I have heard all the songs on Insomniac and Dookie and loved them.When I got this I was expecting kind of the same music but got totaly different and I like it.They kinda got away from their punk roots but that's fine by me.I love all the songs on here.The only song that I could live without was Rock and Roll Girlfriend segment on Homecoming.My personal favorite song on the album was either Holiday or Saint Jimmy.The lyrics are sometimes hard to understand because of his accent but you can always go on google to see what they are.The guitar,drum,and backup singers all are very talented and do a fantastic job.Recommended to any Green Day fan.
August 18, 2008 |  | An unfortunate imitation of actual punk / hardcore. |  |
When your band has hit the skids and you want to be taken seriously as an "artist" (after ripping off the Ramones for years), you can always do what Green Day does here - create an anti-American "concept" hardcore/punk album. The media will help cover for all of your resultant and inevitable flaws and lack of actual creativity, because in the process of trying to be political you help reinforce said media's own prejudices, which they seem to like. Unfortunately for Billie Joe and company, mixing Pink Floyd and the Descendants in the same blender doesn't work, and the only thing they ended up with was a (charitably described) mess. The only tolerable track is "Holiday". The rest of the album is suitable for only those who breathe the rarefied air present within the state of California. Because there are still a fair number of us who remember proper examples - Ramones' "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg"; Sex Pistols' "Bodies"; Stiff Little Fingers' "Alternative Ulster"; just about anything from Suicidal Tendencies' or Fear's first albums. Hilariously, the album was originally released with DRM and its associated root-kit. In doing so Green Day rather hilariously "Spoke truth to Power" by forcing DRM up the collective alimentary canals of its fans on behalf of the RIAA. So much for sticking it to the Man.
July 21, 2008 | | New Sound, and New Fans... | |
I remember rushing to Target to buy this album when it was first released, playing it over and over again till the songs were imbedded into my brain and than went to school to discover that everybody else was listening to it. It really annoyed me, seeing that all these people who never listened to Green Day before are suddenly fanatic about it, especially the preps. I than cast the CD aside to collect dust till a couple years later when the Green Day fanatical episode died. The CD is very enjoyable, like a punk pop opera of the millennium. But some of the songs bore me to death, others are a tad-bit annoying since I heard them re-played on the radio so many times and others I cherish and love. My favorite song on this album is Jesus of Suburbia and my least favorite is Whatshername. American Idiot is a good track, but pales in comparison with Jesus of Suburbia, at least for me. Holiday is awesome as well, and I adore Are We the Waiting. Boulvevard of Broken Dreams is okay, but since I heard it so many times sung by others and played on the Radio it is somewhat distasteful now.
Shes A Rebel and Letterbomb are a nice accommodation of this album. Wake Me Up When September ends, as a lot of the fans of Green Day know, is not based on September 11th. Its actually about the death of Billie Joe's father, and the reason why he gets tearful while singing this song. Homecoming is similar in build of Jesus of Suburbia and Give Me Novocain is one of my top three favorites from this particular album.
If you an oldie Green Day fan, this is a nice new sound to you. For anybody who has never heard Green Day before except from this album, and have purchased Bullet In A Bible, try listening to Dookie which is actually far better than this album will ever hope to be. Sure, this album is popular and the best of 2004, but don't proclaim this the best. Dookie has always been the best album of Green Day, American Idiot is second best.
I' am really looking forward to Green Day's new album, which should come out later this year. If you want to re-visit the "Sweet Children," days of Green Day, try listening to 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk! to get an original taste of Green Day. Don't just stick with American Idiot, try all the other albums as well.
July 17, 2008 | | almost forces you to grab your guitar and blast away | |
completely deserving of every accolade. Just a rock tour de force that makes you want to grab your guitar and blast away. not one false note here, changing tempos, walls of crunching riffs, great vibes that escalate as you get deeper into the record. it will go down in history as one of the best rock albums ever.
July 13, 2008| | | New Favorite of an Old School Rocker | |
I've been listening to rock of various stripes since my teens in the mid-60's. While I still get a kick out of the classics, my greatest thrill (musically speaking) is finding a fresh twist on rock traditions...a sound that doesn't simply re-tread old ground or wander off into experimentation for its own sake.
American Idiot is, in many ways, an old fashioned album, with strong echos of The Who, Pink Floyd and other great stadium bands of the last half century. But Green Day rejuvenates the form with inventive rhythms, unexpected melodic changes and a 21st Century political and social sensibility, making American Idiot a completely contemporary piece of musical art. If you're looking for an example of the best of today's mainstream rock and roll, you could hardly do better. Give the album a listen; start to finish, it's a blast!
July 6, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
