Collective Soul Rocks Fairfax!

*Originally Published June 10, 2006 on Myspace*

So with the countdown to babies at about 3 weeks I need to jump on anything I want to do that doesn't involve playgrounds, doctor's offices or the wiggles, and lo and behold, Collective Soul was coming to the Celibrate Fairfax Festival Friday night, about 7 miles from my dojo. Alanna had to sit this one out, so I mobilized a group of about 7 co-workers and friends to party with, only to have them, one by one, drop out with some good excuses (my boyfriends dad's having surgery!) and some lame (I gotta work out). So I was Han Solo last night but that's ok, 'cause I'm a loner Pee-Wee....a rebel.

Got to the stage about 30 minutes before the show and got soaked by a 10 minute downpoor, which stopped right as CS took the stage. My second time seeing them (last time in St. Martinville, LA in 2001), and let me tell you, they are a great live band. They are faithful to their songs, but also throw in some timely crowd participation and not-too-long extended jams. They could only play until the fireworks show started so they got down to business right away and pummeled my ears for 75 minutes with a somewhat predictable (to a die-hard CS fan like moi) set. All the hits were there.

"Counting the Days," "How do You Love," and "Better Now" from their last album, 2004's Youth.

"Why pt.2" from 2000's Blender, (wish there was more from this album because it rocks!)

"Heavy" and "Run" from 1999's Dosage (My favorite CS album)

"Listen" and "Precious Declaration" from 1997's Disciplined Breakdown

"December," "Gel," and "The World I Know" from their self titled "blue Album', 1995

And closed it all out with "an old spiritual" : "Shine" from their 1993 debut.

They also threw in 2 solid new songs from their soon to be released new album.

I was about 3 bodies back from the stage and was taller then anyone in front of me so had a spectacular view. It was an "A" performance, the only drawback was I know they usually play longer shows, with some more obscure album tracks, but as soon as Shine ended, the fireworks began and that was that.

P.S. - Also, if you've never been to Celibrate Fairfax, it goes down in my book as the best executed festival I've ever seen. It's 5 or so city blocks square, all blocked to traffic, well organized, well policed, lots of parking in walking distance and overflow parking with shuttle rides, no lines at the pot 'o golds, $4 beers in a BIG cup, a massive "food court", multiple "Chicken-on-a-stick" vendors, seperate areas for children's rides and adult rides, and 4 stages with at least 2 bands performing at all times. Well done Fairfax. Well done.

P.P.S. - I saw a WUSA channel 9 booth (the compitition), so I investigated and spotted their sasquatch-like morning weather girl, kind of like the body of a NFL tight-end with Jay Leno's face. Always a topic of speculation with my morning crew, I walked right next to her to get some perspective and she is taller then me and our shoulders are very close in broadness.That's a lotta woman!

Music Review - OUR LADY PEACE - Healthy in Paranoid Times

I was happy to see Our Lady Peace was still around and making albums, since so many of my other 90's favorites have hung up their strats. Their career has been a little uneven, debuting with the unspectacular Naveed (1995) but really breaking through with Clumsy (1997). They continued their moody arena-rock with Happiness is Not a Fish That you Can Catch (1999) and Spiritual Machines (2001), both solid albums, but it was Gravity (2002) that really made me a devoted fan. I can listen to that album over and over and never tire of it. It's probably my favorite album of 2002, filled with catchy hooks and great sing-a-ling lyrics, perfect music for a hockey arena full of fans to just explode to. Well, it's been three years and out comes Healthy in Paranoid Times, which is a worse album title then Happiness... It's a good disc, but the instantly catchy hooks and melodies are missing. Instead it's filled with moodier introspective songs, mostly mid-tempo, very U2 ish at times. There is a great arena rock song, trac 4, "Where Are You," and trac 1 "Angels/Losing/Sleep is also a good one. There's also a "Honeydew" moment, trac 9 I believe, that is a swinging beatles-esqu pop song that sounds unlike anything they've ever done, which is good. There's too few moments like that on the album. But I guess it would be impossible to improve on a perfect effort like Gravity, so I shouldn't be disappointed. This album won't win OLP any new fans, but die-hards like myself will enjoy this though repeated listenings.

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: B-

CD Review - FOO FIGHTERS - In Your honor

The Foo Fighters are fast becoming irrelevant in my music collection, if they continue the trend of releasing worse and worse albums. Well they've broken that trend, but only because 2002's One By One was so bad, not that In Your Honor is all that good.

Riding from the ashes of the drumkit of Nirvana, Dave Grohl blew away critics in 1995 with the Foo Fighters self-titled debut album, which was essentially a Dave Grohl solo album as he recorded everything himself. Who knew he had it in him? It kicked ass and but was only a preview of the follow-up, 1997's The Colour and the Shape. It's one of the great albums of the 90's and established Grohl as a recognizable rock icon. The Foos also showed deft acting chops in some great videos for these two albums, especially the Mentos-parody for "Big Me," the single-shot/burning house rescue for "My Hero", and the dreamy "Everlong," a video that I consider one of the best music videos ever made.

1999's There Is Nothing Left To Lose was somewhat of a misstep, though it was critically adored and won some grammys. Gone were the arena rockers and punk wailing, and here was a more introspective Grohl. "Learn to Fly" was a big hit, but mostly because of another hilarious video. (The Foo Fighter should get a sitcom. It'd be better then 95% of the crap on TV now). But nothing else proved memorable on this album. In 2002, they released One by One, an album that is hardly listenable. Gone are the hooks, the riffs, the melodies. It's heartless songs that you immediately forget. "Times Like These" is the best they had to offer, but if you can find the acoustic version of this song, it's 100 times better then the electric version on the album. Grohl had lost his songwriting touch. It's OK. It happens. Just make a better follow up, and all will be forgiven.

Well, here come In Your Honor, an ambitious double-album split between a rockin' electric Side 1 and a mellow acoustic Side 2. I must admit I dig the first single, "Best of You." It's stuck in my head, which hadn't had a Foo song up there in a while. But it's the highlight of another laborious boring album. Track 1 "In Your Honor" and track4 "DOA" had me hoping for more, and they'll probably be the next singles, but there's nothing else worthy on the CD. It's a virtual copy of One by One I guess, since I can't remember those songs anyway. As for Disc 2, tie it to your tomato pole to scare the crows away. It's worthless. 10 songs which all sound the same, start the same, have the same instruments, the same melody. It's embarrassing.I don't think Grohl has an albums worth of good material left in him. He'll pull a good single or two, but the days of complete winner albums for the Foo Fighters ended in 1997. And while drummer Taylor Hawkins (think Animal from the Muppets) is entertaining and funny, I must wonder why the Foos 2 best albums had Grohl playing drums. I don't know if I'll buy anymore Foo Fighters albums without hearing a major turn-around from them, I'll just wait for the Greatest Hits disc which I'm sure is coming around 2007.

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: C

The Sneaky Cheetah's Music Review Archive

In honor of the best selling Sneaky Cheetah's Movie Review Archive, here is the music version in the same vein.

Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times - B-
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor - C
Weezer - Make Believe - A
Def Leppard - Rock of Ages - A+
Def Leppard - The Best Of - A
Best of 2004 - Music Edition
Jimmy Eat World - Futures - B-
U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - B+
Collective Soul - Youth - A-
Green Day - American Idiot - A+

CD Review - WEEZER - Make Believe

There are probably only about seven bands left that I will buy their new albums on the day they are released, no questions asked. Three of those (Def Leppard, U2 and Collective Soul) released new material in the last year, and now along comes Weezer's latest, Make Believe.
I must give credit to my sister Vicki for getting me hooked on Weezer, she actually owned the Blue Album before I did. Since then , Weezer has become my Beatles. I actually know every word to every song of theirs and can play a lot of those songs on guitar. Back in my glorious Cheetah Sneak days, I was always trying to push the guys to play Weezer songs (we covered Say It Ain't So and HashPipe) and Undone (The Sweater Song) was my chance to grab the mic and sing lead vocals. If I could find 3 other musicians with similar Weezer love, I'd form a Weezer tribute band tomorrow. (Actually I've been tossing around the idea of a band that only plays Weezer and Beatle songs and calling it either the "Weatles" or "Beezer", or the incredibly lame "WeezerBeatles.") Anyway.......

In a day of faceless "modern rock" bands, Weezer is refreshingly indentifiable, both in appearance and sound. Singer/Guitarist/Genius Rivers Cuomo, Guitarist Brian Bell, Drummer Pat Wilson and even new (the last 2 albums) bassist Scot Shriner exude goofy nerdiness, that may or may not be a PR gimmick, but it's still a nice change.(The exception to the faceless music thing is 3 Doors Down, who should be more faceless, as they are the ugliest band in the history of music. Seriously, if you met a guy and he said he was a musician and he was the ugliest man you've ever seen, chances are great that he's in 3 Doors Down. Why hasn't anyone had the balls to tell those guys to stop putting themselves in their videos!.) Anyway....

Though many "emo" bands have followed, Weezer is still the best and most original. They manage to reinvent themselves on every album, while still maintaining a musical identity of Weezerishness. (COPYWRITE! I just made up that word. If you want to use it, ya gotta pay me a dollar!) The Blue Album blew us all away in 1994, and established Weezer's plaintative vocals, griding guitars, ripping guitar solos and supremely catchy hooks. Pinkerton followed in 1996 and was dubbed by Rolling Stone Magazine "The Worst Album of the Year." My boycott of never buying a Rolling Stone is still in effect. The backlash forced Rivers Cuomo into self imposed exile to Harvard and we all believed Weezer was done.

Fastforward 4 years, Weezer was more popular then ever and Pinkerton has become a cult favorite and a critical success. Weezer reforms, sadly without Bassist (and falsetto vocalist) Matt Sharp (who went off to form the Rentals.) 2001 saw the release of the hook-filled pop-fest Green Album, followed by hard-rockin' 70's-ish Maladroit in 2002.

Enough history, on to Make Believe. They've joined with Super Producer Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill, Run DMC's Raising Hell, Red hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magic) to create another great album. Beginning with the first single Beverly Hills, a power chord yell-along that seems dumb but will stick in your head for weeks, this album delivers from start to finish. Other highlights include track # 3 This is such a Pity which catches Weezer as 80's New Wave as they've ever sounded, and # 5 Peace, a midtempo love song with a way cool guitar riff. Also the rockin' track #9 My Best Friend. But I really love The Other Way buried way down at track #10, and destined to become one of my all-time Weezer favorites. You'll be singing this song after just one listen. There's also one turd. Track#6, We are All on Drugs, is one to skip. There's nothing tongue in cheek about it, it just sounds like Weezer doing a cheesy Public Service Announcement.

In the Weezer Album Catalogue, it goes like this: from Clean punk pop to raw alt rock: Green Album, Blue Album, Pinkerton, Maladroit. Make Believe falls between the Green and Blue albums. It's more complex then Green, but not as loaded with original, memorable hits as Blue. It's more mainstream then Pinkerton, and more accessible then Maladroit. It's classic Weezer and it's destined to be my soundtrack of the summer of 05.

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: A

(note: the other three of the "seven" band mentioned in the first paragraph are Live, Splender and Breaking Benjamin. NOOTCH!)

Originators Rock too Hard!

This band I know here in DC was recently shut down at the Crawfish Festival in Charlottesville VA for rocking too loud and hard. Click here then click "Shut down in Charlottesville to read the hilarious story!
Those silly Originators. I don't think they comprehend the power of rock that they posses.

Sugary Goodness

Check out the website of these guys, then go check them out live. They're the one and only Sugar Cookies, and dammit they're good. And they're even better with milk. They ain't no stinkin' Girl Scout Cookies either. Just Sugar Cookies. And 3 out of 5 Sugar Cookies wear silly hats.

CD Review - DEF LEPPARD - Best Of or Definitive Collection?

All you faithful Def Leppard fans were rewarded for years of loyalty last year when the band finally released a 2 disc Best of CD called originally enough "Def Leppard Best Of." Unfotunantly, it was only released in Europe and Asia, with promises of a U.S. release with a slightly different track list to follow next year. Well, that day has come with "Rock Of Ages: The Definitive Collection," so now you're faced with a dilema. Which to buy? You've probably worn out 1995's hits disc "The Vault" and are in desperate need for all things Leppard. I sure was, so last year I bought Best Of online and loved it. When Definitive Collection hit stores in the U.S. last month, do you think I would shell out another $15 for ANOTHER Def Leppard collection, knowing I own all their albums already? You betcha, the day it came out. Here's some insight into the differences of the two collections.

The 2 disc are boken up as so: Disc 1 contains all the huge hits that even people who aren't Def Lep fans love. I't almost a carbon copy of the Vault disc. Disc 2 has other lesser hits and important album tracks as well as 1 new song a piece, both of which will appear on an upcoming covers album. BO (Best Of) has the Kinks Waterloo Sunset while DC (Definitive Collection has Badfinger's No Matter What. Both are great, but a slight nod goes to the Badfinger cover. Now for the track differences.

DC get's a nod for having 35 songs to BO's 34. Both albums have the following songs:

2 From 1980's On Through The Night: Rock Brigade, Wasted

4 From 1981's High 'N' Dry: Let It Go, Another Hit and Run, High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night), Bringin' On the Heatbreak

7 From 1983's Pyromania: Photograph, Rock of Ages, Rock Rock (Till You Drop), Foolin', Too Late For Love, Billy's Got a Gun, and Die Hard the Hunter

7 From 1987's Hysteria: Pour Some Sugar on Me, Love Bites, Animal, Rocket, Armageddon It, Hysteria, Women

4 From 1992's Adrenalize: Let's Get Rocked, Heaven Is, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad, Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)

1 From 1993's RetroActive: Two Steps Behind

1 From 1995's The Vault: When Love & Hate Collide

2 From 1996's Slang: Slang, Work It Out

1 From 1999's Euphoria: Promises

1 From 2002's X: Now

Then there's the following songs which only appear on 1 collection or the other.

BO also has Adrenalize's Make Love Like a Man, RetroActive's Action, and X's Long, Long Way to Go.

DC has High 'N' Dry's Switch 625 and Mirror Mirror (Look Into My Eyes), RetroActive's Miss You in a Heartbeat, and Euphoria's Paper Sun

The nod here goes to BO all of whos extra songs deserve to be on this disc, while from DC only Miss You in a Heartbeat is deserving a spot in my book.

The disc's aren't perfect. Too much attention is payed to High 'N' Dry. Slang, Euphoria, and X each desreve more tracks then they get. Where is Stagefright from Pyromania, Breath a Sigh from Slang, Demolition Man from Euphoria or You're so Beautiful from X? These 4 are worthy where some of those early pre-Pyromania songs could've been forgotten. But I'm a fan of 90's Leppard, not just 80's Leppard. I love their newer albums just as much as the hugs 80's hits. So I endorse The Best of Def Leppard, available only in Europe and Asia, and of course, the internet.


I count myself as one of the biggest Def Leppard fans in the world. I still call them one of my top 5 favorite bands of all time, and seen them in concert in 1993 and 1994, and hopefully this summer in Maryland. Bonus points if you can guess the other 4 of my "Top 5."


The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade:

The Best of Def Leppard: A+
Rock of Ages: the Definitive Collection: A

BEST OF 2004 -MUSIC

Christmas is here folks, and I find myself with a little extra time on my hands, so, without further ado (adiu?...adoo?), here's the Sneaky Cheetah's Best of 2004 Music Post!

WARNING: I can only review albums I've purchased or was given, so in 2004 that comes to 19. Not exactly a sweeping sample of the music industry, but more then most people buy!

2004 was the year of The Greatest Hits Album. Or, as they shall be known forever more as, GRITS (GReatest hITS....get it?!?). All my favorite bands of the 90's are now over 10 years old and their contracts are running out, so out come the GRITS! I picked up GRITS from Pearl Jam, Live, 311, Everclear and Hootie & the Blowfish. But I'm most proud of my Def Leppard Best Of, released only in England and Japan, which I managed to get my meaty paws on. I've still gotta pick up GRITS from Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Korn, Creed and Sheryl Crow. These shall not be graded (unless you beg me to) because then I would be judging an artists whole body of work, not just this years.

So.....on to the NEW ALBUMS OF 2004!!!! or...the top ten non-grits albums of 2004 that I bought (I only got 10!)


10. Scissor Sisters - C- - Really only one great song (Take Your Mama Out) and an ...interesting cover of Comfortably Numb. The rest is gay dance/rock poo.

9. LIT - C - Uninspired work here from one of my favorites. As much as I want to, I just can't get into it. Nothing memorable, no hit singles, these songs would be waaaay in the back end of their previous two albums. NOTE: Allmusic.com rates this album at 4.5 stars (Lit's best) and 1999's A Place in the Sun and 2001's Atomic at 2 and 3 stars, respectively. Whose sausage are they smoking?!?!?

8. Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin - C+ - Doesn't sound as fresh as her debut album. She's working with new producers and they're not clicking to strongly. It's repetitive and boring at times. Does have a few hits on it (Don't Tell Me, My Happy Ending, Nobody's Home), hence the "+".

7. Velvet Revolver - Contraband - B- - When most of Guns 'N' Roses (Slash, Duff and Matt) decided to get Stone Temple Pilots' Scott Weiland as their singer in this band (along with some other dude on rhythm guitar, (couldn't they convince Izzy?)), I shit. I kid you not, I literally took a shit. Then I listened and it made me want to shit again. Nothing here is as good as any G 'N' R or STP, but Fall to Pieces comes really close. other highlights are Slither and Set me Free. It rocks alright, but you won't remember anything else here.

6. Jimmy Eat World - Futures - B- - See my full review here.

5. U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - B+ - See my full review here.

4. Collective Soul - Youth - A- - See my full review here.

3. Breaking Benjamin - We Are Not Alone - A - Hands down the best band to emerge in the last few years. They broke in a big way with 2002's Saturate, probably that year's best album (in the humble opinion of the SC!). We Are Not Alone picks up right where they left off. This album rocks hard. They combine great riffs with heavy energy, but their strength is in the chorus. Songwriter, Singer and Guitarist Ben Burnly writes incredible choruses. They are Huge! and Memorable! and he sings them with a kinda funny enunciation, which makes them even catchier! So Cold is their best song to date. Other highlights are Firefly and Forget It (both co-written with Billy Corgan, another Sneaky Cheetah Fave!) and Follow. But the album is great from start to finish.

2. Green Day - American Idiot - A+ - See my full review here.

1. Cheetah Sneaks - This is Where We Get Off - A+ - Ok. So call me bias. I still think this is the greatest music put out this year. From the driving rock of Girl Next Door to the alt-country of For You. The majestic riffage of Illumination to the unclassifiable fun of Honeydew. Plus a cover of Suspicious Minds!?!? C'mon! This album will knock your socks off. Ask anyone who's heard it. I listen to it more then anything else I own. If you want a copy, just ask ol' Uncle Cheetah. He'll hook you up. Maybe one day I'll write the story of this album, but that day shall not be today. (Look how long this post is already!)


Well, there it is folks. Let me know what you think and if you have any other good albums. Or GRITS! Stay tuned for the best films of '04, coming soon to a Sneaky Cheetah blog near you!

Music Review - JIMMY EAT WORLD - Futures

When Jimmy Eat World burst onto the popular music scene, I was instantly attracted to their sound. It was 2001, and the "emo" wave was beginning to get some big hits. Weezer had just returned from a long hiatus with The Green Album, and melodic punk/pop was making a comeback. Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American (the name Bleed American was rightfully removed 2 months after the albums release after the events of September 11th, and now the album is simply known as "Jimmy Eat World") ruled the radio in the fall of 2001 with the "on every radio station" "the Middle", "Bleed American", "A Praise Chorus", and the incredible bombastic "Sweetness." But really, every song on the album is a hit. The first 7 songs are all strong and could have been singles.

This is what they had to live up to with the release of Futures. The elements that ruled their last album are still here, but they don't exactly ring out as strong. The songs are melodic, driving rhythms, big choruses, but besides the opening track "Futures" and the first single "Pain," nothing stands out. The really memorable riffs are absent (except on Futures which contains the best guitar riff Jimmy Eat World has ever written!). The lyrics are not as catchy. It's definantly a step back, but to be fair, they couldn't top Bleed American. It's a good enough album, but it doesn't break any new ground

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: B-

Music Review - U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Ok, It's time for everyone around the world to admit U2 to the greatest bands of all-time club. They are now worthy to be mentioned alongside the other greats, as equals. Who else has sustained a 24 year career, and are still putting out #1 records and are criticlly beloved. The Stones still record new albums, but they are generally regarded as garbage. As are the latest from Aerosmith, KISS, Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Metallica (and I'm probably the only guy who loves Def Leppards newer albums!). U2 can undisputedly claim the title as "Greatest Band in All the Land!"

Bono, The Edge, and "the other two guys in U2" (also known as Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr.) decided to leave the electronic pop of their 90's albums with 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind, which ended up being way too Adult Contemporary. So the Edge lobbied to bring back his great rock, delay-soaked riffs (a la` 1991's Achtung Baby). The results are immediate and stunning. The first single which has already taken over radio stations and commercils, "Vertigo," is the best U2 rocker since "Until the End of the World." I was so pumped that the rest of the album would rock like this! Unfortunantly, it doesn't. Nearly all of the other songs start with a slow delayed guitar riff. Some build into psuedo-rock songs, some delve more into 70's style R&B, but not many are instantly memorble. Bono's voice is much stronger then it's been in years, and the Edge plays thinks that other guitarist would never dream of, but it's all standard U2. But hey, Standard U2 is not something we've heard since the early 90's. The memorable songs here are track 3 "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" and what I think should be the next single, track 5 "City of Blinding Lights."

There are really good songs here, but not great songs. This album is not destined to join The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby as a U2 masterpiece. But it's right under it with War , Rattle & Hum, and All That You Can't Leave Behind. It took me a few listen's to really "get" this album, but now that I have, it's a standard in my car for those long rides to work.

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: B+

Music Review - COLLECTIVE SOUL - Youth

Let me explain one thing about me and Collective Soul. I love 'em. Absolutely my favorite band of all time. I like every song on every album they've ever done. Saw them live in 2000. So it was with great anticipation that I greeted their first album in 4 years, Youth. I hesitantly say I'm kinda disappointed. This is still great stuff. They write riff-based, 4 minute rock/pop gems. After just two listens, I had these songs stuck in my head and couldn't wait to get back into the car to listen again. That being said, Youth doesn't quite live up to Collective Soul's standards. Maybe it's because their last two albums, 1999's Dosage and 2000's Blender, are my two favorite Collective Soul albums. I guess I was expecting something along the same lines. While the sound and style is the same, certain aspect sound weak. The lyrics seem random and cobbled together. I don't listen for lyrics, so that's not huge for me, but it seems Ed Roland just mailed it in. Also missing are the ripping guitar solo's from Ross Childress who I consider a tone genius. There's one or two good leads, but from Collective Soul, I expect a little more. My last little complaint is that the best song on the album (Track 5, "Him") is only 2:30 long and sounds half finished. A little more work and this could have been a hit single, but it sounds like they gave up on the song. The lead single, "Counting the Days" is a good indicator of the style of the album. Other song highlights are "Home" (track 3) and "How Do You Love" (track 4). There's more rockers then ballads. Overall, I'm satisfiedwith this album. It's definantly one of the best of 2004, in my opinion. It just doesn't surpass Collective Soul's previous strong efforts.

Sneaky Cheetah Update! - 12/20/04 - I just discovered that Collective Soul lead guitarist Ross Childress left the band before the recording of Youth. He was replaced by Collective Soul's guitar tech Joel Kosche. No wonder there are no killer solos. Damn.

The Sneaky Cheetah's grade: A-

Music Review - GREEN DAY - American Idiot

I was reluctant to by this CD when it was first released. I've been a big Green Day fan for years, have all their CD's, and seen them live once in '94 in New Orleans. But their music was starting to get repetative. And they knew it. They had to go into the studio and expand their songwriting from the standard pop/punk they pioneered in the mid 90's. "American Idiot" is the result and it suceeds on every level. While the opening track (Amercian Idiot) and first single seems like pretty standard Green Day fare, it all changes from there. This album has been described as a rock opera, about the fall of a loser named Jimmy. I 'don't pay attention to lyrics much, so whatever. What I do here are songs that only resemble the Green Day of old in the tone of the vocals. Songs like "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Are We Waiting" are basically simple in arrangements and structure, but seem fresh and new coming from Billy Joe, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool (the best name in music today). Even these songs are dwarfed by the sprawling "Jesus of Suburbia," a nine minute musical assault in 5 movements. I rank this CD as Green Days second masterpiece. While it won't have the influence of 1994's "Dookie, " it's the most ambitious and rewarding work Green Day's ever done.

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: A+