10 Best Non-Rock Songs By Rock Artists
9. Espionage - Green Day
No one really turns to Green Day for something technologically challenging. While these pop punk brats certainly made a name for themselves on the strength of albums like Dookie, it was never really that hard to pick up a guitar and actually figure out how to play some of these tunes. Despite the punk ethos these guys had in their early days, the tonal shift went a bit more cinematic at the turn of the century.
When commissioned to contribute a song for the second installment in the Austin Powers franchise, fans expecting a pop punk banger got something different on Espionage. Complete with a surf guitar line, horns, and no lyrics, this is as close to a James Bond score that Billie Joe Armstrong can muster up, as each instrument plays off each other to utter perfection.
Though the chromatic walkups on the guitar still feel like leftovers from other Green Day sessions, this tune takes you on a journey, almost as if you're driving alongside Austin Powers going to combat Dr. Evil.
Even if it's not the most original idea for soundtrack score in the world, this song has an amazing amount of charm sprinkled in between every one of these notes. Bond fans may have felt insulted, but something like this at least showed that these pop punk kids were starting to reach for something new.