I bought a CD today. Bright pink words flash “Green Day” at the top, as well as an italicized Saviors in the bottom right corner. Green Day, a huge component of the East Bay punk scene in the early 90s, launched their 14th studio album Saviors late last week. Saviors’ hype was well deserved, featuring several tracks that truly hit you where it counts. 

Starting off the album is their first track, “The American Dream Is Killing Me.” This track starts off the album with a frustrated sound that doesn’t leave the album throughout its entirety. “The American Dream is Killing Me” has a very clear message, and after all the title says it loud and proud. The American Dream is killing Billie Joe. “The American Dream is Killing Me” sets a frustrated tone for Saviors, and that is elaborated on throughout the entire album.

The first half of Saviors includes several songs that were released prior to the album’s release, including “One Eyed Bastard,” “Dilemma,” and “Look Ma, No Brains!” On top of these pre-releases include new tracks such as “1981” and “Bobby Sox”. These first songs are phenomenal, don’t get me wrong, but the best songs from Saviors come towards the end of the album.

The most notable part of Saviors is the second half. Featuring songs like “Goodnight Adeline,” “Suzie Chapstick,” “Corvette Summer,” “Living in the 20’s,” “Father to a Son,” and “Fancy Sauce.” As Savior progresses, it only gets better. Especially when you reach “Living in the 20’s.”

“Living in the 20’s,” which is followed by the heartfelt song about fatherhood, “Father to a Son,” is easily one of the best songs from Saviors. “Living in the 20’s” has a very edgy, old-school punk rock sound. Billie Joe Armstrong expresses his frustrations with modern day society and politics with intense lyrics like, “Another shooting at a supermarket // I spent my money on a bloody soft target.” These lyrics are the first lyrics greeting the audience, setting a very angry, serious tone for the song. What is even more interesting is that this angry song about their frustrations with the present day is followed by the most emotional song from Saviors: “Father to a Son.”

“Father to a Son” is all about what a dad would do for his kids. Drawing from their own experiences in life, the members of Green Day express their love for their children in this song. “Father to a Son” features a full orchestra, and is very acoustic-guitar-based. The juxtaposition drawn from the previous track going into this one almost makes this song feel more heartfelt and emotional. Green Day did a great job of pulling at the heartstrings with this one.

Green Day’s Saviors is a perfect blend of anger, endearment, and mental instability—and I’m here for it. Green Day blends several different aspects from modern punk rock with old-school punk from their East Bay roots. This blend has given them a solid 9/10 for this album. Each track has some connection to the audience, which makes this album nearly perfect. Saviors is easily the best Green Day album released since American Idiot.