rediscovering old (sorta) albums

I have a hard time reading in silence. For whatever reason, the voices in my head get a little too loud when I'm trying to focus in the quiet. So I need a distraction - generally music. It's also a cool way to listen to records that have either been forgotten or overlooked for far too long.

Last night, while having to pour through a ton of boring medical journals for an upcoming feature, I - completely out of the blue - pulled out a live GreenDay album from a few years ago. Now, first I've gotta preface this with the fact that I've pretty much grown up with GreenDay. I saw them way back in '93 on an early lollapalooza tour in Atlanta - They played early then jetted out for Woodstock. This was back when "Dookie" was everywhere. And it was really my first introduction to punk.

But the boys grew up with the release of American Idiot a few years ago. Great record. Though more The Who (a la Quadrophenia) than The Clash, this takes shots at both religion and politics ... plus there's an 11-minute punk song with like six different parts.

And I had forgotten all about it. Hadn't listened to the whole thing all the way through in ages. But rather the original, I played the live album "Bullet in a Bible," which, recorded live in England during a stadium tour, truly captures the raw anger and emotion not only of the band but also of the crowd.

After an hour, I was ready to go out and change the world. But it was Taco Night, so revolution would have to wait for another day.