Here is the most controversial album released in awhile. Look at the title. There are only two very political songs, (American Idiot, and Holiday) but the entire album has this politically-based feel, that I just can't explain.
After six albums, a few that weren't that popular, but loved by fans, and the rest being pretty popular, came what is potentially their most popular album ever. This album may be even more poular than Dookie, Nimrod, and Warning, yet disappointed a few fans from the old days of Green Day, yet almost doubled how many fans they already had. This is my favorite Green Day album, but that's probably because I was one of the fans produced by American Idiot. I listened to a lot of their old stuff, and it was good, but just can't quite compare to this, for me.
This album is straight up different. That's how Warning was, but that came out as their worst album, (still pretty good, though) and they were daring enough to try redesigning their style, again, but this turned out right.
01 American Idiot: A pretty good intro for this album. This is probably their biggest hit, and a real punk rock song. Once you hear this, you know Green Day has changed. A George W. Bush diss, all the way through, and says how much Bush went and screwed up the country, and refers to him as American Idiot. They were even daring enough to name the entire album this. The beat of this is great, and the lyrics are amazing. 5/5 and reccomended.
02 Jesus Of Suburbia: Here is one of the two unusual nine-minute five section partners on this album. This is obviously the better one(in my opinion). The best part of it would probably be either City Of The Damned. All of the beats are good here, and parts of this song range from punk, to old Green Day style, to Time Of Your Life Style, and to regular rock style. Near the end, there's a piano solo, which is far off from anything else from Green Day, and many of the beats are different from anything else. Billie Joe, Mike, and Tre all provide a goof part here. This is probably my favorite song here, reccomended, and gets 5/5.
03 Holiday: Here's the other controversial, political song on this album. It's not quite as political as American Idiot, but does have to do with Bush. My favorite part is near the end, where he says, "Kill all the fags, that don't agree!" Billie puts out another good guitar part, but Tre's drum beat's nothing that special, here. Armstrong really screams this one out. (5/5)
04 Boulevard Of Broken Dreams: a song about walking alone, and being on the Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. The bass here, in my opinion, is the biggest and best part of this song. The lyrics, singing, and guitar-playing are pretty good too. The drumming here is once again boring. This is probably one of the best moments on this album. Overexposure is considered a factor here. In my opinion, this didn't get that at all. I think that it's one of the few Green Day songs that actually got at least decent airplay. I reccomend this, and this gets 5/5.
05 Are We The Waiting: Unlike most songs on this album, drumming seems to be the highlight. The chorus is annoying, and for me, this song somehow gets old after awhile. It's about Saint Jimmy, a made up character, that appears in a few other songs on here. Even though I think this is the second worst song on here, this is good enough to get 3.5/5. Speaking of Saint Jimmy, here's his song...
06 St. Jimmy: This is the song about Saint Jimmy, as the title suggests. This song has a fairly good drum beat, and the guitar is the main highlight here. The beginning sounds a little bit like a sped-up version of the beginning of Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. The song is about how you don't want to mess with Saint Jimmy, and Billie Joe sings that he is Saint Jimmy. (4/5)
07 Give Me Novacaine: This is a song about taking drugs, and the drumming is actually okay here. Saint Jimmy is mentioned here, too, during the chorus, but is refered to as Jimmy, here. The verses have guitar-playing, with some sort of a tropical or Hawaiin sound to it, which kind of covers up the drumming, a little bit. This is unlike anything from Green Day has made before, and gets 4/5.
08 She's A Rebel: This is another really fast, punk song, like American Idiot. This, as the title suggests, is about a girl who's a rebel. She is also called Whatsername, in this song, and you'll hear about her, in more songs, too. The drumming here is kind of boring, once again. (4/5)
09 Extraordinary Girl: This is another song about Whatsername. Here, the only special drum part is the beginning, the rest is mainly guitar(what's new). This song is way different than any other Green Day song, too. I especially like the guitar playing, and the singing. (4/5)
10 Letterbomb: This starts out with a guest singer singing part of Homecoming, quietly,(Kathleen Hanna) then it blasts right in. The only exciting part Tre has is near the beginning, right after the guitar comes in. This song mentions Saint Jimmy, The Idiot America, and Jesus Of Suburbia. The title doesn't make much sense, but the name doesn't matter. I especially like the chorus. (5/5)
11 Wake Me Up When September Ends: This is a slower version of Time Of Your Life, about Billie Joe's dad dying when he was 10. Tre, once again doesn't have a good part. It seems to be mainly guitar. This is a strong song, I like the words, and the chorus. This one is starting to be considered overexposed, like Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. Once Again, I consider this one of the Green Day songs that gets at least decent airplay. I reccomend it, and think this deserves 5/5.
12 Homecoming: This I consider the worst song on the album. This is the other 9-minute five section partner, and isn't as good as Jesus Of Suburbia(in my opinion). It's not a high enough quality to be so long. I like parts of it: The Death Of St. Jimmy, East 12th St., and Rock And Roll Girlfriend,(written, and sang by Tre Cool? That's unusual) but the other two are too repetitive, unusual, and don't fit in with the song. It isn't very well put together, and would've been better as a four or five-minute song, but is a good finishing for the whole St. Jimmy thing, and is good enough to get 3/5.
13 Whatsername: You've heard about her in about two other songs, so here's her song. Whatsername. This somehow reminds me A LOT of a popular rock song on the radio, from the 80's,(I'm trying to figure out what song, it's driving me crazy) and has this mysterious touch to it, and once again, a standout track. It's about how he's forgetting about a girl, and can't remember her name. This is my second favorite song on the album, makes a good ending, and is one of the few that features something special in drums; AND a great guitar part. Yeah, this gets 5/5, and if you couldn't tell I reccomend it.
Reccomended tracks:
#1: 2 Jesus Of Suburbia
#2: 13 Whatsername
#3: 11 Wake Me Up When September Ends
#4: 4 Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
#5: 1 American Idiot
If you haven't heard this, borrow it from someone, download the songs, or buy it. This is one of the best rock albums in the past half-decade, maybe even the past 1.6 decades.
