¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! Or: Do you have the time, to listen to Green Day whine (on a triple-album)?

Power-pop rockers Green Day are releasing a trilogy of albums from September 2012.   Triple releases are rare for popular artists and usually are live recordings or greatest hits compilations.

Green Day: you know, Uno?

But can Green Day pull it off?  Will it be any good?  Will it sell?  And will anybody care?

Critical reception

There have been a number of multi-album releases by comparable artists in recent times, think the Foo Fighters (In Your Honor), the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Stadium Arcadium) and Metallica (Load/ReLoad).  Although they have performed solidly, they have invariably been less strongly received in comparison to the rest of their career.

Multi-album releases such as these by popular artists typically contain strong singles; however inevitably receive a lukewarm reception as albums.  Common criticisms include a lack of quality control, and over-indulgence.

Even some of the most critically acclaimed multi-LPs suffer from filler – think Turd on the Run and I Just Want to See His Face from Exile on Mainstreet and Wild Honey Pie and Revoultion 9 from the White Album.

Just because the band thinks it’s good, it doesn’t mean it should be released.

Selling the album format

It has been well documented that the popularity of album format is declining.  Particularly as platforms like iTunes, Spotify and YouTube have made it easy, and cheaper, to consume singles.

The popularity of these formats suggests that fickle and time-poor music fans simply don’t have the time or desire to sit through albums in the way they used to.  Rather, they create their own mixtapes and playlists, which typically comprise singles spanning genres, eras and artists.

Green Day: After 20 years, what more can they say?

Will Green Day’s trilogy of 3 full priced, power-pop studio albums sell?  Sure Green Day’s loyal supporter base might buy them all – but most consumers will pick and choose the singles they want to add to their playlist in the same way they would songs from a traditional LP.

What will it be about?

Finally, what more does Green Day have to say?  After covering masturbation, teen-angst, the drudgery of middle-class life and a shot a political dialogue – do we need another 30+ songs?

…

At least if it all goes pear-shaped, they could just re-release and tour Dookie.

// Alec Schumann

* I haven’t forgotten the rare cases where multi-disc releases are considered among an artists’ best work (think Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tom Waits and George Harrison, etc.)

One Direction: fleeting infection or everlasting obsession?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the size of  Simon Cowell’s ego you would have noticed that UK boy band sensation One Direction have recently visited Australia and sparked something of a media frenzy.

The brainchild of the uber pop producer Simon Cowell, these five photogenic teens have taken the world by storm, even leading some to claim they are the next Beatles.

Although the popularity of One Direction may seem obscene – they aren’t the first boy band to cause teenage girls to cry with excitement, parents to plead with their children to turn the music down and the rest of the male population to feign indifference (but secretly harbour jealousy).