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"Oh Love"
Song

"Oh Love" is a power pop song by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released as the lead single from their ninth studio album, ¡Uno!, on July 16, 2012 through Reprise Records and an EP of the song was released on August 14, 2012. It was recorded at Jingletown Studios from February 14 to June 26, 2012, however, it was also played at a secret show of 2011 held by the band.

The song's genre features elements of the band's early pop punk style, as well as similarities to their recent alternative rock releases. Critical response to the song was mixed and it was praised for its musical style and tone, as well as criticized for being "middle-grounded". It appeared on multiple charts worldwide upon its debut. The song also made its debut at number one position on the US Rock Songs chart, making it the band's first song and the third song ever, to do so.

Background and release

The song was played at a "secret show" performed by the band on October 28, 2011, where the band also performed other songs which are on the track listing of ¡Uno!; "Let Yourself Go" and "Carpe Diem"[1][2] Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone, praised the performance of the band, whilst also writing, "Other new music included the blistering Ramones-tinged 'Let Yourself Go' ('Shut your mouth 'cause you're talking too much and I don't give a fuck anyway'), the driving beat and sing-along chorus of 'Carpe Diem,' and the strut of 'Oh Love'".[1] Green Day went into the studio to begin recording songs for a new album on February 14, 2012.[3] Eventually, the band made an announcement of the release of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!.[4] The official confirmation of the song came with the release of the track listing of their album ¡Uno! on June 26, 2012.[5]

Later, on June 25, 2012 the band announced that they would be releasing "Oh Love" as the first single from their upcoming studio album ¡Uno!.[6] Prior to its release, the band released a teaser-sample of the song in a video uploaded to YouTube.[7] The 16-second video, consists of the cover art of ¡Uno! and an advertisement in the bottom with a snippet of the song played in background, and in the end it shows the head of Armstrong in the cover art, eating the advertisement.[7] The song was released on July 16, 2012 through Reprise Records[8] and along with the release of the song, the band uploaded a video to YouTube which had its lyrics and the full song.[8] On July 20, 2012, an extended play of the song was announced which was released on August 14, 2012.[9]

Theme and composition

"Oh Love"
The sample contains a guitar-based melody with repetition of lines
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Oh Love" is a power pop song with a length of five minutes and two seconds.[10][11] The song is in the key of Ab major and uses a progression of I-IV-I-V-I for the words "Oh Love".[12] Musical style of the song is reminiscent of the band's early albums, Dookie (1994) and Nimrod (1997).[8] It is a "move away" from the band's politically inspired releases like American Idiot (2004) and 21st Century Breakdown (2009).[13] Bassist Mike Dirnt described the musical style of "Oh Love" by stating, "We were just thinking about making a killer power-pop record – dirtier, back to basics. We tapped into our version of Exile on Main Street".[13] Vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong also talked about his desire to write a power pop song, stating, "What I really wanted to do was write real power-pop kind of music that had that old Green Day energy, so the original Green Day sound became ¡Uno!".[8]

David Fricke of Rolling Stone compared the song to the genre of The Who's Quadrophenia and the vocals of Armstrong in the start to that of John Lennon. He opined that the song is a "tight, addicting bundle of pop-hook class and crunchy-punk fundamentals".[14] Sarah Maloy of Billboard elaborated that the guitar instrumentation is simple and the tune is similar to band's early releases.[8]

Artwork

The band revealed the artwork of "Oh Love" on July 10, 2012 in a press release made by the band about the release of the song on their official website.[15] The cover art of the song follows the style of artworks of ¡Uno! ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!.[8] It features a traffic signal post on the right side with a heart on top followed by two crosses below.[15] "Green Day" and "Oh Love" are written in capitalized form on the left hand side top corner and left hand side bottom respectively.[15] "Green Day" is written in pale yellow color while "Oh Love" in white against the blue background which shows contrast between light-dark and light shades along with black shades at corner.[15]

The band also announced release of an EP of the song and also showed the artwork of it.[16] The artwork of EP is similar to that of the song with minor variations in color and images. It features a traffic signal post on the right side similar to the song with a cross instead of heart on top followed by hand-grenade and a pose featuring a couple kissing, the artwork for American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, respectively, instead of two crosses below.[16] "Green Day", in blue, and "Oh Love", written in white, are written in capitalized form on the left hand side top corner and bottom left hand side respectively, against the striped red background with blackened corners.[16]

Critical reception

The song received positive response from a number of critics. David Fricke of Rolling Stone assigned the track four out of five stars, deeming it "just a bright, strident vocal and crisply strummed guitar. But when Armstrong’s bandmates fall in around him, Green Day sound the way you originally loved ’em, and refreshed: heavier and hardened from their time in the trenches but back in the garage, ready for rapture".[14] Scott Shetler of PopCrush also rated the song four out of five stars and compared it to the song "Jesus of Suburbia" from the album American Idiot, calling it "a much shorter and slightly more accessible version" of the song. He also added "That’s good news for Green Day fans and for those who miss rock music on Top 40 radio".[17] The song didn't get an entirely positive response from NME, however, who stated "That crunchy guitar riff, that meandering melody, that by-the-numbers solo – it all comes off rather ‘meh’, rather safe, and rather middle-ground to these ears".[18]

Music video

The music video is directed by Samuel Bayer who also directed their American Idiot videos. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong said "It's very lustful" while realising the video on MTV. The video shows the stereotypes of rock star's life.[19] Several female models featured in the video, there are some nude scenes but they are blurred.

Track listing

Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Oh Love"5:04
Wal-Mart Extended Play
No.TitleLength
1."Oh Love"5:04
2."American Idiot" (Live)2:55
3."Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (Live)4:22
4."21 Guns" (Live)5:22
5."Know Your Enemy" (Live)3:11
Total length:20:57

Chart performance and positions

Upon its release as the lead song, "Oh Love" debuted on multiple world charts. The song made its debut at number one on the US Rock Songs with 13 million audience impressions at 145 reporting stations.[20] The song is the band's first and only the third ever to debut at number one on the charts, following Linkin Park's "The Catalyst" and Foo Fighters' "Rope" which made their debuts at number one on 21 August, 2010 and 12 March, 2011 respectively.[20] The song also debuted on the US Alternative Songs at number seven[20] and peaked at number three.[21] It became the band's 28th title on the Alternative Songs tally and the 20th song to chart in the Top 10 Alternative Songs—the third highest number of songs by a single artist to do so, sharing that position with Foo Fighters and trailing U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers with 23 and 24 charting in the Top 10 respectively.[20] It debuted on the Japan Hot 100 at 27 and the Canadian Hot 100 at 54.[22][23] The song peaked on the Canada (Alternative Rock) at number four and on the Canada (Active Rock) at number 12.[24][25] On the Czech Airplay Chart, it made its debut at number 69.[26] It debuted at number 73 on the Belgian Tip Chart and at 88 on the Netherlands Single Top 100.[27] It also debuted at 83 on the Media Control Germany Top 100 Singles Chart.[28]

Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[29] 72
Belgian Tip Chart (Flanders)[27] 24
Belgian Tip Chart (Wallonia)[27] 33
Canadian Hot 100 (Billboard)[30] 45
Canada: Active Rock (America's Music Charts)[24] 1
Canada: Alternative Rock (America's Music Charts)[25] 3
Czech Airplay Chart[26] 59
Germany Singles Chart[28] 53
Italy (FIMI)[31] 44
Japan Hot 100[22] 11
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[27] 88
Polish Singles Chart[32] 37
US Billboard Hot 100[30] 97
US Rock Songs (Billboard)[30] 1
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[30] 3
US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard)[33] 38

References

  1. ^ a b Futterman, Erica. "Green Day Preview Stadium-Ready New Songs at New York Halloween Show". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 19 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ "Green Day played Red 7 (a few pics, Fox news video, setlist)". BV Austin. Retrieved 19 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Montgomery, James (February 15, 2012). "Green Day Start Recording New Album". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  4. ^ Corner, Lewis (June 11, 2012). "Green Day confirm new albums '¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré!' release dates". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  5. ^ "¡UNO! INFO". greenday.com. Green Day. Retrieved 18 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ Lamb, Bill (25 June, 2012). "Green Day Announce 'Oh Love' as First Single from Three Album Project". About.com. Retrieved 26 June, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b Grace, Carroll (12 July, 2012). "GREEN DAY RELEASE TEASER SNIPPET OF NEW SONG - LISTEN". Gigwise. Retrieved 18 July, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b c d e f Maloy, Sarah. "Green Day Debuts 'Oh Love' Single: Listen". Billboard (magazine). Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 18 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ "Oh Love EP (Walmart Exclusive)". Walmart. Retrieved 20 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ^ Crystal, Bell (16 July, 2012). "Green Day, 'Oh Love': Band Releases New 'Power-Pop' Single Off '¡Uno!' (AUDIO)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 July, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Oh Love - Single". iTunes. Apple. Retrieved 10 August, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ^ S., Mike. "The Singles Bar: Green Day, "Oh Love"". Pop Blerd. Retrieved 31 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. ^ a b "Premiere: Green Day's 'Power-Pop' New Single, 'Oh Love'". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 31 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  14. ^ a b Fricke, David (August 2, 2012). "Green Day "Oh Love"". Rolling Stone (1162). Jann Wenner: 66. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  15. ^ a b c d "OH LOVE" SINGLE PREMIERE". greenday.com. Green Day. Retrieved 30 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  16. ^ a b c "WALMART EP - AUG 14". greenday.com. Green Day. Retrieved 30 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  17. ^ Shetler, Scott. "Green Day, 'Oh Love' – Song Review". PopCrush. Retrieved 19 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. ^ "NME Track Reviews - Green Day - 'Oh Love'". NME. 2 July, 2012. Retrieved 19 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  19. ^ Sarah Maloy (2012-08-16). "Green Day Parties With Models in 'Oh Love' Video: Watch - Viral Videos". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  20. ^ a b c d Trust, Gary. "Green Day, No Doubt Make Rockin' Returns to Radio". Billboard (magazine). Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 24 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  21. ^ "Fun. Scores Historic No. 1 on Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 1 August, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  22. ^ a b "Japan Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 28 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  23. ^ "Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 28 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  24. ^ a b "CANADA: ACTIVE ROCK". Canada: Active Rock. America's Music Charts. Archived from the original on 1 August, 2012. Retrieved 1 August, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |archivedate= (help)
  25. ^ a b "CANADA: ALTERNATIVE ROCK". Canada: Alternative Rock. America's Music Charts. Archived from the original on 1 August, 2012. Retrieved 1 August, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |archivedate= (help)
  26. ^ a b "RADIO TOP100 Oficiální: Oh Love". Rádio Top 100 Oficiální. International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 July, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  27. ^ a b c d "Ultratop.be – Green Day - Oh Love". ultratop.be. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  28. ^ a b "Media Control Germany Top 100 Singles Chart". World Charts. Archived from the original on 7 August, 2012. Retrieved 7 August, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |archivedate= (help)
  29. ^ Steffen Hung (2012-07-25). "Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
  30. ^ a b c d "Oh Love - Green Day". Billboard. Retrieved August 10, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ "Italy Top 100: Oh Love". FIMI. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  32. ^ "Green Day - Oh Love. Polish Singles Chart".
  33. ^ "Latest Music News, Band, Artist, Musician & Music Video News". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
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