Green Day - Warning + 2 CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

peeved by aggressive marketing ("Fashion Victim") or an aging adolescent whining about too many rules ("Warning"). When he declares he's still "marching out of time to my own beat" on "Minority," he sounds unconvincing.

The once-giddy melodies now settle for midtempo jangle or novelty (the accordion-driven cabaret of "Misery"). Armstrong recast himself as a balladeer in 1997 with "Good Riddance (The Time of Your Life)," and the best tune on Warning picks up where that left off. On "Macy's Day Parade," a gorgeously subtle string arrangement underpins lyrics that pine for "a brand new hope." Green Day as the new Bread -- who knew? (RS 851)

GREG KOT

Warning is probably the group's most inventive release. The 2000 album has them in Kinks worship mode, utilizing acoustic rhythm tracks and idiosyncratic arrangements. There is still no shaking off their East Bay punk roots, they just use them as a springboard on tracks like "Warning" and "Misery." More proof that the band could do much more than three-chord punk.