None of their '90s punk-pop peers have such a large following or can command such large, adoring crowds, and Bullet in a Bible makes it clear why: no other band in 2005 can play to the mainstream while still seeming nervy and vital. This isn't the wild, reckless Green Day of the early and mid-'90s - this is Green Day the arena punk pros, who know how to fill a stadium while still sounding as if they're playing in a packed little club. Both the CD and DVD manage to be big, splashy productions - after all, the DVD is produced to take full advantage of a home theater system, while the CD has a bright, clean kick to its mix - that still retain a palpable sense of excitement and grit. The DVD intercuts interview footage with individual members of the trio between the songs on the set, while the CD provides an hourlong distillation of the show. Music videos, making-of) wasn't included, but I'm sure that stuff'll surface one day.Bullet in a Bible is a CD/DVD package (also available as a UMD, for those who want to carry it around on a Sony PSP) documenting Green Day's show at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes on their 2005 U.K. I was a little disappointed that more "American Idiot" stuff (i.e. This concert is a monster, and they pack so much energy into each song, it's hard not to be moved. But the fact remains, this is Green Day at their best. He complicates something that should have been fairly simple and straight-forward: letting the viewer watch one of the best acts of our generation. The cameras dart around way to fast, and he inserts so many unneccessary and distracting effects. I love his videos, especially all he's done for Green Day, but he overdoes it with his direction for the concert. My only gripe with this performance/documentary is Samuel Bayer's direction. It was worth buying this set just to have that version on the audio-CD that is included. The final song, "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" has Billie Joe going solo with an electric guitar and freshening up a song that got played to death in it's day. The band blows through nearly the first half of the "American Idiot" album, saving "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" for the encore, and then gets into some choice older material such as "Longview" and "Minority." "King For A Day" is fused with a cover of "Shout," which is just brilliant (although Billie skips the floor-humping here that he did for us). One noticeable omission is their popular cover of Queen's "We Are The Champions." "She," "Maria" and "Knowledge," the song where they bring fans onstage to play, are also missing as well. "American Idiot" tour, with a few differences. They play roughly the same set that they did for the U.S. I saw them back in April, and let me tell you: it was the best concert I have ever been to, and I have a hard time imagining any concert I go to in the future being that good. As far as the performance, the boys are on top of their game. The concert/documentary runs at about two-hours long, and spliced in between each song are interviews and behind the scenes footage that document Green Day's rise back to the top and the nervousness that comes with playing to such a large crowd. So, in comes "Bullet In A Bible," a DVD/CD set that covers Green Day's biggest show to date, a two-day concert at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes where they played to over 130,000 English fans. Their great come-back album, 2004's "American Idiot" was not only massively successful and dominant over the radio, but was easily the most interesting and inspiring piece of music to come out of that year as well. You had to figure that Green Day couldn't let their biggest year, 2005, pass by without some sort of celebration.
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