irresistible hook of "Fell For You" and the echo of the harmonies in "Loss Of Control" ("We're all crazy, you're all crazy now"). It races by like the road runner. Stop to breathe and you've had it. The last two albums needed huge music to match the sweeping statements behind them. Everything was massive. It feels good to get back to hammer-down rock n' roll. Even the production of ¡Uno! feels cleaner, like being in the room for a jam session.
A quiet moment comes in "Sweet 16", the kind of spare, beautiful ballad that Billie seems to pull out of his back pocket like it's nothing. Kryptonite.
The closer "Oh Love" is the only track that veers off the rails. "Rusty James" would have a been a better ending. Still, one clunker in the batch doesn't really hurt. ¡Uno! is exactly what Green Day needed to do next. Count the days until ¡Dos!
