Finally a review worth reading…the NYTIMES review was SO well written. Thank you to The Gray Lady (really, there is no better). “…tight musical integrity”, “The music, terrifically orchestrated by Tom Kitt”, “all those knife-sharp riffs can’t disguise Green Day’s potent gift for irresistible tunes — they deliver enough information to transmit the emotional contours of the story the show aims to tell”….”the only thing sadder than wasting your youth is not wasting it.”

I finally got the review I needed to see. Nuff’ said.

I guess I’ll stop writing mine now. :)

NYTimes raised the bar…lets see you jump it Tanya.

I’m not trying to jump a bar, just express my opinion, that’s all. :) It was hard enough when Delfina put my review on the same page as the Times… haha. :) Plus, mine is from the point of view of the fan and the critic. It’s different perspective, particularly from someone like me steeped in experimental theater. Your comment just gave me the impression that you thought mine was not worth the while reading, and then I started chuckling to myself, that’s all.

I thought Tanya’s review was great. It had so much detail, about the show itself and about its strengths and shortcomings, and from the point of view of someone who knows both about theater and knows the album very intimately. Reading it was like sitting down with someone who had seen the show and who understands Green Day like we do. Tanya, I hope you won’t stop writing the rest!

The New York Times review had a different purpose. It was intended for a general audience, and it was written with the kind of flourishes and clever turns of phrase that are expected from a reviewer who writes for the Times (which are a bit pretentious and tiresome, tbh). I thought the NYT essentially responded to what a great album AI is but without entirely realizing that that’s what he was doing, because he hasn’t listened to it a thousand times and been carried away by its power every time, like we have. He acknowledges “Green Day’s potent gift for irresistible tunes” (and btw, could one of us use the phrase “potent gift” with a straight face?) but then dismisses the strength of the lyrics, which are essential to why he was, in the end, moved.

He actually says Billie Joe’s lyrics “do not stand up to rigorous exegesis… with their forced rhymes, confused grammar and imagery that is either obscure or clotted with grandiosity and angsty clichés.” That’s pretty harsh! (And “exegesis”, wtf kind of word is that?!) :D

Hello Green Day Mind aka Tanya. I had been reading SO many of the reviews in the national/regional press and I found virtually all of them to be poorly written with zero insight (my own personal view of course) that it was like I finally got the “fix” I needed from a major press review. The fact that it was from the NYTimes made it that much sweeter.

I look forward to curling up with a nice glass of cab and reading yours. With the exception of the drivel that Delfina graciously has let me post here in the past everything on NWWM is THE BEST!!

Clearly I am a suker for NYT flourishes! Delfina - I agree with what you wrote about the different purposes - personally I had been in a press funk over the reviews. No insult intended Tanya…write on!

Haha, I didn’t take it that way… no worries. And I completely understand why Green Day says that they don’t read reviews anyway… :)

It’s up.

Hey Delfina, I’m in London, just saw the second show last night, it was amazing! they blew us all away.
Anyway, I wanted to just tell you that the third and last installment of my long-windedness is up. Hope all is well.