American Idiot

Great, but I appreciated Dookie's raw, unfiltered punkness much more than this: which is a tad more cleaner and more polished. I want some gritty punk, man!

Ok

It was such a full-circle moment when I had the opportunity to hear them play the entirety of this album live at a festival for its 20th anniversary after listening to it religiously when I was a teenager.

This might actually be one of my favorite albums ever.

woah woah you cant say that buddy

I knew the singles but was surprised by the big 9 minute songs. I liked it all though.

Do I think this is brilliant because I listened to it so much, making it sound so very familiar?
Or did I in fact listen to it so much because it is so brilliant?
Actually, I don't really care. I loved it when it came out, and I loved it every bit as much relistening now.

I think that the songs and the whole album is excellently constructed, the sound is guitar-heavy, just as I like it, and I somehow have a knack for these background "ooooh"s that are employed always at the right time.

There are lots of well earned hit singles on here, but I love most "deep cuts" even more, like the fast paced "Letterbomb" or the beautiful closer "Whatsername".

There is not much keeping this from being a 5/5, for example the opening title track being average instead of as brilliant as the rest.

4.5/5 - near perfect

When American Idiot came out, I remember being so anti-Green Day that I never really gave it a chance. Twenty years later, it felt like the perfect time to finally sit down and listen to it properly.

A lot of that prejudice came from Dookie, which I really disliked as a teenager. Because of that, I assumed Green Day were all loud, shouty punk rock with little substance. American Idiot proved me wrong. There are some genuinely great songs here, and a lot more variety than I was expecting.

What surprised me most was the ambition of the album. Yes, there are the big, energetic rock songs, but there are also some excellent ballads, strong melodies and surprisingly good storytelling running through the lyrics. It feels far more considered and mature than I had given it credit for all those years ago.

It's still not a genre I would naturally gravitate towards, and I probably won't be rushing back to it regularly, but I came away with a much greater appreciation for Green Day as songwriters and musicians. Sometimes revisiting an album years later can completely change your perspective, and that's definitely what happened here.

Favourite tracks: “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
Least favourite tracks: Everything on the album was worth a listen
Album artwork: Cool album cover

Apart from the hits I wasn't sure what I was going to think about this. After thinking on it if I give it less than a five then I am lying to myself.

Not for me

You know what, this album is sick as hell!!!

Went into this already fondly familiar with the big hits, though fully expecting to be let down by the deep cuts as with many past albums. Instead, the album experience completely recontextualized the hits, and I can confidently say there is not a moment of filler on this!!!

You mean to tell me Holiday led into Boulevard of Broken Dreams all this time?!?! The lone guitar note transitioning the two genuinely blew my mind!

The concept album angle was also a really pleasant surprise. Even if it's not as topical today as it was back then, that cohesion elevates the album so much to me.

I was on the fence about the rating until I found myself listening front to back two more times today, each listen better than the last. How can I argue against that? Banger banger banger.

Standouts: American Idiot • Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams • Are We the Waiting / St. Jimmy • Give Me Novacaine / She's a Rebel • Extraordinary Girl / Letterbomb • Homecoming

Had a few really nice tubes on it. I meant to type tunes but I'm going to leave that. They're nice tubes and I enjoyed them. I've never been a rock opera guy. I am a punk fan. I'm conflicted.

I’m still not convinced a 9 minute punk song works, but the two on American Idiot are probably the closest anyone’s ever going to get. I was familiar with the bigger hits off this but the other songs are basically just as good too

A welcome evolution from their pop-punk sound in Dookie! Sad that I was born too late to really enjoy this album in its heyday.

Really interesting to hear Green Day try out operatic-punk, which goes well with the heavy-handed topics it addresses.

I suppose Green Day were an entry point to Punk for Busted and McFly fans. So that’s a positive. But I was already into Punk when they emerged so they seemed a little dull and old fashioned. Some of there singles are undoubtedly fun but there’s nothing fun about this incoherent concept album.

love this one - on a scale of 1 to fun = Very fun! 4/5 #Musicsky #albumsky

Perfect

1001 Albums Vol. 0024: American Idiot
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Introduction: Well now, this is one of the few albums that I knew I would eventually come across. And, on top of that, it's one of the few (probably) albums that I'm actually very familiar with. This isn't necessarily due to me listening to it from my own volition, however. Like with way too much music in my life, it was shoved down my throat when I was younger due to someone I know really liking a particular few songs on this album. It actually wasn't my dad though. If you actually understand why I wrote that last sentence then I actually love you by the way. Anyway, the point is, I"m pretty familiar with the more popularized material from this album. Songs like Boulevard, Holiday, and September, those kinds of songs. That being said, the less popularized, and arguably worse material, I am barely familiar with. I went through a brief phase in my life where I was independently into Green Day and tried to give this entire album a listen a few times, but all I would do is listen to the better songs and just let the stuff in the middle of the album play for a few seconds before scrolling to the next song. You could say this was due to my hyperactivity, but I personally just think it was because I found the songs boring. I mean, I know a lot of people who would likely agree with me on that stance. Either way, who the hell would say that Saint Jimmy is their favorite song off American Idiot? Nobody...nobody with a brain at least. Anyway, let's actually get into the album now. This album, released by Green Day in 2004, was a major, major release of the early to mid-2000's. Seriously, this album could genuinely be considered a cultural phenomenon due to how much of an impact it had upon its release. The influence that this album has on people now is still undoubtable as well. And I'm not talking about how pretty much any album can be considered "life-changing" to a specific group of people either. This album impacted fashion, musical taste, and just did so much for so many people. Now, impacting musical taste? I mean, that makes complete and total sense. What about fashion though? Well, Green Day had a very peculiar, one could even say avant-garde, fashion style in the early 2000s and even nowadays to an extent. Its members wore very alternative styles, borderline rebellious styles of clothing, wore heavy eye makeup, had very peculiar hairstyles, and were just all around different from what would have been considered the norm at the time. If this sounds at all familiar to a modern subgenre of fashion, that's because it is. While emo as a genre of music and fashion did exist before this album's release, this album brought both the genre of music and the fashion style to mainstream attention. Many people, specifically young people, felt as if this album resonated with them on a personal level. This resonation ultimately contributed to the massive rise of emo as a genre of music, fashion style, movement, and so on throughout the 2000s. And, of course, the effects on this can still be seen today. Overall, I'd say that this album had almost like a Ziggy Stardust effect upon its release. I will say already, regardless of the overall quality of the album or music, I appreciate how Green Day tried to frame their public image after what they had expressed in their release. It adds an undoubtable layer of depth to the music and makes it feel as if the album is a personal look into the mind of an artist. You could of course call it all an act. That being said, I'd still take an act over looking up the faces behind this album and realizing that the lead-singer is the most typical Joe-Schmoe that you can find on the street...like some other artists in the same genre...much like Pierce The Veil....Nevertheless, I like this aspect. If anything, you could compare this to metal artists having long hair in the 80s. Yeah, this does feel a bit more like an act than that did due to the sudden tonal shift from Punk Rock to Emo Anthems, but I still like it nonetheless. I thought that David Bowie was awesome whenever he turned into one of his characters from an album, and that was an act. You can't change my mind. You just can't. Now, with all that said, I've gone on long enough. Let's get into one of the most influential albums of the 2000's.
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Track 1: American Idiot Score: 8/10
Track 2: Jesus of Suburbia Score: 10/10
Track 3: Holiday Score: 9/10
Track 4: Boulevard of Broken Dreams Score: 9/10
Track 5: Are We the Waiting Score: 6/10
Track 6: Saint Jimmy Score: 8/10
Track 7: Give Me Novacaine Score: 7/10
Track 8: She's a Rebel Score: 6/10
Track 9: Extraordinary Girl Score: 5/10
Track 10: Letterbomb Score: 8/10
Track 11: Wake Me Up When September Ends Score: 9/10
Track 12: Homecoming Score: 7/10
Track 13: Whatsername Score: 8/10
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Conclusion: Alright, I'll admit, listening to this thing in full was quite a strange experience. The highs were as high as I remembered them being and the lows were surprisingly low. I mean, it wasn't too terrible overall, just quite a strange experience listening to everything that I had been missing this entire time. That missing stuff obviously being songs like She's a Rebel, Letterbomb, Saint Jimmy, and all of the other lesser known songs off this album. Just have to get that out of the way Now, that being said, did that missing material change my opinion of this album? Well...it unfortunately kind of did. Not in a good way either. I mean, this album is still pretty great overall, but the quality is very mixed across the runtime. For starters, unless you're wanting the full experience of American Idiot, then I wouldn't say you're necessarily missing anything by just listening to the big songs. The big hits songs are where most of the quality went into this album. They're the best part of the album without a doubt. That being said....I'm here TO talk about the full experience of this album so...it's still pretty good overall. I mean, it has a pretty well-written story, its music is generally pretty good throughout most of the album, and there were genuinely moments on here that felt very unique to listen to at times. Firstly, I'll mention the music that this album has to offer. Obviously, as I went over in the intro, Green Day as a band had a major tonal shift with this album. They transitioned from a much more Punk Rock sound to a mix between Pop, Punk, and Emo. This mixture should already create a very distinct sound for this album, but Green Day's...honestly pretty good writing takes this personality of sound a lot further. They managed to create music that felt grandiose, edgy, rebellious, and distinct to this album all at the same time. It may have been because of certain production choices such as the layered vocals or loud guitars, but there are just so many melodies off of this album that simply feel rebellious in nature. And I mean that in nothing but a good way because that feel is exactly what this album was trying to capture. Through both the music and narrative this album presents, it attempts to capture the feeling of being carefree and reckless. It tries to capture a feeling that, to an extent, many of us can only wish we could experience. I'm not necessarily talking about the drug use, alcohol use, and potential violence that this album presents, but rather the carefree nature of it. This album's overall theme is very relatable to basic human nature, giving it, at least to me, a way to personally tie it back to myself and how I feel. This feeling is objectively a way to make good music. The listener should be able to feel and, on some level, relate what the album or song attempts to present to you. This album does exactly that throughout its runtime. Now, that being said, how does the story of this album tie into the rebellious nature of its music? Well, this story will be quite a doozy, but I'll try my best to explain it all. So, our unnamed protagonist, who is likely somewhere from his mid-teens to mid-twenties, realizes how crappy America post-9/11 truly is. Our unnamed protagonist creates the name "Jesus of Suburbia" for himself because he thinks that he's miserable and the world is a terrible place. He also reflects on his own insecurities and eventually decides to leave his home because of his hatred and spite. Holiday's purpose on the album is just to give us insight into Suburbia's political opinions and how he views the government. Nothing much more to say about it. Suburbia eventually realizes how lonely he is from simply living alone on the streets and decides to start hanging out with the wrong people. Suburbia then finds who he considered to be his people in Are We the Waiting. This then leads our protagonist to change his identity again to a rebel by the name of Saint Jimmy. Jimmy then starts to do alcohol and drugs because of the people he's hanging around. And now we get to a very central theme of the album. Love. Jimmy meets a rebellious girl who he considers to be a saint and extraordinary. Jimmy and this girl then start dating for an unspecified amount of time before they break up in a pretty cruel way in Letterbomb. Jimmy goes over the situation in his head and ultimately feels a sense of sorrow and grief from his breakup. It has a profound effect on him. So much so that he reflects on the direction that his life is going in a whole and comes to the conclusion that he's in a terrible situation. He eventually decides to return to his home which he had abandoned for however long by then, get a job, kill off his Jimmy persona, and so on. Now, this would be a cool enough album with a cool enough message about politics, society, rebellion, and so on. However, the last song adds a whole other layer of depth to this album. Our protagonist, who now doesn't have a name anymore, reflects on his time with the girl he was with in a pretty nostalgic and somber way. He questions whether she is married, admits to himself that he will never forget her, and so on. This song is honestly pretty bittersweet and adds a whole new layer of emotional vulnerability to the album. Yes, this album tackles many themes across its runtime. It tackles people's rebellious nature, how society can influence one, drug use and its potential effects, politics, which, especially in modern America, I do not want to get into at all, and many more themes. However, the message of love is this album's most personal and relatable message to anyone no matter who they are or where they live. In my opinion, it's trying to say that no matter where you are in life, however good or bad, love is a profound feeling that can stick with you throughout life. You can create an entire fake persona for yourself and decide to throw it away later, but love is something that can stick with you no matter what you are. That message is very profound and thought-provoking. It's honestly a great message and the overall best part of this entire album. Now, that being said, why am I just giving this album an eight out of ten if it had a very profound effect on me? Well...firstly, it took the entire damn album to have a profound effect on me. It wouldn't have had the same effect either had it not been for the inclusion of the final song. Other songs that I've listened to have managed to achieve a similar effect in much less time than this album took. On top of this, the music that this album presents can be a bit thin at times as well. There's a very Progressive sense across most songs on this album, but it can still get a bit thin at times, especially on songs in the middle. Some songs are simply a bit forgettable as well. Nothing more to say about that. Now, with all that said, would I consider this album to be a masterpiece? Not quite. It's definitely great. I don't think a lot of people give it nearly as much credit as it deserves, and to be fair, that may be due to how mainstream this album was upon its release. I mean, really anything being too overplayed or too mainstream will eventually cause someone not to like it. It's inevitable. That being said, this album is still quite great. It has a good message, good music for the most part, and had a major impact on society upon its release. I like it. Everyone who gave it a one of five will just have to kill me to change my mind.
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American Idiot Score: 8/10
Song Average: 7.7/10

American Idiot was released at the perfect moment for me, just as I was getting into music. Unfortunately, I was getting into completely different music and was ideologically opposed to all forms of pop punk and emo. This meant that I wasn’t able to appreciate the classics released across my childhood. As I’ve aged I’ve matured enough to appreciate the music from my adolescence.

Looking back, it was audacious for Green Day to channel their creativity into multi-stage, prog-like song structures with clear political messaging. These songs are nothing like the super short nihilistic ones that made up Dookie. They are linear, longform and operatic.

I would love to know if they took any nods from NOFX’s War on Errorism, released the previous year. Even when American Idiot is not overtly political, it sums up the experience of a young person in Bush’s post-9/11 America. Both bands proved that pop punk could handle themes more complex than teenage angst and skateboarding. Although they remained indispensable in soundtracking a PlayStation 2 rendered Tony Hawk.

American Idiot is possibly the most memorable and iconic pop punk record of all time with crossover appeal that spilled into mainstream, non-teenage angstridden culture. These big pop songs pleasingly still hold up.

Soft "punk" rock for middle class socialist brats from suburban families who never really had to work.

Some proper bangers on here, I forget how many good songs are on this album. Without checking I would’ve said “American idiot” and “wake me up when September ends” but holiday, boulevard of broken dreams and Jesus of suburbia (I forget every time how long this song actually is lol) also all slap

Second half definitely does fall off a bit though, after give me novocaine, September is like the only non forgettable song imo

4