International Superhits!

Customer Reviews

A nice Green Day retrospective
Green Day has become one of the most legendary punk bands of all-time. This collection, 'International Superhits!,' spans their Reprise years, 1995-2002. Although the legendary 'American Idiot' isn't covered (it wasn't released yet, obviously), you still get a great set of 21 legendary classics.

Green Day's music is simply amazing. Billie Joe Armstrong has the ultimate punk rock voice, Mike Dirnt is a great bass player, and Tre Cool is a great drummer. This trio is a trio not to ignore, and if you're just getting into Green Day, buy this set.

So how does this set measure up?

Positives
-EVERY MAJOR REPRISE HIT IS HERE!!! 'She,' 'Basket Case,' 'Longview,' 'Warning' and 'Geek Stink Breath' are all here for your listening pleasure.
-THE SOUND QUALITY IS EXCELLENT!

Negatives
-Why aren't the early Lookout years (1990-1992) featured on this set? The original 'Welcome To Paradise,' 'Green Day,' '2000 Light Years Away' and their great cover of The Who's 'My Generation' are all missing from this set.

Overall, you can't go wrong with this set. Highly recommended for any Green Day fan. ENJOY!!!

Can't beat a classic
Any person looking to become a Green Day fan should purchase this album.

While not all the songs may be great, the darker songs make up for that.

Then you get to Good Ridance (Time of Your Life) and think, "Wait, is this still Green Day?"

This CD shows what Green Day is still capable of.

My Recommendation:

Don't buy all of Green Day's older stuff if you are on a tight budget, and just invest in this CD. It supplies enough.

Green Day-International Superhits! (an unbiased review)
First, let me start off by saying that this is an unbiased review. I'm not a fan of the band nor do I dislike the band. I'm a fan of all types of music. I also won't be comparing this album to any other albums from the band. This review will be strictly on this particular album. Now onto the review.

Here's a breakdown of the songs:

Maria-This is one of the songs on this album that I didn't know before listening to this album. Clearly one of their earlier hits. In comparison to the other songs on this album, this song is just ok. Still has the typical fast pace guitars that Green Day is known for which is a plus.

Poprocks & Coke-Another song that I didn't know.Another just ok song from the band. That doesn't prevent me from blasting this song as loud as I can however. The harder guitars and quirky verses add so much to this song.

Longview-A classic Green Day hit. The lyrics are funny as hell, the chorus makes you want to scream the lyrics as loud as you can. One of my favorite Green Day songs.

Welcome to Paradise-Another awesome sing along. The instrumental solo is the real kicker in this song. It might not be one of my favorite songs from the band but it's a great addition to the album.

Basket Case-How could anyone not like Basket Case? Again, great lyrics, hard guitars. Catchy as heck. One of my favorite songs on this album.

When I Come Around-The first song on this album to showcase the band's more emotional and meaningful music. This song means a ton to me. The chorus isn't anything special but it doesn't have to be. The guitars and stellar lyrics take care of that.

She-Another song I didn't know. Sad, because it's a great, catchy little song. If you're unsure about whether or not to get this album for fear of not liking the songs you haven't heard of, you've nothing to worry about. This one song made the rest of the album worth it.

J.A.R.-Not one of the best songs on this album. I tend to skip over this song more than listen to it. I do like to listen to it when I'm angry though. Nothing is more punk rock than this song.

Geek Stink Breath-LOVE the guitars in this song. This is another just ok song. The chorus just isn't all that catchy and doesn't have much of a climax. The monotony killed what could have been a great song.

Brain Stew-You know this one too. The guitars steal the show in this song. The catchiness and heaviness of the guitars are enough to make this song one of my favorites on this album.

Jaded-This one is normally connected to Brain Stew. Short and sweet, this song makes you want to pump your fist in the air and sing at the top of your longs.

Walking Contradiction-The perfect punk rock song-funny lyrics, fast/catchy guitars, and an incredibly awesome chorus to sing along to.

Stuck With Me-I'll admit that this song sounds a lot like 75% of the other songs on this album. However, it still stands on its own. I don't play this one too often.

Hitchin' A Ride-One of the few different songs on this album. As always, the guitars put this song on a whole other level compared to the other songs. This was another song I didn't know but it is now one of my favorites.

Good Riddance-The one that everyone knows the words to. Some say it's overplayed (it's everyone's senior song after all). Probably my favorite song on this album. It never, ever gets old.

Redundant-One of the more emotional songs on this album. It's an above average song although this is another one I skip pretty often. I only wish the chorus was not so monotonous.

Nice Guys Finish Last-An older Green Day song. Funny lyrics but, again, the chorus is nothing special.

Minority-The first real song on this album that uses harmonies. This is my personal anthem. Another great Green Day classic! One of my favorites on this album.

Warning-Whenever I think of this song, I'm reminded of the music video that went with it and I immediately blast it as loud as I can. It's great to hear an acoustic guitar in this song when the majority of the songs are fast paced.

Waiting-A great way to end this album. Again, not my favorite song but it's still a Green Day hit and needs to be included.


My rating: 4/5 stars. I like 90% of the songs on this album. The other 10% is the reason for the 4 stars. Although I didn't know most of the songs before I listened to this CD, it's great to hear new material (to me) and I actually liked a lot of them. This is a must have album for any punk rock fan or any person who likes even only a couple Green Day songs. You don't know how much you want this album until you listen to it the whole way through.

Taking Punk into the 90's
"Do you have the time to listen to me whine
About nothing and everything, all at once?"

With that opening salvo from "Basket Case," Green Day perfectly encapsulated what it was like to be a teen in the 90's. Critics may have complained that Billie Jo and company were little more than pale imitations of the Ramones, Buzzcocks or the Damned, but if you were under the age of 16, those bands were something your Aunt and Uncle were into during college might they have been rebellious enough. Besides, every disenfranchised teen needs someone to tell them life sucks, your parents are stifling you and school is just holding you down. With "Dookie," Green Day said it perfectly and to the tune of over 10 million albums sold.

Given that the charts were being dominated by the likes of Mariah Carey and Michael Bolton, having Green Day give society the musical finger ala "Longview" made absolute sense. Green Day became the first "punk" band to have a platinum album, and rightly so. They were loud and fast and fun, while Billie Joe sang with a quirky English affectation, and Tre Cool may be one of the best punk drummer ever. That didn't stop the naysayers from braying "poseurs!," but Green Day had more up their artistic sleeve.

"Insomniac" gave the fans who banged their heads to "Dookie" a lot of what they expected in slams like "Walking Contradiction," which again sported a brilliantly self-effacing lyric in "I'm a smart sas, but I'm playing dumb." At the same time they were obviously plundering Ramones' songs, they also came up with a riff worthy of AC/DC on "Brain Stew." That was the kind of smarts that got them off of the alt-rock radio station ghetto and on to the ones that specailzed in Ozzy. By the next album, "Nimrod," the worldview had obviously made a huge lurch. "We're living in repetition," claims Billie Joe at the beginning of "Repetition," "content in the same old shtick." It's an honest to Pete love song! Almost as far from the "Dookie" mold was the inescapable "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)," safe enough to work its subversive way onto "Seinfeld."

That acoustic sound blossomed out in full during "Warning," especially the great title track. Even the requisite punky song, "Minority," sounds a little out of sorts with the rest of the CD. It's hard to sound like an overworked teenager when the adult nostalgia of "Macy's Day Parade" belies your age. Not that it matters...every single single of these 21 "Superhits" comes of as individualistic of the "Green Day" sound.

Obviously Green Day were smarter than originally given credit for. "International Superhits," as a history of modern alt-rock and just for plain fun, is every bit as worthy as "Ramonesmania" and "Singles Going Steady." More than any other band of the 90's, Green Day plumbed the spirit and energy of those first 70's bands and pulled into the next generation.

Punk Power
International Superhits is the first greatest hits collection from the biggest selling punk band of all time, Green Day. The main reason that the band were able to breakthrough into the mainstream is that they perfectly combined the attitude of punk rock with appealing melodies. A song like "Longview" has an angry edge, but is also really catchy. Other songs like "Welcome To Paradise", "J.A.R.", "Basket Case" and "Geek Stink Breath" follow the same pattern to great results. The band shocked everyone with "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" which is a beautiful, longing acoustic ballad. The band showed that they were not afraid to expand their horizons instead of being one trick ponies.

Other 90s Bands Green With Envy
Best of collections usually portray the marketing department's image of bands with any substantial longevity. The problem with that is the top pop hits don't generally reflect the overall character and personality of such artists. A refreshing exception is "International Superhits" by Green Day on Reprise Records.

The full slate of 21 songs strongly represents the works of one of the best bands of the 90s decade, and throws in a couple new tunes for good measure. The booklet design is a crack-up spoof of TV-infomercial-like record compilation products put together in the 70s, complete with semi-psychedelic art and photos that show these guys still have a sense of humor and would be great to party with.

Music and performing are hard work, but it's also supposed to be a lot of fun. Green Day has demonstrated from Day One that they have a blast making music and their fans should have fun listening too. International Superhits is a great way for fans, both long-time and new, to do just that. As a fan from the beginning, this CD is a welcome addition to my collection. Highly recommended.

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