Six months after the release of their greatest hits album, ‘International Superhits’, everybody’s favourite punk band are back with another compilation album. This time Green Day have brought us ‘Shenanigans’, an album full of b-sides, covers and other such rarities. If the aforementioned greatest hits package was aimed squarely at the mass market, then this album is aimed in the direction of the bands huge fan base.
So the first question you want asked will presumably be whether or not this album is worth buying. The simple answer is yes, particularly if you count yourself as a big fan of the band. There will be a lot Green Day fans out there that will have only purchased the bands albums, and thus won’t own any of the songs on ‘Shenanigans’. In fact there won’t be a single person who owns every song on the album. (Especially as one of the tracks has never been released!)
So, that’s one good reason for spending your hard earned cash on the album. The other, even better reason, is that ‘Shenanigans’ works as a good punk rock album in its own right. It is full of sub-three minute punk rock anthems that have become the trademark of the band.
The album opens in the best possible fashion with three of the bands best ever b-sides. Namely ‘Suffocate’, ‘Desensitized’ and ‘You Lied’, all three of which were originally available across two versions of the ‘Time of your Life (Good Riddance)’ single. (The other track from that single release, ‘Rotting’, features later in the album.) ‘Suffocate’ and ‘You Lied’ are both excellent tracks, but ‘Desensitized’ is so good, it can be comfortably mentioned in the same breath as many of Green Day’s classics. It is the standout track on the album by some distance.
‘Shenanigans’ also features, as has been previously mentioned, some cover songs. Both ‘Outsider’ and ‘I Want to be on T.V’ are given the Green Day treatment, and work very well. However, ‘Tired of Waiting for You’ is a very lazy and laboured version, and is one of the two disappointing tracks on the album. ‘On the Wagon’ is the other song you’ll want to skip. It is a slow country and western tinged tune that lacks any of the bands usual quality. If you didn’t like ‘Warning’ you’ll like this particular track even less.
Minor gripes aside, other album highlights include the brooding 50’s cop show style instrumental piece, ‘Espionage’ and two Mike Dirnt penned tracks, ‘Scumbag’ and ‘Ha Ha You’re Dead’. The latter song, especially, proving to be a very rousing album closer, and proof that Green Day are anything but a one man band.
Ultimately ‘Shenanigans’ proves to be a lot better value for money than last years ‘International Superhits’, an album that had the stench of Warner’s greed firmly attached to it. ‘Shenanigans’ is an album with something to offer every Green Day fan. The fact that most of the songs are approaching the quality of Green Day’s major releases just gives you less of a reason not to own it!
Mark
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