After gaining in massive popularity after the release of their multi-platinum album Dookie, Green Day released several albums that each sold less and less and eventually lost their mainstream status. After releasing a greatest hits album and having their recordings stolen everyone thought that Green Day would just fade away over time to never be heard from again, wrong. Having no idea Green Day was releasing a new album over a year ago; I was surprised to see the American Idiot video on VH1 Mega Hits (rip). Not only was I surprised to see that video I was surprised to hear a song from them that sounded like a punk-rock song. Another thing I was surprised about was the lyrics, obviously a political song and the same name of the album as well. I called my radio station and asked about a new Green Day record and the girl working there ridiculed me for not knowing about the new album, being released in less than a week. So I purchased American Idiot and was disappointed in it. After owning this album since the first week it came out I find it strange after all this time of me despising it and almost up to the point of even hating it. I find that I now actually like this a bit more than I used to. Despite finding it to be better than I had originally thought this album still has its ups and downs. The story is pretty weak to me and some songs are boring, but there is some good music on this cd and when I ignore the fact there is no creative musicianship on this record I find it to be slightly above average. Once again here is another edition of my three part chapter review I call The Good, The Bad (singles), and the rest of the Singles.
The Good-Letterbomb & Whatsername
Letterbomb is probably my favorite song on this album besides Jesus of Suburbia and is one of the few songs whose lyrics are good. Letterbomb should have been their second single instead of Boulevard of Broken Dreams. It is a consistent enough of a song to never get boring to me despite the lack of musicality.
Whatsername should also have been a single replacing Holiday. It is another song that has good lyrics and doesn’t get boring. Billie Joes vocals on this are soothing on this and I always would have this song with my playlist for when I would go to bed. The music is very slow on this song, but speeds up every now and then and gets faster halfway through the song and the music itself is very nice and relaxing. These songs aren’t my favorites; that award goes to Jesus of Suburbia, but isn’t on this part because it is the 5th single.
The Bad & The Singles-Holiday & American Idiot
Holiday is a song that every time I listen to it, it just gets more annoying. From the simple music and the “Heys” which bother me also and the average guitar solo. Another part I disliked was the political line which I found to be completely immature even though I don’t like Bush or his administration. Now as for
American Idiot, when I first heard this I was intrigued by it’s punk sound, but it soon became very repetitive and a bad representation of this album. It’s lyrics are okay to me, but the music gets boring after a while. The music is that same boring 3 chord guitar work that I’ve become bored with. If I had a choice as to what the first single would be it would probably have to be St. Jimmy.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Holiday Verse
"The representative from California has the floor"
Zieg Heil to the president gasman
Bombs away is your punishment
Pulverize the Eiffel towers
Who criticize your government
Bang bang goes the broken glass and
Kill all the fags that don't agree
Trials by fire, setting fire
Is not a way that's meant for me
Just cause, just cause, because we're outlaws yeah!
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The Rest of the Singles-Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends, & Jesus of Suburbia
Boulevard of Broken Dream, which is the second single, starts out quietly enough with an acoustic guitar with Billie Joe singing softly with some good lyrics. The simple guitar part, ľ-8/6-ľ-4 is a little nice thing in the background as well. At different points the song breaks down to some heavier guitar power chords in the chorus with the drums and bass in the background. There is generally nothing wrong with this song, but it is really just an average song.
Wake Me Up When September Ends is a song about the death of Billie Joe’s father dieing which is good reason enough that this song would be good because of Billie’s inspiration from writing the song. Most of the song is quiet with Billie singing most of the time with some soft music in the background. The lyrics are alright, but when the music gets heavier Billie’s voice stays quiet which is frustrating for me to listen to. However, that is my only complaint about the song.
Jesus of Suburbia is the first nine-minute song on the album, which is also my favorite song that Green Day has ever written. Essentially the song is broken down into five parts. The first part is Jesus of Suburbia, the second part is City of the Damned, the third is I Don’t Care, then the fourth one is Dearly Beloved, and the final fifth part is called Tales From Another Broken Home. Part 1 introduces the character Jesus of Suburbia and has some really nice music to it that I find enjoyable and lasts for a couple minutes before transitioning into the second part. Which describes his hometown and is my favorite part of the five part song. With some relaxing music and a cool chorus with some “Heys” that actually don’t bother me. The third part I Don’t Care is more upbeat than the first two parts and generally repeats in music and in lyrics. Then has Billie Joe sing in his quick gruff voice with some bass and drums in the background. Soon after that it goes into the fourth part, Dearly Beloved, which is quieter and has some acoustic guitar in the background and some cool “oohs” in the background. The last couple of minutes is Tales From Another Broken Home. Which is faster and more up beat than any of the other parts and is about the character Jesus of Suburbia running away from his home. This part has a quiet part as well with a soothing acoustic guitar that is nice. Overall for this song it is a classic and my favorite Green Day song ever.
Pros
+Features some of Green Days best songs
+Something different from Green Day
Cons
-Most songs that aren’t really good are either bad or average
-Lyrics and story are sometimes stupid
Overall for this album I would have to say that this deserves an average rating because despite some really great songs on this it just doesn’t make up for the bland feeling I get listening to most of these songs. If you haven’t bought a Green Day album yet, I suggest you go with either Dookie or International Superhits just if you want to hear their singles only. I’m aware this is about the seventh review for this, but none of the reviews have really criticized this album therefore I decided to turn in a review with a different look at this album than the others. Leave feedback and your thoughts on the album thx.
