Green Day's 2004 release of "American Idiot" showed the world what most of our generation already knows: that Green Day is unstoppable. Their music was part of the soundtrack of the '90s and this release confirms that they can still hold their own. "Bullet in a Bible" is a live album along with a DVD of their show that lets viewers see and hear that they still rock.
"Bullet in a Bible" was recorded in front of 60,000 fans in June 2005 in Milton-Keynes, England. The opening shots from the DVD show an aerial view of the concert, which resembles Woodstock. The band sounds great and plays many classic tracks along with songs from "American Idiot."
The show opens with the title track "American Idiot." Billie Joe Armstrong seems thrilled to sing this song to a group of non-American fans. He makes it pretty clear how he feels about the States when he encourages the crowd to start singing along.
"I want you to sing so loud that every F-ing redneck in America hears ya tonight!" Armstrong screams.
The crowd goes wild and belts out the chorus, with emphasis on "going out to idiot America."
Their whole performance is filled with political commentary and the crowd loves every critical and sarcastic comment.
"This song isn't anti-American, it's antiwar," Armstrong says before performing "Holiday."
While it's nice to see and hear people unafraid to speak up about politics, Green Day's members may have been so opinionated because they were on the other side of the Atlantic. If they had been doing a show in the United States, there probably would have been less emphasis on politics and more songs from "Dookie."
Even though half of the songs are from "American Idiot," they still play a few classics. Their performance of the quintessential "Basket Case" is outstanding. The band has come far since its release and it's great to see that they haven't forgotten their roots.
Their closing song is unexpected but fit perfectly. "Good Riddance" (or "Time Of Your Life") is typically an acoustic song softly sung with a single guitar. This version involves an electric guitar plus the entire audience chanting along. By the time the last chords are being played, the crowd is screaming and cheering madly.
The DVD is incredibly well done. It opens with Armstrong talking candidly about the band, saying that Green Day was part of his soul.
"Bullet in a Bible" reinforces the statement "American Idiot" made: Green Day has not only hung on for over a decade, but developed over that time into a group that can say something that matters.
