Green Day American Idiot Album Review
by Car Buz

Its been described as a punk rock opera, I didn’t think it could work out because it sounds so unlikely to me, how wrong was I. The whole album works so well together in a way I never really expected.

Its set around the story of a character known as Jesus of Suburbia who might be pictured as a typical punk kid looking for his place in life, some people might go as far as thinking this character is Billie Joe himself and that the whole album is written as a sort of biography. Other characters in the story include the most interesting character of St Jimmy who has been thought of as either a friend of JOS leading him astray or more interestingly a result of JOS having a schizophrenic breakdown in other words they are both the same person. Also the love of JOS’s life and what is described by Billie Joe as the hero of the story is Whatsername who I’m guessing is the one trying to set JOS or St Jimmy on the right track. This story is a great selling point and is described so well through Billie Joes amazing song writing, I can sometimes imagine the story unfolding in my head as I listen to the album. This is a story that a lot of kids and older fans can relate to and it shows Green Days talents can go much farther than just an album of random songs.

The influences and sounds running through the album are very vast. You still have the poppy punk style of the Ramones and the snotty aggressiveness of the Sex Pistols present on this album you can also hear the more mellow rock Beatles sound in Give Me Novocaine and the pompousness and passion of Queen in Homecoming and Jesus of Suburbia, of course Queen was famous for rock opera music so they would be a very obvious influence on this album and a good one at that. You can also hear on Whatsername a kind of motown sound which is sort of unexpected but very pleasing to the ear. The drums at the start of Extraordinary Girl sounds kind of African giving the song an exotic feel to it, could be a sign that Green Day are looking to experiment with sounds and music outside of America and England but that’s just my thought.

Going back to the part I mentioned before about the album being a biography, one main standout song would be the beautiful and emotional Wake me up when September Ends which Billie originally wrote about his father passing way back when he was only ten years old. Although when I first heard the song I thought about the 9/11 attacks in America and how it affected the victims and their families, whatever I means to you its still a beautiful song. Other stand out songs would be the awesome Jesus of Suburbia, at 9 minutes long it breaks the rule of punk rock songs being only 2 minutes in length or shorter even, shows Green Day are never ones to follow the rules, in fact they seem to be making their own on this album. Also the in your face Holiday is a big middle finger to the Iraq war and George Bush which makes it a big favourite. Title song American Idiot could also be thought of as an anti war anthem or more fittingly a cry for individually and the freedom to speak out which is the kind of the underlying theme to this album and has the tone of previous albums.

My favourite song on the album would have to be Homecoming, I love the way each of the three Green Day members sings their own part, it shows off their individual personalities perfectly and its great fun to listen and sing along to.

In the end I think it’s a great album in fact I would call it one of the boys best in terms of song writing and creativeness. Some will disagree with this album because it is a whole different direction and sound to what they have done before but in this case of this album it’s a good thing, what could have gone completely and utterly wrong turned into something pretty special and original which will attract old fans back and will also grab new fans along the way, shows its worth taking risks sometimes. Although saying that it still has the humour, sense of fun and intelligence which was always present on Green Days previous albums so their sound hasn’t changed as much as some people have accused. The controversy of the content of the album and the concept or story will also divide peoples opinions, its gonna be either something you will hate greatly or will love and love over and over. As for me I absolutely love this album, it’s the first of Green Days albums that I brought and loved ever since and would highly recommend to anyone, due to this I give it full marks 5/5

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Green Day American Idiot Album Review
by Peko4

American Idiot(22 million copies) is Green Day's seventh studio album and first rock opera, and was
released in 2004. It is the first #1 album for Green Day on both sides of the Atlantic.

The theme of the album largely deals with the nature of individuality and rebellion. Some allusions
to contemporary political issues are included, but the story is focused on the life of a troubled
teenager struggling for identity in the midst of an uncaring world. American Idiot was nominated for
seven Grammy Awards, and won the Best Rock Album of 2005. The opening track of the album, "American
Idiot", won an award for best song in a video game in EA Sports' Madden NFL 2005. Green Day also won
seven MTV Video Music Awards for the "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "American Idiot" videos.

This album marked the end of a commercial slump for Green Day. Many had speculated that they would
find it difficult to follow up Warning, which in itself had proved slightly less popular than
Nimrod. This is also hinted at with the long gestation time of this album, filled in with a greatest
hits album and a B-Sides album (International Superhits! and Shenanigans). This is likely another
reason for the band's decision to completely re-invent their style with this conceptual work. All of
this album's singles have proved very popular, a feat not matched since Dookie. American Idiot has
also met with critical acclaim, with critics praising its ambition and politics.

There are five videos from the album, "American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday",
"Wake Me Up When September Ends", and the 9-minute "Jesus of Suburbia".American Idiot has sold 8.6
million units in the US as of April 2006,[1] excluding that American Idiot has sold 4 million
digital albums over the internet, and has been certified as a platinum digital record. It has not
yet, however, been certified 8x Platinum for physical CD sales.so american idot
has sold in U.S. 8.6 million,digital 4 million,and worldwide sale is 22 million and still growing
fast.

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