Green Day have had an amazing year and Bullet in a Bible is the perfect release to cap it off. In the summer of 2005 Green Day performed live in Milton Keynes, UK. The huge audience of 65,000 was riveted by the trio once seen as snotty punks and now revered as a heroic, almost legendary, band. Bullet in a Bible is a powerful document of those concerts and a worthy second part of the story begun with the release of the American Idiot album. One of the United States' most successful exports is its popular music. American Idiot was no slouch in that category and transformed the group from underground punk rockers to commercial big hitters. It topped the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Recently Green Day took home a truckload of awards from the MTV Video Music Awards as well as Album of the Year from the MTV Europe Awards. For a huge segment of popular music fans around the world, American Idiot is the picture of life under the administration of George W. Bush, and it is a distinctly unflattering one. Bullet in a Bible, the distillation of Green Day's American Idiot concert tour, sounds a bit like a victory rally.
The album is kicking off with a three pronged rock 'n' roll attack from their 9 million selling American Idiot set including the title track, the sprawling Jesus Of Suburbia and essential pogo-ing anthem Holiday. Along the way there's lightening-paced renditions of Green Day classics including Basket Case, Longview, Brain Stew, Hitchin' A Ride and Minority – ironically, a sing-a-long cut. The show closes in epic fashion with Green Day's torch song Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). Luckily, Bullet in a Bible finds the band ably balancing its serious political side, its cartoonishness and everything in between (St. Jimmy, Boulevard of Broken Dreams). The sound of the album is crisp and clean featuring tight, amped-up performances. If you have missed hearing Green Day live, this album is a worthy substitute. Hearing thousands of UK music fans in Bullet in a Bible singing along with Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day's lead vocalist, is both chilling and exhilarating. The continual participation and roars of approval from the crowd make it obvious Green Day truly connected with their English fans. That sense of connection emanates from every song on Bullet in a Bible. It makes this much more than a typical live concert recording. It is a statement of the sheer power of Green Day's achievement in 2005.
The album manages to be big, splashy production and has a bright, clean kick to its mix that still retain a palpable sense of excitement and grit. This isn't the wild, reckless Green Day of the early and mid-'90s – this is Green Day the arena punk pros, who know how to fill a stadium while still sounding as if they're playing in a packed little club. None of their '90s punk-pop peers have such a large following or can command such large, adoring crowds, and Bullet in a Bible makes it clear why: no other band in 2005 can play to the mainstream while still seeming nervy and vital. In other words, nobody does it better than Green Day, and this live album is a testimonial to the band at its peak. Bullet in a Bible is more than just a concert souvenir. The rapturous response of fans adds depth to the emotionally and politically charged songs. Bullet in a Bible is a must for any pop-rock collection of concert recordings.
Back To BlackAs on the debut album, on Back To Black Amy Winehouse reveals herself as quite a frank person, who is not afraid of disclosing her personal mishaps to the audience such as alcohol addiction fight and a breakup from which it has been hard to recover