Review: American Idiot [Green Day]

American Idiot- Green Day

by: Ben Siimes

Green Day is one of those bands that you either love or hate. They catch a lot of flak from punk purists and rock elitists, being ranked just a step above punk-pop bands, mostly due to their vaguely scene styles and Billie Armstrong’s vocals.  Just as contentious are the opinions surrounding the band’s most successful album, American Idiot. I remember receiving this cd for Christmas back when it first came out, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever because there was swearing on it. It wasn’t until this past year that I really put together why this is such a great album that doesn’t deserve all of the spite it gets. The titular track starts things off in typical Green Day fashion with a frantic guitar riff, lyrics filled with anti-institution venom, and a catchy chorus. Then, very unlike Green Day’s normal M.O., comes the 5 part epic that I will simply refer to as Jesus of Suburbia (the whole name is just too much to type, man). While still keeping with the “screw you and the whole world” attitude we have come to associate with this band, Jesus of Suburbia highlights a deeper, more matured approach to songwriting for a 90’s punk band. The conflicting and changing “acts” are reminiscent to legends such as Stairway To Heaven and A Day In The Life, while still carrying the overall message of “I don’t care if you don’t care” that Green Day has prescribed to since their inception. What this song truly did was give Green Day a centerpiece for their concerts to focus on, because most punk bands of the day just came on stage tore through dozens of 2 minute smash sessions. The rest of the album returns much to the same Green Day we have heard for a while now, except with a more anti-corporation, anti-everything kind of feel to it. Holiday continues the theme started in American Idiot, bashing governments, people, and pretty much anything they could think of. St Jimmy is an adrenaline soaked ripper, channeling the essence of punk rock to play harsh chords as fast as possible. Alongside these hatred-filled diatribes are softer, yet darker and more personal, hits like Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends, adding another level of complexity to the album (at least as complex as self-loathing, anti-government punk rockers can get). Some of the songs on the album are definitely filler songs, such as Are We The Waiting, which to this day I still cannot understand, but for the most part the album is filled with classic Green Day hits and carries a relatively coherent concept throughout.

Album rating: 8.5/10