Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10
Life’s a riot when the world is in flames, for the urge to rebel and beat down the doors of every major institution, to ransack and remove from the super-rich the means of influence is what boils the blood, and yet we must be wary of those we proclaim as saviours, as the angels of mercy who act with the grin and the sleight of hand and offer us words and possible actions, whilst not actually providing the sustenance of existence in the new world they have planned out in the back of their minds.
The great American dream, once so powerful an idea to the common man that it crossed the Atlantic and set up its vision in the hearts of Generation X in Britain and beyond; the large skies, the tempting landscapes, the work hard ethic and be rewarded with your ordinary dreams fulfilled, has turned into a reality of excess and bloated financial gain. As a former President strategist, James Carville, once said, “It’s the economy, stupid”.
Beware wary of those of offering solutions, but also accept the help of those to whom Saviors is less than a mantra but a feeling, an outrage; there is always a way to tell the difference between the two, and it is always with pleasure that the anger and fierce, volcano like sound that sits at the heart of Green Day is once more burning with a productive rage.
The band that perhaps bought one of the great Generation X albums to life in American Idiot have arguably been hit and miss since the fantastic 21st Century Breakdown, but to be fair to them they have always been on the side of the broken, the ones that cannot fight without inspiration, and in Saviors they once more tackle the oppression of sound and channel their abundant energy into producing an album of worth; not towering, but elegant enough to drive home their point.
With an edited back drop of the euphemistic ‘Troubles’ taken by Chris Steele-Perkins in 1978 adorning the cover of the record, the listener understands their part in the drama to come as songs such as the opener The American Dream Is Killing Me holds court with ease, and as others swiftly follow suit, Look Ma, No Brains!, One Eyed Bastard, 1981, Corvette Summer, and Strange Days Are Here To Stay, so the heat is turned up and a return to a form that saw an overturn in fortunes with Revolution Radio has been announced.
To the true saviours, it is always worth a salute and thanks, it might not be right every time, but they eternally understand the struggle.
Ian D. Hall