Five years ago Green Day made a major comeback with what many consider the record of their career with American Idiot. Aside from the kooky Michael Mooronic politics of the lyrics, the songwriting showed the band at the topper most of the popper most, finely honing their songwriting skills with catchy melodies and sing along choruses. So expectations were really high for the follow up.

We now have the following up in our grubby little hands and we can answer the question: does it live up to the strengths of American Idiot? The answer isn't simple. On some fronts it is a worthy successor, but on others it comes across as a warmed over rehash. Being generous, I would say it picks up with AI left off, but on the other side of that coin, it doesn't show any growth as songwriters. In fact, while it is an enjoyable album, but when listened to it back to back with AI, it sounds a little like they were recorded at the same time and these were the tunes that didn't make the cut the first time around.