Green Day + U2 / The Saints are Coming / November 14, 2006
01. The Saints are Coming
Any credibility I have racked up writing somewhat decent reviews on somewhat indie bands or obscure East Asian artists will be thrown out the window when I say, I love this song. Bono is basically all the things I hate about an immodest, egomaniacal man with a serious stadium complex. The only song by U2 I have ever truly, truly loved was “Sunday, Bloody Sunday.” I still love that song. The guitar parts and interludes make me shiver and break out into tingly goose bumps. However, there are still parts of the song, like everytime I have to hear his voice, that I still cringe. There is something completely self-serving about Bono and his belief that he is a rocker who will change the world by trolling around diplomats and starving children. Green Day, by coupling themselves with U2 seem to be saying the same.
After the phenomenal American Idiot record, they have pretty much been on tour nonstop for two years, refusing to retire the insta-acclaim the album received and instead, beat the dead, overplayed, Jesus of Suburbia horse. But somehow, this Skids cover just works for me. Sure, it’s no longer the simple punk composition it once was. What was simple instrumentation has been amped up full blast by two of the biggest live acts in the past few years; a loud, arena rock quality has been injected with the side effects producing incredibly soft piano lines offset by guitar and drum build-ups a plenty. Moderation is not the key to this single, though it’s unbearably short. I don’t even think moderation is something U2 or Green Day can put into their vocabulary anymore without being hilariously mocked. Ascends, descends, all heavy, pile up to make a huge mountain out of what was once just a mole hill of a song. Almost obnoxiously so. But I still love this song.
♫ Green Day Official Site / U2 Official Site
♫ Buy The Saints are Coming
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