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“We all know Green Day, most of us have us have grown...”

written by Faded on 22/04/2005

Good Points
*Clever & Witty
*Original
*Catchy
*Beautiful lyrics

Bad Points
*Vocals- challenging enough?

General Comments
We all know Green Day, most of us have us have grown up listening to them. But I don't think any of us knew Green Day like this. American Idiot (Reprise Records) is a rock opera that goes far beyond the many other albums from Green Day. Not only does it sound great it has a plot and storyline! Through out the 13 tracks we follow "Jesus of Suburbia" as he makes his way through life meeting 2 other characters, "St. Jimmy" and "Whatsername".



The story/album takes off with 'American Idiot', which has been said to be a rag on President Bush. The band says the song is up for interpretation and made no further comments. But what would a Green Day album be without a little controversy? While some threw away the album in disgust others kept on listening to this addicting album. The song itself is a simple song, slightly more complex than ones from the other albums, but with that little bit of Green Day charm. The true genius shows in the video, directed by Sam Baer, where Green Day cuts all the fancy technology and goes back to good ol' fashion videos taped in a warehouse.

Following "American Idiot" is "Jesus of Suburbia" which is cut into 5 parts ('Jesus of Suburbia', 'City of the Damned', 'I Don't Care', 'Dearly Beloved', and 'Tales of Another Broken Home') and is over 9 minutes long. Much like the song 'Homecoming' (track 12), which is also 9 minutes long.

The popular song 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' definitely shines on this album but isn't what stands out most. The song 'Holiday' with it's catchy guitar tune and clever lyrics has caught some attention of it's own. Both songs compliment each other perfectly. MTV must have thought so too, there are now 2 videos out. The first, 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' and then 'Holiday', which is a "sequel" in a sense, picking up right where 'Boulevard' left off.

The song 'We are the Waiting' was a slight disappointment. It wasn't even comparable to the other 12 songs and, in my opinion, had no place on this album. Its repetitive lyrics were annoying and the background music was slow and boring.



Vocals (lead-vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong was accompanied by guitarist/vocalist Mike Durnt) were good through out and in several songs you could hear the improvement from the last albums. But it felt like most of the time Armstrong wasn't challenging his voice as much as he could have. It sounded as though he had picked a safe zone and stayed in it through out the album, breaking out maybe once or twice.

Guitarists Durnt and Armstrong showed some definite growth from their average 4 chord songs. You can compare a song like 'Brainstew' (from the album 'Insomniac') to any song on this album and find that it pales in comparison. Granted it was a simple song and wasn't meant to be complex, but it wasn't thought out the way the songs on 'Idiot' were.

Of course, we can't forget Tre Cool, Green Day's drummer. There was so much improvement there I can't even begin to compare the drumming done on this album to their other albums. It was quicker and more up-beat. There was also more of a style to it. It was just better! That's the only way I can really describe it, not being a drummer myself.



The lyrics are amazing. Truly and incredibly amazing. There's the humor in 'St. Jimmy' and a few other bits in other songs, but it doesn't take over the album like before. These are songs that truly make you think. This can be heard in 'Extraordinary Girl', 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' and 'Homecoming'. The song 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' is actually about the passing of Armstrong's father (A video is just coming out on MTV for this song). The lyrics are original, I have NEVER heard anything like this. The guys of Green Day are genius.



So over all I was very impressed. I never expected Green Day to pull something like this off. But they proved me so wrong. This CD is a must have for anyone who listens to music. I don't care what you listen to, you have to have this CD. This is a masterpiece that'll have people talking for the next few years. Congrats Green Day!