Father of All…
by Green Day
  • Record Label: Reprise
  • Release Date: Feb 7, 2020
User Score
4.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 217 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 79 out of 217
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 217
  3. Negative: 100 out of 217
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  1. Chris182
    Apr 26, 2021
    5
    Easily Green Day's worst album. it is not bad but it is far from good or even decent. The lyrics are horrible and the instrumentals would be good if it were any band other than Green Day as it seems like they are all on cruise control for this album. Some of these songs are fun but the lyrics really ruin them. I really hope they can bounce back from this disappointment.
    Best Songs: Father    Easily Green Day's worst album. it is not bad but it is far from good or even decent. The lyrics are horrible and the instrumentals would be good if it were any band other than Green Day as it seems like they are all on cruise control for this album. Some of these songs are fun but the lyrics really ruin them. I really hope they can bounce back from this disappointment.
    Best Songs: Father of All... Sugar Youth, Take the Money and Crawl, Meet Me On the Roof
    Worst Songs: I Was a Teenage Teenager, Fire Ready Aim, Stab You in the Heart    … Expand
  2. Sierec
    Feb 12, 2020
    5
    ok. but not ok I expect something else. It has no soul. GreenDay trying to be like something else.
  3. archismanm
    Feb 8, 2020
    5
    It's beyond me how anyone can give this a 10. Is this the definition of a perfect Green Day album? I mean it's kind of insulting to their legacy if you think this a 10.
    As a once fanboy I can honestly say this is horrible, but I would still say it's better than Revolution Radio, which was cringe for the most part. This at least has some fun and unpretentious moments. Lyrics aside, this    It's beyond me how anyone can give this a 10. Is this the definition of a perfect Green Day album? I mean it's kind of insulting to their legacy if you think this a 10.
    As a once fanboy I can honestly say this is horrible, but I would still say it's better than Revolution Radio, which was cringe for the most part. This at least has some fun and unpretentious moments. Lyrics aside, this album has a few songs I might revisit once in a while. 'Oh Yeah' is pretty catchy, 'Father Of All' would be/ is a great live song, maybe even a gig opener for years to come. Unpopular opinion, but 'Teenage Teenager' works for me in all its cheesy glory kind of like a guilty pleasure track from a bad Weezer album. I absolutely loathe 'Stab Your Heart' which I'm a 100% sure rips off some oldie. Definitely heard that tune before. 'Sugar Youth' is decent, one of the better ones. 'Meet Me On The Roof' is a pleasing enough single. The rest are just bad to mediocre.

    I honestly would love to rate this album higher but a 5 is the maximum it deserves going by the high standards they themselves have set throughout the years.
    I'll say this though, this album doesn't have the many lows that any album post-American Idiot had (ignoring Stab You In The Heart). That's a positive I guess.    … Expand
  4. ThePeruvianPost
    Feb 15, 2020
    4
    "Green Day has attempted to remain tuned during late years despite the trilogy misadventure although Revolution Radio was evidence of a revindication as if the band was rightfully following the proper steps to revive their golden 2000s moments with some striking hard rock themes, getting political as their predecessors American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown and omitting any sound"Green Day has attempted to remain tuned during late years despite the trilogy misadventure although Revolution Radio was evidence of a revindication as if the band was rightfully following the proper steps to revive their golden 2000s moments with some striking hard rock themes, getting political as their predecessors American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown and omitting any sound distortion and inconsistent lyrics. Mournfully, the recent release "FATHER OF ALL" is just a slap in the face to the fans who have been following them for a long time. It seems the punk rock Californians are leaving their original essence".
    ...
    September 10th was assumed to be a spectacular celebration for the Idiot Nation because Green Day was due to release their first single. The prime feeling you might have caught was optimism wondering how these fellows were going to astound you. After hearing the opening song, you notice the manner the band wholly changed but for negative. It felt as dreadful as their 2012s "Nightlife" song, completely uninspiring and awkward. As the weeks advanced, the second single felt loads better, still eccentric and below the average quality of Green Day. January arrived with the third single bringing back an O.K. danceable version of "Kill the DJ". Overall, the singles were scarcely enjoyable. Now it was time to hear the album, and the expectations almost banished, they were officially the lowest I had for a very long time. The Californian punk-rock combo seemed to be out of shape. Yet, it was merited a try. After all, these guys have a vast experience.
    ...
    To sum up, staying awake on February 7th was not a pleasant experience. Still, it was not the worst either. The album began with the three mediocre songs mentioned above and continued with copy-pasted songs [Stab You in the Heart as their 2012s disastrous F**k Time] yet alongside with rare bright songs as "Meet me on the Roof" and "Junkies on a High". The guitars sounded terrific, and the bass had the proper time to shine in some beautiful chorus. Nothing wrong with the instruments I daresay. The main issue came from the brevity of the record: a twenty-six-minute experience in which the band only offered an irritating high-pitched adventure. The unfocused lyrics give an unpleasant sense of glamour as if the trio is messing around providing inconsistent and diverse topics going with no direction. It appears Billie Joe and bandmates are compilating random songs as previously displayed [and mentioned] with 2012s UNO, DOS, TRE. It is such a pity to behold how low the performance can get through the years. But people, let's look at least on the bright sight. Green day throughout their existence as a band always enjoyed trying new sounds going from acoustic melodies [Warning] to pop tunes [Father of All] which succeeds partially in songs like "Oh Yeah" not giving whatsoever the expected result.
    ...
    Nevertheless, as a true fan, I feel completely disappointed
    ...
    [42/100]    … Expand
  5. angryretard
    Feb 15, 2020
    4
    TLDR: This album is just bad. it seems that Green Day is trying too hard to be something that they are not.

    I hate to sound like one of those cynical fans who feel like nothing is good since American Idiot. However, this album does not strike me as good. In general the tracks feel way too polished for a Green Day album and seem to feature less punk aspects than early Green Day. This    TLDR: This album is just bad. it seems that Green Day is trying too hard to be something that they are not.

    I hate to sound like one of those cynical fans who feel like nothing is good since American Idiot. However, this album does not strike me as good. In general the tracks feel way too polished for a Green Day album and seem to feature less punk aspects than early Green Day. This album does not offer anything new to the table and proves that punk is almost dead.

    Father of All... -
    As the title track, it's role is to set the tone of the entire album. This is unfortunate because of how meh this track is. It's certainly not offensive to my ears but I wouldn't listen to it again. That being said it's one of the best tracks in the album imo. 6.5/10

    Fire, Ready, Aim -
    Again, this track is not very original. It seems very derivative of some of their other songs including American Idiot. I am also growing very tired of their vocalizations in this song, (Ah-ah-ah-ah). This song is very lacking with its lyrics. All in all, it is a boring song that I can see being played in locker rooms. 6/10

    Oh Yeah-
    Not a terrible song, it made me sick of the words, Oh Yeah, but other than that it was ok.
    6.7/10

    Meet Me on the Roof-
    These songs are starting to melt together, they sound so similar. This song proves the bands descent into mediocre pop status. 5.5/10

    I was a Teenage Teenager-
    Very reminiscent of early Weezer. I don't hate Weezer but Comparing Green Day to them should be seen as an insult. One of the worst songs on the album. Interesting choice to make this the longest song. 4.7/10

    Stab You in the Heart-
    Not a bad song, but it does not remind me of Green Day. Good performance by Billie Joe Armstrong. 7/10

    Sugar Youth-
    Very forgettable song, similar to Stab You in the Heart. 6/10

    Junkies on a High-
    This is one of the worst songs on the album. It feels like Green Day is trying much too hard to appeal to a different crowd on this album and this song is Exhibit B. 5.5/10

    Take the Money and Crawl-
    Weirdly enough, I liked the intro more than the actual song. The intro felt far more fresh and new than this pandering pop song which sounds incredibly similar to Fire Ready Aim. 6.2/10

    Graffitia-
    This is the worst track on the album IMO, Exhibit A of Green Day's descent into pop. This seems to be the final nail in the coffin of what made Green Day great in the first place. Give this song a listen for yourself and see if you agree with me. 4/10    … Expand
  6. DavidWasHere
    Feb 7, 2020
    6
    I've been a Green Day fan for a long time now, back when I heard Holiday and Boulevard blasting on 2005 radio. They meant a lot to me during my formative years of music and adolescence, even if their music has lost that urgency and adrenaline. Father of All... is a mixed bag for me. Better than the Trilogy, not as good as Revolution Radio, which hasn't aged all too well after it's initialI've been a Green Day fan for a long time now, back when I heard Holiday and Boulevard blasting on 2005 radio. They meant a lot to me during my formative years of music and adolescence, even if their music has lost that urgency and adrenaline. Father of All... is a mixed bag for me. Better than the Trilogy, not as good as Revolution Radio, which hasn't aged all too well after it's initial release. I do appreciate the lean meat-and-potatoes approach of the album and making a pure rock-n-roll, or what constitutes as rock-n-roll these days with a mainstream mainstay like Green Day, but with the short run-time and the polish sheen sounding more like it wants to be played for car commercials or iPhone commercials, it feels more like a compromise for the major labels. Some of the energetic songs are good like the title cut, Sugar Youth, and Oh Yeah!, and the throwback to garage rock felt more energetic compared to Dos, and without a cringe worthy rap rock song, however so much of the clapping and very clear dad rock blueprints, it's more of an album with singles rather than anything truly cohesive. This will probably do well with licensing than upon repeated re-listening. As for me, I still have Dookie and American Idiot to come back to. Maybe every so often I will for this album.… Expand
  7. jhollis977
    Feb 14, 2020
    6
    Half the album sounds like it was written for Google Pixel commercials. Clap happy tech punk with heavy vocal filters. There are some good catchy songs nonetheless.
  8. MysticManiac
    Feb 7, 2020
    6
    With the release of the singles, I was very worried about this album but then when it released, I found myself really digging the deep cuts on this album. Side B is excellent, every song on Side B is great and the singles also grew on me somewhat. However, Teenage Teenager is an awful track (definitely the worst) and there are still elements of the singles that don't work too well for me.With the release of the singles, I was very worried about this album but then when it released, I found myself really digging the deep cuts on this album. Side B is excellent, every song on Side B is great and the singles also grew on me somewhat. However, Teenage Teenager is an awful track (definitely the worst) and there are still elements of the singles that don't work too well for me. And on an album that's 26 minutes long, when 4 of 10 songs don't work as well as the others, that is a pretty significant problem imo.

    What works well: Graffitia is a fantastic track and a great closer. It sounds familiar, like some of the more classic sounding Green Day (i.e. from the early 2000s) but it's still different and fits on a modern GD album. Stab You in the Heart and Take the Money and Crawl are both fast-paced foxboro-ish sounding tracks that are a lot of fun to listen to. Sugar Youth is just a sugar rush with a great catchy chorus and Junkies On A High is the one experiment on this album that works really really well. The singles have also grown on me. Fire Ready Aim is catchy, Father of All works in ALMOST every way. The chorus is catchy, the instrumentation is great, the lyrics are quite interesting and Billie sounds good on this song most of the time. Meet Me On The Roof is a good fun track, the best of Side A but it's still not a favourite of mine like the tracks on Side B are

    What doesn't really work: Teenage Teenager is a horrible track. The "I don't wanna freak you out" part sounds AWFUL. But then we get into a chorus which is somewhat catchy but very forgettable and boring. And the lyrics here are really bad. "I Was A Teenage Teenager"? "School is just for suckers"? Come on guys, you're better than this. Outside of this track, none of the other tracks are that bad. Father of All's verses have this really out of place falsetto with odd vocal effects but it doesn't last for too long so doesn't really ruin the track. Fire, Ready, Aim is repetitive but it's short and catchy enough not to get too annoying and nothing about Oh Yeah really stands out apart from some of the lyrics and meaning of the song. This would be fine if this were all the problems on an album that's over 40 minutes long, but at just 26 minutes long, there should be more quality to some of these songs. Oh the album cover is trash too.

    For me, a strong 7. Despite my critiques, most of the songs work really well and the singles also have a lot to enjoy and appreciate about them. I'd say definitely give Side B of this album a fair shot. It's honestly very good    … Expand
  9. JLuis_001
    Feb 18, 2020
    5
    I have 22 years as a Green Day fan and I will always support them, I can also appreciate when a band tries something that could be considered different but frankly this album offers nothing worth remembering.
    The songs lack imagination and direction.
    If you tell me that these 26 minutes of music is the best that Green Day can offer after almost 4 years, then maybe they should start    I have 22 years as a Green Day fan and I will always support them, I can also appreciate when a band tries something that could be considered different but frankly this album offers nothing worth remembering.
    The songs lack imagination and direction.

    If you tell me that these 26 minutes of music is the best that Green Day can offer after almost 4 years, then maybe they should start reconsidering their future as a band.

    Billie Joe Armstrong is two years away of turning 50, you have to know when you should stop writing songs like if you were a teenager.    … Expand
  10. irwinschwartz
    Feb 7, 2020
    6
    This album was solid. While I think it could've been longer, it was pretty good. The thing is a lot of the songs sounded basically the same. The album is about teenage-hood and just living life on a day-to-day basis and not really thinking about the consequences. Songs like "Fire, Ready, Aim" especially show this. Most of the songs on the record are pretty good, but not great. 2 songs areThis album was solid. While I think it could've been longer, it was pretty good. The thing is a lot of the songs sounded basically the same. The album is about teenage-hood and just living life on a day-to-day basis and not really thinking about the consequences. Songs like "Fire, Ready, Aim" especially show this. Most of the songs on the record are pretty good, but not great. 2 songs are great. The opening track, "Father of All..." and the closing track "Graffitia". The distorted falsetto on the opening is really good, and the song sums up the sentiment of the album pretty well. The last song is basically a protest song, like something out of American Idiot. Graffitia is just a great song. The worst song by far on the record is "Meet Me on the Roof". It is about what you expect, meeting a girl on the roof to hook up. Not the most original song to say the least. The song sounds similar to other songs on the album but a thousand times worst. The chorus is just simply awful. In sum, the album was pretty good but nothing special.

    Favorite Tracks: Father of All..., Graffitia
    Least Favorite Tracks: Meet Me on the Roof    … Expand
  11. Dillinger55
    Feb 13, 2020
    6
    Overall it is an ok album. It reminds me a lot of uno, dos, tre mixed with some old school early 90's Green Day. However, I had a rough time going through the album being a loyal Green Day since 2003, when I was in elementary school. I loved their older music and American idiot. However, this I feel misses the mark for me, it was a good concept to mix their new and old sound. I thinkOverall it is an ok album. It reminds me a lot of uno, dos, tre mixed with some old school early 90's Green Day. However, I had a rough time going through the album being a loyal Green Day since 2003, when I was in elementary school. I loved their older music and American idiot. However, this I feel misses the mark for me, it was a good concept to mix their new and old sound. I think revolution radio is there best album in the past 10 years at this point.… Expand
  12. Xemilycx
    Feb 20, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Meet me on the Roof was the only track where I felt like their old songwriting abilities were showing, even if it felt as if I’ve heard it before. It felt reminiscent of American Idiot. The rest of this felt like a rushed, overproduced, pop package.… Expand
  13. Munknjet
    Apr 19, 2020
    4
    Quite possibly the worst Green Day album of all time. I am heavily disappointed with this new album, Green day completely throws out the sound we all love, while yes I do credit them for trying something new, this new stuff sucks! But they tried, and if they did try and release something like classic punk rock in their 40s and almost 50s it would almost be embarrassing but at least betterQuite possibly the worst Green Day album of all time. I am heavily disappointed with this new album, Green day completely throws out the sound we all love, while yes I do credit them for trying something new, this new stuff sucks! But they tried, and if they did try and release something like classic punk rock in their 40s and almost 50s it would almost be embarrassing but at least better than this. There are some memorable tracks on here like 'Stab you in the Heart' and 'Take the Money and Crawl' but overall, this album lacks direction, focus and uses to many generic voice filters like on 'Oh yeah' 'Father of all' and others. It is worth saying, at the end of the day, Green day has tried something new, and it obviously didn't quite work. That being said, I hope Green Day can learn from this and make a comeback album like Eminem did with 'Kamikaze'. Hopefully we can get another album which doesn't completely throw out Green days old sound.… Expand
  14. itsdagoos
    Feb 25, 2022
    6
    Really meh… most songs mesh together there is nothing special the only good song in this album is the first one father of all… the rest mixes together and really disappoints, and you don’t have to edit Billy’s voice it’s perfect

Awards & Rankings

38
#38 Most Discussed Album of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 25
  3. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. musicOMH.com
    Feb 18, 2020
    20
    Green Day have become the very thing they once despised: buck-chasin’ mild boys of mayonnaise corporate rock.
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  2. No Ripcord
    Feb 18, 2020
    50
    Certain songs try to recapture their old glory, while others feel like an embarrassing pop ploy—but the most consistent feeling is pure disappointment. Even when Green Day is supposedly having fun here, they sound tired and overworked at best.
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  3. Punknews.org (Staff)
    Feb 13, 2020
    90
    Father of All Motherfuckers is a danceable, feel-good pop album with some really stellar songwriting and, after the impotent Revolution Radio and the ludicrous ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! trilogy, seeing Green Day branch out a bit and succeed at something different is refreshing. It’s a sign of artists with a great deal of range and imagination who are far from done surprising us.
    Read full review
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