Green Day - American Idiot

By: Matt Drufke

Wednesday February 23, 2005

Genre

rock

Publisher

Reprise Records

External Links

Official Site
Reprise Records
</ul> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <p><img class="review" src="/images/green_day_-_american_idiot_photo.jpg" style="width: 195px;" /> In a shade under ten years, Green Day has done more than most bands could dream. They've made a record which catapulted them to fame (<i>Dookie</i>), followed that with a bad record (<i>Insomniac</i>), created a hit single which would guarantee they'd never have to worry about money forever ("Time Of Your Life" off of <i>Insomniac</i>), and made their "grown-up record" (<i>Warning</i>). They've also had time to release a greatest <br><br> hits album, as well as forming The Network, their snarky side project. Apart from that, we have Green Day to thank for Blink-182, and we have them to blame for Good Charlotte. So when we ask, "What's next for Green Day?" it really is a surprise. Will they continue to age and mature, as they showed on <i>Warning</i>, or will they go back to the commercial well, making more catchy pop-punk songs about disenfranchised teens? <br><br> No one expected the answer to that question to be both. But <i>American Idiot</i> is Green Day's balance of growing up while still staying the irritating snot-nosed punks we've all come to know and love. Green Day makes a bold move in telling an interesting story (read: concept album) over the course of their latest album, and few albums have expressed so sincerely what it means to be a teen growing up in a post-9/11 world. <br><br> The story of American Idiot follows figures Green Day have been singing about their whole career; on the second track we meet "Jesus of Suburbia," the depressed product of a broken home. We follow Jesus as he travels to the big city, meets a nihilistic rebel named St. Jimmy, both of them meet a girl, Whatshername, who inspire them and then leave. Jimmy dies, and Jesus falls into the drug-induced life which numbs him from reality enough to only leave him moderately depressed. <br><br> In just reading the last paragraph, I'm aware that this sounds like the dumbest fucking idea for an album, let alone a Green Day album. And while they may not be good at certain things (i.e. naming their characters), the trio is great at writing songs which really make you smile and hop around, even while lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong is telling tales mired deep in drug-addled depression. Throughout it all, the same themes continue to ring true: our parents fucked us up, women can use their love as weapons, and eventually all of our friends leave us. <br><br> In a way, the album is a perfect combination of Green Day's two best albums, <i>Dookie</i> and <i>Warning</i>, using the strengths of both to eliminate the weaknesses of the others. <i>Dookie</i> is a catchy pop album with disguised as punk songs, but doesn't have a real interesting story, while <i>Warning</i> tells some interesting stories, but lacks the kick a punk band should have; in fact, <i>Warning's</i> first curse word doesn't come until the second-to-last track! Green Day plays this whole album with their middle fingers raised proudly in the air, which has brought back the kids who felt like the band may have gotten soft as well as new ones wanting to know what all the fuss is about. <br><br> <i>American Idiot</i> contains the best songwriting that Green Day has ever done. Most concept albums are cursed with a string of boring tracks which exist simply to tie the plot together. Green Day avoids this by taking each of their nine-minute opuses, each divided into five sections, and making them fun and interesting rock numbers in which each section could've done well on it's own. And the other songs all have really great moments. The title track opener is a brilliant political statement without getting too preachy. While many assume the "American Idiot" to be Bush, Armstrong tells us that anyone who just blindly follows the media is the boob who deserves to come under fire. "She's A Rebel" could be the best up-tempo love song written this year, while "Whatshername" (which opens with the drum beat straight out of "Billie Jean") closes the album with a great tale of lost love. <br><br> In making <i>American Idiot</i>, Green Day realized that they had to return to the punk attitude they once embraced brazenly to make the boldest album of their career. And in doing so, have produced their biggest success in a long time. <br><br><br><br> </p> </div>  </div>  </div>   <div class="yui-b" id="yui-sidebar"> <table class="plain"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="borderbottom" style="width: 130px; padding-right: 10px;"> <div style="height: 600px; width: 120px;">  <script type='text/javascript'></script><noscript><a href='http://d1.openx.org/ck.php?n=a4006e2b&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE' target='_blank'><img src='http://d1.openx.org/avw.php?zoneid=50786&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a4006e2b' border='0' alt='' /></a></noscript></div></td> <td id="thumb_size_ad_width" class="borderbottomleft"> </td> <td class="borderbottom" style="width: 88px;"> <div class="thumb_size_ad"><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=WDXu/19QTKU&offerid=119561.10000074&type=4&subid=0"><IMG alt="Direct2Drive" border="0" src="http://www.direct2drive.com/linkshare/D2DLogo/88x31.jpg"></a><IMG border="0" width="1" height="1" src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=WDXu/19QTKU&bids=119561.10000074&type=4&subid=0"></div> <div class="thumb_size_ad"><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=sttic-20&o=1&p=41&l=ur1&category=music&banner=17NY0JN1F3BKY1CKP9G2&f=ifr" width="88" height="31" scrolling="no" border="0" marginwidth="0" style="border:none;" frameborder="0">

Green Day - American Idiot

By: Matt Drufke

Wednesday February 23, 2005

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