Follow The Sound - When I Come Around (Track Review)

'When I Come Around' by Green Day is probably one of the best singles of the 90s (one of my favorites for music) and one of the band's best songs. After recently being floored with disappointment from Green Day's latest album (as a fan since 1995, it really hurt to see them resort to stealing from other bands wholesale leaving nothing of their own sound) and preferring last year's side project (Foxboro Hot Tubs) immensely more, I had a listen to this track on one of my playlists while cutting the lawn.

The bobbing bassline that ducks in and out of the simple chugging guitar riff, the vocals delivered with just the right amount of snark, humor and emotion (something Green Day excelled at), the drums on a simple beat with perfect tom rolls and crash hits and a short guitar solo that fills me with orgasmic delight no matter how many times I hear it some 14 years later.

Whenever that opening riff pops up, you can bet there will be veterans of the 90s music scene poking their heads up looking for the source that's blasting this tune out. This is the song that gave them their popularity, their airplay, and their record sales. And for some fucking reason, classic radio stations would rather play Nickleback than this song.

This is the perfect pop song. Ever since 1992's Kerplunk, Green Day had mastered this art of simple, yet emotionally involving songs with quirks and personality all to their own. Finally culminating in their masterpiece Warning in 2000. An album full of perfect pop music with a rock n roll bite and the right level of emotion.

The band would later try something new with excellent results (American Idiot, despite being overpraised, is a great album) and lukewarm (The Network's Money Money 2020 side project) before forgetting the core of their sound on their newest flop, 20th Century Breakdown.

But forget all that, if you want perfect pop music, it doesn't come purer than this song, with Rob Cavallo's perfect producing and Jerry Finn's perfect mixing (the only man who could leave the bite on major label punk bands) and an perfect performance. Forget that Green Day has forgotten about songwriting and is instead focusing on convoluted 'statements' in some ridiculous 'voice of the generation' bullshit credibility grab.

Forget the shit the band is up to currently and remember the music they have left us over the last 2 decades. All the heart, emotion, blood, sweat, booze, weed, and bite are all there and they always will be. Forget the bullshit, all you need is the music.