Background:

Green Day broke out into California’s local punk scene in 1989 with their indie EP, 1,000 Hours. Shortly after they released that album their drummer at the time, Al Sobrante, left the band to make room for Tre Cool and the lineup has stayed the same since.

Later in 1989 the band signed with Lookout! Records and released their first full length LP, 39/Smooth.

While the band nurtured their local following for a few years, in 1992 they unleashed their final album on the Lookout! Records label, Kerplunk!. This album was so popular with the locals that the major labels started to take notice. Reprise signed the band and in 1994 the band released the must-have Dookie. MTV’s support for their first single Longview was instrumental in vaulting the band to superstar status and leading to the record eventually selling well over 13 million copies world-wide.

I could go on, but I am lazy and if someone else has done the work than why bother? If you want to know more about the background of Green Day, hit this complete, if not slightly outdated biography written by Daniel Bramley.

American Idiot:

With each successive album, Green Day seems to grow a bit musically as many bands do, sometimes with great success and sometimes with total failure (Metallica's Saint Anger?). American Idiot is an excellent example of how a band can grow musically without totally abandoning their fans or generally sucking. American Idiot isn’t like many other discs in that the entire disc is one big story with each song building on the previous song. Rest assured, this disc is Green Day, but it is a surprise nonetheless.

The lead track, American Idiot is the first single to be released from the disc. It’s certainly classic Green Day and a good choice for the first single and is typical anti-everything punk. This is, in my humble opinion, the beginning of the fall of our protagonist.

Jesus of Suburbia is over nine minutes in length, something relatively unheard of in punk barring NoFX’s epic The Decline. Like The Decline it actually consists of a number of smaller songs that lead into one another, each telling a different view of the same story, each a different style of music. A truly impressive song that highlights songwriting talent this reviewer thought long dead.

Jesus of Suburbia continues into Holiday,being of the same feel as the finale of Jesus of Suburbia until about halfway through the song where it turns into a resurrection of great anti-establishment 80’s punk.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams is the first ballad of the disc and both the music and the lyrics were enough to almost bring a tear to my eyes, it’s just that good. The tremolo guitar throughout the song adds a very eerie sound and there is even, wait for it, a solo.

Are We the Waiting follows up one amazing track with another, this one of rock anthem quality, it’s simple yet powerful chords and background vocals lending to a stadium rock sound. My only complaint is that the song isn’t nearly long enough.

St. Jimmy brings the listener back to a classic sound; loud, fast and driving. However, just who is this St. Jimmy?

Give Me Novacain is a slower track with a haunting slide guitar that borders on a Hawaiian sound. Fitting and very cool. Again, who is this St. Jimmy that they mention in this song as well?

She’s a Rebel combines Green Day with a 60’s pop style background vocal style. It’s a great sound and introduces a new character to the story that is continued in the next song.

She’s an Extrodinary Girl could also be titled She’s a Rebel pt II. It continues on the 60’s pop fusion level, and though I’d be pretty hard pressed to call it punk, it’s still very good.

Letterbomb opens with a single girl’s voice singing a taunting verse whose spirit we find elsewhere on the disc. This leads into a melodic Green Day sound, which brings Jesus of Suburbia back into the story.

Wake Me When September Ends is the discs final ballad spotlighting perhaps the mysterious St. Jimmy? A powerful song that is as tight as I have come to expect from Green Day and shows songwriting skill that we’ve come to expect of the boys since the start of the CD.

Homecoming is the second epic on the CD at over nine minutes as well. Again, split into a number of ‘sub-songs’, this song brings together the characters of St. Jimmy and Jesus of Suburbia. It opens with another anthem quality section that breaks into the next sub-song, which is reminiscent of Brain Stew. This sub-song continues the taunting from Letterbomb and the lyrical style of Wake Me When September Ends. That style continues into the next section, which introduces bells and kettle drums. Bells and kettle drums! Then we come to a section that incorporates Ramones style punk complete with sax and piano. The final sub-song is stadium quality through and through and just has to be loud. Fucking ELEVEN loud. It’s a phenomenal ending to a phenomenal song that seems to bring all the little stories to an end. Except….

Whatsername is the final track on the disc and ends the story about the mysterious girl from She’s a Rebel and She’s an Extraordinary Girl as well as the mysterious St. Jimmy? A fitting ending to a CD that can only be called a ‘Punk Opera’.

Conclusions:

Certainly that last sentence will piss off some people who think that punk can’t produce that quality of writing. Those are the same people that haven’t listened to the previously mentioned The Decline by NoFX. That being said, it really is some quality writing. Like this reviewer's Apple Powerbook, everything just works.

Virtually every song on this disc builds on virtually every other song. Each song tells its own story but that story is built upon by other songs, and that’s something rare in today’s music. In an effort to piss off more people, I’m going to compare this album to … Pink Floyd’s venerable epic, The Wall. There. It’s been said. This disc is punk’s equivalent of The Wall. I had originally written an analysis of the story but was told by my wife that it was presumptuous of me to think that I could properly interpret the story. My interpretation is still saved on the powerbook so if people really want to see it, it can be posted.

It’s hard to not love this CD. The only complaint I have with it is that, like The Wall, it has to be listened to all in one sitting to get the utmost enjoyment and meaning from it. Listening to just one track would be like picking up a book and only reading one chapter.

On a purely aesthetic level, the sound quality is good but not astounding. Songs like the last section of Homecoming aren’t as big sounding as they should be. That’s not to say it’s sterile sounding, but it needed to sound like it was recorded in a stadium. In fact, as much as I hate using surround sound for music, when I play this on my Windows PC with it’s M-Audio Revolution 7.1, I experimented with the stadium setting and it sounded all the better for it. This CD also seems to be recorded somewhat louder than previous Green Day discs though it is not quite to the point of distorting one’s preamp.

Let it be known that this is our favourite Green Day CD. In fact, this is our favourite CD released in quite a long time. We were impressed with the continuity of Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the Deaf, but this CD is presented as more of a single story where Songs for the Deaf is a collection of short stories.

Rating this disc is difficult, just like it would be difficult to rate The Wall. As such, we won’t quantify it. It’s just fucking good. Don’t download this one, it’s well worth the price.

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