Warning
After two years off following the release of the genre-expandingNimrod, the usually insouciant trio Green Day are open to some weighty self-analysis. Gone are the raging rants, cartoonish antics, and anthropological musings about the punk scene, replaced by an introspection that brings to mind Michael Stipe and Bono. Like theU2frontman, Billie Joe Armstrong still hasn't found what he's looking for, but he knows where he's been and is eager to move past the days when Green Day were considered the clown princes of rock. Witness "Jackass," which cautions, "Everybody loves a joke, but no one likes a fool." Proving that they aren't fools, Green Day take a substantial step forward, exploring new rhythms, sonics, and subjects. While many of the tracks are still cheeky and infectious, the deceptively simple melodies belie a quest for meaning, faith, and fulfillment. There's a tentative optimism here that's tempered by irony and flashes of self-loathing. Still,Warningtranscends the darkness that clouded 1995'sInsomniac. No longer so under the sway of theBuzzcocksand theRamones, this time Armstrong and company dip into the early rock canon--theBeatlesandBob Dylan, among them. As a result, their first self-produced album is more "Nowhere Man" than "Blitzkrieg Bop."--Jaan Uhelszki