From lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong seeking treatment for substance abuse problems after his controversial incident at the Las Vegas IHeartRadio music festival back on September 21, 2012, to the mixed response from critics of the "¡Uno!" "¡Dos!" and "¡Tré! album trilogy that the band released in September, November, and December of that same year, the past four years were not that kind to Green Day.

However, the band seemed to come back to prominence as they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 18, 2015, and announced that they had begun recording new music. Now, I thought the album trilogy sounded too cleanly produced and lacked a little in the lyrical content with most of the songs sounding too simple and lacking meaning or relativeness as a whole, even though there were some catchy pop-punk gems on those albums. So, my hope was that Green Day would be heading back to creating the fictional characters and song topics that Armstrong was known for painting out so well in his lyrics that people can relate to, along with the catchy and head bobbing hooks.

Well, their new music has finally come with "Revolution Radio" just being released Friday October 7, and it did not disappoint. Once I heard the lead single "Bang Bang," which is Armstrong singing in the mindset of a lonely, school kid who wants to commit a shooting at his school because he believes that it will give him fame and make him as Armstrong sings "a celebrity martyr," I had a feeling that this album's theme was going to be aimed more at the political and social problems facing our country today, along with the hope of regaining our freedom and a better world.

While "Bang Bang" was based off of the problem of school shootings happening around the United States, there is the song "Say Goodbye" which seems to be a song in memory of the many lives that have been lost in the police brutality tragedies. Along with these topics, there are songs on this album that are based off of Armstrong's past troubles in the last four years. Examples of these types of songs are the uplifting track "Still Breathing," "Outlaw" which reminds me a lot of the song "21 Guns" off of their album "21st Century Breakdown," is a song that I believe is about Armstrong and his wife Adrienne reminiscing their days of being rebellious teenagers and how they will never let go of those feelings and that "We're Outlaws of forever baby."

Another song titled "Youngblood" is a song about Billie Joe and Adrienne's relationship throughout the years and how she makes him lose his getting drunk and tough guy attitude type of feeling. Overall, this was a very solid batch of 12 songs and it made me feel that Green Day has gotten their spark back and have returned back to form. Also, all the songs reminded me of a lot of their songs off of both "21st Century Breakdown" and "American Idiot." As a Green Day fan, you should not be disappointed with this album by any means, as it definitely showcases Green Day going back to the great sounds they were known for in the mid to late 2000s. Billie Joe Armstrong sounds as good as he's always been, Mike Dirnt's bass lines are incredibly and his background singing and screams really commend Billie's voice on this album, and Tré Cool's drumming is as crisp and hard hitting as ever, especially on "Bang Bang." There's only one more thing for me to say, the boys are back and they are not going anywhere soon!