Long time readers of this blog will not be surprised by my inclusion of this classic Barry Manilow song.  While, in general, my musical tastes are a little harder than Barry’s more middle of the road sound I give him a lot of credit for his songwriting and performance skills.  If you aren’t familiar with this one, it is really worth a listen!

Our 2012 end of the year music review continues with the Best Album Concept award which goes to Green Day for their release of Uno!,  Dos!,  and Tre!. While each of these Albums was released individually (and has its own unique flavor), they were all recorded at the same time and deserve to be considered as part of a single concept.   In general, these albums represent a move back to Green Day’s roots, after their American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown forays into the land of Rock Operas (don’t get me wrong…..American Idiot is one of my all time favorites).  In these three albums Green Day also manages to pay homage to many of their rock influences like the Who.  Let’s listen to some sample track from each of the individual albums.

Uno! – Stay The Night

If you are interested in hearing more about Uno! checkout the “New Music That Doesn’t Suck #7” post that I made about that album.

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Dos! – Ashley

If you liked Ashley you can listen to the whole Dos! album below….

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Tre! – Sex, Drugs, and Violence

The last song of the album brings the concept full circle back to the more recent Green Day sound with a beautiful ballad, The Forgotten.

Tre! – The Forgotten

If you liked the two songs above you can listen to the whole Tre! album below….