¡Uno!
Not to spoil the excitement, but this is the only one of Green Day’s three-albums-released-in-a-six-month-period experiment that has made my list. I found the second entry, ¡Dos!, to be comparatively dull and formulaic (the first and last tracks aside) and I’ve not yet had the third installment, ¡Tré!, long enough to form an opinion (i.e., it essentially missed the cut-off date for this list). ¡Uno! is certainly also formulaic to an extent, of course, but equally this is Green Day at something close to their best: powerchords and catchiness and pop-punk joy. Admittedly, this is pretty much the same thing they were churning out 15 years ago (aside from the excellent experiment of ‘Kill the DJ’). But that’s what I want from Green Day. I think I prefer this to their last two records, both of which had aspirations to be in some way ‘progressive’. Not to diminish American Idiot or 21st Century Breakdown, cause I like both albums, but for me Green Day should leave that kind of thing to bands that are more capable. I love Green Day precisely because they can deliver simple catchy chart rock. Objectively this album probably isn’t great, but it makes me feel 16 again and sing silly choruses. So there.