Riff Police! Pull Over! #12: Chicago Vs Green Day!

American Punk Rockers Green Day have taken a lot of stick in their time for being influenced by every man and his dog and then getting paid for it. At last count we could do 14 songs worth of “Riff Police” on them alone. That’s an entire greatest hits album. Perhaps it’s that they’ve gained commercial success from other peoples inspiration or perhaps it’s just that they aren’t the punks they used to be. In 1995 when our personal favourite of their albums came out “Insomniac” (with “Dookie” a close second) the fact that the Metallic gutair tones and straightforward progression of “Brain Stew” could be ahem borrowed from elsewhere wouldn’t have crossed our minds. But….

….”25 or 6 to 4″ by Chicago. Same riff. It was released on “Chicago II” in 1970. 25 years prior. That’s quite something.