Welcome to Part 2 of Left of The Dial’s Green Day Trilogy review! This week, we’re spinning the second record in the series, ¡DOS!. This album debuted in November 2012 and was described by Billie Joe Armstrong as being the party record, whereas ¡UNO! was described as the pre-party record. It also seems to be the most divisive of the trilogy in terms of opinion and quality. As you’ll come to see, it contains some of the best material in the band’s catalog as well as their absolute worst. It’ll be an adventure to navigate the tracks of ¡DOS!, so let’s dig in!
Side 1
Side 1 contains “See You Tonight,” “F*** Time,” “Stop When The Red Lights Flash,” “Lazy Bones,” “Wild One,” “Makeout Party,” and… wait a second. There’s some discourse as to what the final track on this side is. The vinyl pressings of this record have the track “Drama Queen” in this spot, but the CD and digital release have “Stray Heart.” What is going on here? The story goes that “Drama Queen” was intended to be on ¡DOS!, while “Stray Heart” would be featured in the third album ¡TRÉ!. The tracks ended up being swapped late into production, so much so that the vinyls for ¡DOS! were already being pressed by the time the change was finalized. As a result, the vinyl and CD/digital releases have inconsistent track listings. As for ¡TRÉ!, the change was able to be made on time, so all versions of that record have the same track listing. This does mean that “Stray Heart” was never pressed to vinyl, which is an absolute shame! Lucky for us though, I’m reviewing the CD tracklist because it’s technically the correct one, so Side 1’s ending track will be “Stray Heart,” and we’ll talk about “Drama Queen” when we get to ¡TRÉ!.
“See You Tonight” is our opener, and though it doesn’t match with the chaotic party aesthetic that was intended for the record, I still have a soft spot for it. It only runs for a bit over a minute, so there’s not much to discuss here. It’s an acoustic song featuring a sole guitar and the band’s vocals in bittersweet harmony. I believe it serves some purpose as a bridge between ¡UNO! and ¡DOS! if you’re listening to the trilogy back-to-back, as it’s a nice transition from the pre-party to the party that awaits us. I just love this track, and it sets a standard for the highs this record will potentially reach.
Then “F*** Time” started. What am I supposed to say here? The composition is easily the best part of the song, it’s delightfully dirty and energetic. If you recall the track “Stab You in The Heart” from Father of All…, then the guitar riff of “F*** Time” should sound familiar. Granted, the pace is a little slower here than it is there, and the two sound different enough that I wouldn’t be tempted to call one a rip-off of the other. After all, it’s strange to think about a band ripping off their own material, almost paradoxical. But let’s leave that existential question behind and consider another one: who the hell was responsible for allowing a term like ‘F*** Time’ to make it onto the final recording? I see what the band was trying to do with this song, they wanted to cut loose and make something ridiculous to the point of comedy. However, I think they fell flat on their faces thanks to some small details. Obviously you know how I feel about the titular term, but the only thing I hate more than that on the track is Armstrong’s decision to include moaning sounds at the end of the chorus. I’m not kidding when I say I was squirming in my seat and covering my face in secondhand embarrassment when listening to those sounds. If you want to see a comedic Green Day song done right, then allow me to recommend “Dominated Love Slave” from Kerplunk!, and to stay away from “F*** Time” at all costs.
“Stop When The Red Lights Flash” is the next track, and it’s an improvement in every way from the previous track, though that’s a pretty low bar to clear. The energy is as strong as ever, and the lyrics are way more creative with the subject of promiscuity. The structure is a nice throwback to the band’s punk roots, while also bringing some retro flair to the table. Like “Troublemaker” from the previous album, this is a track I love to sing along to while I drive, though my love for this one is way less ironic. Overall, it’s a fun, underappreciated track that helps wash out the bad taste from the last song.
The next song is “Lazy Bones,” which stands as a fan favorite for good reason. It’s an intense and painful look at Armstrong’s substance and mental issues, which had come to a head publicly merely days before the release of ¡UNO!. It tackles his conflict of knowing deep down he has issues, but not wanting to stop and confront it. It’s all too relatable for people like myself, who are either afraid of showing any weakness, or are too stubborn to admit that they can’t handle something on their own. I love how the guitars are muffled a bit to give them a distant and eerie sound. The chorus allows the guitars to intensify, like how the issues in question can get out of hand at a moment’s notice. The honesty of this song is what gets to me, and all the elements work well together to relay that.
Right out of the gate, “Wild One” is a great track to follow up “Lazy Bones.” The composition sounds like the last track was slowed down significantly, which tricked me years ago into thinking these were two movements of the same song. I’ll let you decide if that’s a plus or a negative to the album. Anyways, “Wild One” is a break from the fast and intense streak of tracks, being a mellow and almost groovy song. It describes falling for a girl with her own set of issues, which will prove to be a consistent subject as we go further. This song sets itself apart for it’s all-or-nothing approach to the theme, where the narrator is aware of her issues and goes in for the kill anyways. Enjoy the serenity while it’s there, because the next track is pretty wild.
“Makeout Party” freaked me out the first time I ever listened to it, because I hadn’t listened to anything this sexually intense before then. Nowadays, I can enjoy it as a better execution of what “F*** Time” was trying to do. Its lyrics have some clever subtlety and lively delivery. One detail I enjoy is how Armstrong lets out one hell of a scream during the breakdown, so much so that his vocals are noticeably worn out after that point on the track. It speaks to how far he’s willing to push himself to get a part down perfectly. Speaking of perfection, the composition is something to admire here. The star of the show is Mike Dirnt’s impressive bass line, especially during the breakdown. It’s the groundwork for the rowdy instrumentals, pairing well with the sexual lyrics. It’s a dirty delight that I highly recommend!
Finally, we cap-off Side 1 with “Stray Heart,” which is my go-to answer for the question of what my favorite Green Day song is of all time. This was one of the first songs that introduced me to the band, so it’ll be difficult for me to set my bias aside here, but I’ll try. I mentioned in “Makeout Party” how the bass work carries the song. “Stray Heart” also has this quality, but it’s more apparent from the start. The guitar is used sparingly for the verses, which allows for the bass to work its magic. The vocals and lyrics also deserve a shoutout, not because they do anything particularly special, but because they’re simply done well. Sometimes, just a solid track that does everything right can outshine a flashy song with problems lurking under the glitz. And so ends Side 1, with a solid bang!
Side 2
Side 2 contains “Ashley,” “Baby Eyes,” “Lady Cobra,” “Nightlife,” “Wow! That’s Loud,” and “Amy.”
Like “Makeout Party,” “Ashley” was a track that’s seriously grown on me since the day I first heard it. Then again, the issues I had with the track early on were personal, based around a girl I knew back in the day with a similar name. Though the track has little to do with her, the repetition of the name in the lyrics makes it difficult not to think of her when I hear them. Setting my personal feelings aside, “Ashley” is another great track. The lyrics describe an old flame, the titular Ashley, who was emotionally manipulative to the narrator and still tries to hold onto him, even though he’s caught on to her tricks and is no longer fooled by her. This, paired with Armstrong’s strong vocal delivery, make it the highlight of the song. The instrumentals are a tad generic compared to the extravagance we’ve seen from Side 1, but that’s okay. Not every song needs mind-blowing composition, and “Ashley” proves it. Hell, doing this deep-dive into what makes the song tick has helped me advance toward getting over my personal hang-ups associated with it.
“Baby Eyes” is up next, and it stands as a reversal of strengths compared to “Ashley.” What I mean is that “Ashley” shines for its lyrics, while “Baby Eyes” stands out for its instrumentals. Both do the other aspects well, but the ones I pointed out are clearly the strongest. “Baby Eyes” has a great main guitar riff, which borders on being menacing, fitting nicely with the violent allusions of the lyrics. The bass also deserves a lot of credit, which I’ve been saying a lot in this review. It begs the question of whether some of these bass-dependent tracks were picked for this album on purpose because Dirnt’s face adorns the cover art. If that’s indeed the case, then I applaud the band’s clever thinking. Moving onto the lyrics, they don’t exactly reach the creative highs of some of the other tracks, but they’re still solid. I have to single out the line “They say my middle name is Danger” for a pretty silly reason. It works in the context of the song’s themes, but I’m thoroughly convinced that it was also meant as a reference to Armstrong’s son, Ultra Q frontman Jakob Danger. The “Danger” moniker is more than a clever stage name; it’s also Jakob’s real middle name. I dare you to try listening to this song again without thinking about that.
Moving on, we have “Lady Cobra.” Lady Cobra is a stage name for Monica Painter, a tattoo artist from the East Bay area and member of the band Mystic Knights of the Cobra. Lady Cobra is described as a lustful, almost supernatural woman who tempts our narrator into a relationship, like a siren calling out to a sailor. The narrator resists just barely, only wanting a platonic relationship with her. For a long time, I was led to believe this was a song about Armstrong pursuing an affair with Painter, which left a really bad taste in my mouth. I admire him for his monogamy, so any songs that would imply otherwise come across as worrisome to me. Reading the lyrics more closely, it seems clear that he was able to resist the siren’s call. Maybe I’ve read the lyrics too literally and been too harsh on this song. It does stand well with its supernatural lyrics and broody instrumentals. The breakneck tempo gives it a unique twist as well. At this point, it’s the implication of infidelity that holds me back from really enjoying the track, and even that is starting to fade after some reconsideration.
And now we come to “Nightlife.” Out of every song on the trilogy I would have to listen to for this 3-parter, this was the song I was looking forward to the least. It’s widely regarded as the worst song in the band’s catalog, to the point of it becoming a meme among fans. What could possibly have gone so wrong to warrant this kind of reaction? Well, remember Monica “Lady Cobra” Painter? She actually co-wrote this track with Armstrong and rapped on it. Yes, this is a rap track. On a Green Day record. There’s a lot of firsts that “Nightlife” accomplishes; being the first Green Day track to feature a vocalist from outside the band, as well as the first to have lyrics contributed by someone outside of the band and the first to attempt a rap style. Am I being too harsh on this track? I suppose we need to listen to it to find out.
One thing is apparent on this track returning to it; I don’t think it would be so bad if it wasn’t a Green Day song. On its own, the lyrics are corny yet creative, and Painter’s rapping is impressive. It’s clear that she knows what she’s doing and she probably took the helm on the song’s writing. The composition is also good, fitting the broody and lusty atmosphere. Where it falls flat is, ironically, Armstrong’s involvement. His vocals are painful to listen to; he tries and fails to sound as silky smooth as Painter does, and the vocal filter only makes the problem worse. It’s evident to me that this shouldn’t have been a Green Day song. I’d be curious to hear another artist cover this song and find a way to iron out the kinks. Until then, I’m still going to avoid this track, its flaws are too deep for me to ignore.
Going from one extreme to another, we come to “Wow! That’s Loud.” This was a track I was looking forward to hearing again, especially after suffering through “Nightlife.” Like “Stop When the Red Lights Flash,” it’s a nice throwback tune with personality in spades. Its composition comes off as dull at first, but it becomes apparent that it’s an intentional choice to show off some impressive guitar moments throughout. The opening riff is a lot of fun, and I think this is one of the only tracks I can think of that utilizes electric guitar feedback as an instrument. The breakdown pairs it with a sick solo, which is also a helpful reminder that there’s a second guitarist in the studio. Did you forget about Jason White? I don’t blame you, since the band’s failure to use his presence to their advantage is a constant issue with these albums. Here, though, the band finally sounds like a four-piece. I almost wish this was the album’s closer, since it has such a unique ending. But it isn’t, we’ve still got one last track to spin.
“Amy” is the true closer, and it’s a pretty dark way to end things. As the name may imply, this was a track dedicated to the late Amy Winehouse, who passed away in 2011 from a drug overdose. At the time, she was the latest high-profile victim of the phenomenon known as “The 27 Club,” which fixates on musicians that all died at the age of 27. The tragedy of Amy’s addition to the list was that she was well-aware of the ‘club’ and feared the possibility of becoming part of it. Armstrong has been vocal about his surprise at living to the age he has; he once admitted he thought he wouldn’t make it to 29, and he worries intensely about being the next “rock and roll tragedy,” as he would write in “Junkies on a High” from Father of All…. With all that in consideration, Winehouse’s death likely hurt him in a way he didn’t expect. The lyrics imply that he didn’t really know her, but it still hurt regardless. I know this feeling all too well, as I fell into a deep bout of depression after Chester Bennington died in 2017. I can’t call myself a Linkin Park fan, I can only count the number of songs of theirs I know on one hand, but his death still hurt in a way I hadn’t expected. Moving on to the song itself, it’s just Armstrong and his guitar. The distortion on the instrument gives it a hollow and aching sound, and it’s hard not to hear the sorrow in Armstrong’s vocals. I wasn’t expecting to end this record all chocked up, but here we are.
I posed the idea in Part 1 that maybe there was some new insight I would have by revisiting the trilogy, and ¡DOS! proved this idea to be true. I found myself enjoying this record in ways I didn’t years ago, so much so that I might enjoy it better than ¡UNO!. The top three tracks are “Stop When The Red Lights Flash,” “Stray Heart,” and “Amy,” with honorable mentions going to “Makeout Party” and “Ashley.” I only have two contenders for bottom-tier tracks, which would have to be “F*** Time” and “Nightlife.”
Rating: 8/10
Feature Photo by Becca Fauteux