American Idiot

Expert witness account of this album incoming. It is easy to forget how big this album was, and Green Day were after this one hit. Going into it though in 2004, popular culture had passed them by. Dookie had hit 10 years earlier and while the following Green Day albums were hits, they were never going to reach the heights their breakthrough did. At the start of the 2000s, Blink 182, Good Charlotte, Sum 41 and Simple Plan had taken what Green Day were doing in the 90s and replicated it (to lesser artistic success) and dominated the charts, MuchMusic airtime (yes I’m Canadian) and magazine covers. At the same time, a narrative had been going on in music conversations that rock and roll was dying, the pendulum had swung to pop and hip hop (very short sited and mostly perpetuated by people who only get music through TV and top 40 radio, of which I was mostly too) which had contributed to the overall decline in relevancy of guitar-bass-drum acts. By time fall 2004 had come around there already were the next generation of popular rock acts coming up (The Killers and Frank Ferdinand had hit earlier in the summer, Arcade Fire would hit mainstream this fall). So here came Green Day with a new album, and it had been a few years since they had put out new music. I think there was some level of hype, and it was known this was going to be a concept album. People forget though, Green Day had changed their image in preparation of this album. For a band that had been at the height of their relevancy 10 years earlier, the refreshed look absolutely helped their appeal, as they somehow looked cooler and ahead of the curve than the other bands that had surpassed them. This was sort of a clean entry point for new fans too as they’re visually striking at this point, sound as good as they ever have and are riding this Anti-Bush wave that’s happening right before the 2014 US election. So when the American Idiot single came out, I remember the music video had gotten a lot more play than singles from previous Green Day had been. But this album just kept growing with each successive single. Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends we’re all massive hits and had endless radio play. This album landed like nothing else in rock had. They stayed in the public spotlight for at least 2 years off the strength of this record. I remember seeing them on the cover of Entertainment Weekly in 2016 still promoting American Idiot, and the band won the Grammy a few weeks later which kept them going. Now this album has been adapted into a Broadway show and Green Day is the only other band that got a Rock Band game besides the Beatles (AC/DC had a disc, but that was just songs, no band representation) So I say all of this because looking back at the 2000s decade because of when American Idiot hit, the case could be made Green Day was at the top of the rock pile, along with U2, RHCP, Coldplay and I suppose the Killers. So while people had this conversation that rock was dying in the 2000s we have to count ourselves pretty fucking lucky we had Green Day that rode the mainstream. You may hate this album but it’s better than most of the other slush pile the 2000s had to offer. The album itself though; it is still absolutely killer and it’s obvious why they became the biggest band in the world again because of this. There’s nothing challenging here about the music; it’s immediate, every song is catchy, lyrics are great (if dated criticism of America in the 2000s). So many of the songs have been ridden into the ground (anything released as a single) so the real winners here are the longer concept album saga songs (Jesus of Suburbia, Homecoming). What I have had to contend with doing this 1001 album project is putting into perspective when I would have been listening to this album before. American Idiot doesn’t seem like it’s that old. Im assuming this is because the songs in this have been played to death on the radio as well as movies and video games. I’ve also been thinking about Green Day lately as I listened to the excellent episode of the podcast Bandsplain did on Green Day a few months ago. But to place it, I would have been listening to this one when I started university. I would have listened to it on my 3rd Gen iPod (the one with the four red action buttons across the top and the first touch click wheel). I wouldn’t have even had a laptop yet, I would have still had my Compaq desktop PC. In terms of where this lands in Green Days legacy I have the unpopular opinion that this is their best album. Still incredible that this is a comeback on the level it was considering how they had fallen out of fashion, but listening to the album, it seems obvious. Could Green Day make another comeback? Sure. Apparently Green Day is hot with teenagers. They make music that sounds like what it’s like to be a teen. Among the best albums of this decade, deserved all of its sales and the success the band had from it.

“American Idiot” by Green Day (2004) Not familiar with this album or this group. Punk political opera - intriguing. Good music, shallow politics. But the music is good enough to persuade the listener to overlook the political naivety. These gentlemen would have been well advised to read a few lines of Zbigniew Brzezinski on the Iraq War before writing this opera. They still would have been wrong, but at least they would have sounded intelligent. Or are they affecting intentional unintelligence? Are they just joshing? Anyway the music is very entertaining. Head banging punk rage, with a unifying operatic theme. Plenty of creative innovations. Some real gems here. “A steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin” is a great line. Conceptually this album follows the line of “Tommy” by The Who, without being overly derivative. “Dearly Beloved” is truly good music. Integrating acoustic guitar in this genre is a stroke of genius. And the glockenspiel! Ya-ya. But check out this quatrain: Oh, therapy, can you please fill the void? Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed? Nobody's perfect and I stand accused For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse One could step back and reflect on that for awhile. Very good drum work. Bass contributes much counterpoint. Vocals appropriate for the genre. Billie Joe Armstrong can really sing. Extraordinary musical range for punk (admittedly, my experience with punk is limited), reminiscent of what The Beatles did for rock ‘n roll on “Sgt. Pepper” and “Abbey Road”. I enjoyed this one. 4/5

Look. I know the rating should be lower. But I fucking love this album. I love it. Its a no skip album for me. I remember loving it since I was four. So many great tunes. 9/10 F. T. : A tie between Holiday and Are we the Waiting. I can't choose among my children.

I might be biased, but this album marked a generation. I've always enjoyed it as a decent rock/punk album. It's fun and full of energy, but manages to express quite well the frustration and disillusionment felt at that time.

Billie Jo doesn’t care if I don’t care. Well that’s lucky... Anodyne, over polished, facile, faux outrage, mock punk, unit shifting, safe rebellion, fake, fake, fake.

Look, we all loved some "Dookie." It was dumb punk fun. But we're not gonna pretend that Green Day didn't go gradually downhill from there in their next several albums. There were some hits in there, but nothing that hinted that they had "American Idiot" in them. I don't think Green Day was taken very seriously before "American Idiot." They were a raucous punk band, but mainstream enough to be MTV darlings and probably the band most responsible for the unfortunate wave of pop-punk of the late 90s and early 00s. (Take a star off for that if you want.) But holy crap was "American Idiot" ambitious. And I think it's the best they've ever sounded. (Who knows, maybe I would eat my words if I went back and listened to all of "Insomniac" or "Nimrod.") They cleaned up and polished their sound, and while that may sound bad for a punk band, they pulled it off so well. Regardless of any concept in the story or lyrics, Green Day really matured sonically. The punk is still there, but the songs are varied, well-structured, with great build and rise-and-fall throughout. You may not love Billy Joe's voice - it's nasally and a bit whiny - but I think you can tell here that he is becoming a better singer. It's really a great album, start to finish. It may not be the Great American Novel of the 21st century, but it's a solid concept with good lyrics for a vaguely political punk album. And it became a musical! Are Green Day sell-outs? Or did they just perfect what they do and be accepted for it?

A punk rock opera concept album? Johnny Rotten would be rolling in his grave, if he were dead. Shame he's not dead really, rather than selling his soul on I'm A Celebrity and butter adverts.

When this album came out, I was listening to "real" punk, metal, and hardcore and couldn't be bothered with Billie Joe's pop nonsense. I like to think I've mellowed a bit since then. And I must have because I enjoyed this WAY more than I expected to. It's fun. "American Idiot," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" are great but none of the tracks are snoozers. Every song seems to have a thesis and each track makes its point well. That said, I am not here for 9-minute punk songs. And I'm not talking about the four tracks that are two songs mashed. Those get a pass because of the format. None of them break 9 minutes anyway. No, I'm talking about "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming" here. There's no excuse for that. You're padding your term papers, fellas. Just make the point and move on.

A protest rock opera that protests... something? I understand the thrust of songs like "American Idiot" and "Holiday", but "Jesus of Suburbia" seems like a protest song without a cause and more of the album resembles the latter than the former. An album that claims to protest the state of America, but magically omits any mention of race or gender or class is probably not a very effective protest album. The protagonist (the aforementioned Jesus of Suburbia) just comes off as an edgy kid with no political consciousness. At the very least, it sounds a lot better than The Offspring.

This isn’t a bad album, just not for me. The constant power chords and unsubtle social commentary got boring after a couple of tracks. The album is too long and I didn’t like the rock opera elements. They never produced anything better than Dookie in my opinion.

poggers

Used to listen to this all the time back in the emo kid days. I still know every single word.

This is how a band does a sound change and comes out on top for it. Excellent pop rock fun.

Parts of this are dated, and I don’t like this album as much as Dookie, but I’ll be damned if Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Holiday aren’t just as great as they’ve always been. I will say that the second half feels like a bit of a letdown, at least musically.

Of all the pop punk bands, I think Green Day is the only one I actually enjoy on some level. I've only heard Dookie through Nimrod before though. I've seen this album get alot of praise and I wanted to give it a 3 when I first started listening but as the album goes on I feel like it collapses under its own weight. I respect the ambition but it was a bit of a chore to get through.

Thought it was purile and shite when it came out and was “pleased” to be proved right. Horrendous listening experience and I curse myself for not having enough self respect to have turned it off.

We already had a Green Day album. What do I get for being polite the first time? A concept album. If that's not bad enough, they have a character named St. Jimmy? Doesn't at all sound like Dr. Jimmy. Pete Townshend at 80 y.o. is still infinitely cooler than these nerds with tats.

I went into this fully expecting for it to not have aged well. I was wrong. This album still bangs.

The first album we have gotten that I have listened to all the way through before this project. The way they pair two songs for the middle four tracks(plus Jesus and Homecoming both have 5 subtracks in them) is a cool concept and helps underline the bands desire to put out something they enjoyed creatively rather than something that would necessarily do well commercially - luckily this did both. I mean Punk Rock Opera? Nostalgia+Strong Songs+Creativity= 5 stars

I'm dating myself here, but American Idiot is the first album I ever owned. There are legitimate criticisms that can be made about it - it's firmly rooted in the Bush era and hasn't aged particularly well; it's a whiny sort of pop-punk for white kids in the 'burbs - but none of that is enough to detract from my rose-tinted nostalgia. Even today, I find the album's pure sincerity a very charming break from the 2010s ever-present air of irony.

Focused and meaningful. Successfully conveys its story and message.

Pretty formulaic stuff here. Well produced vanilla indie schmindy punky rocky stuff.

I'm too old for this, and so are they. Singles are fine, but the rest is filler. Teen punk rock for people who think the Matrix is 'deep'.

This album already has three hits that absolutely blew up. Then I listened to the rest of the album. It didn't disappoint. I learned that this album "expresses the disillusionment and dissent of a generation that came of age in a period shaped by the tumultuous evens such as 9/11 and the Iraq War." And i'm a sucker for a politically charged album. This one hits just right.

A rock opera in everything but intention, this segued album is easily one of the best of the punk-pop-idiot rock that came about in the era of the Iraq war. Easily one of the best albums of the 2000's

My boyfriend said this album radicalized him when he was 12 so I'd have to give it a four.

I'd never heard of Green Day prior to the release of "American Idiot" as a single and it was massive. The rest of the album is quite good, especially "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", but it comes nowhere near the title track.

No. 74/1001 American Idiot 5/5 Jesus of Suburbia 4/5 Holiday / Boulevard of Broken D. 5/5 Are We The Waiting / St. Jimmy 4/5 Give Me Novacaine / She's a Rebel 4/5 Extraordinary Girl / Letterbomb 4/5 Boulevard of Broken Dream 5/5 Homecoming 4/5 Whatsername 4/5 Average: 4,33 Musically this is nothing revolutionary. It's just so damn fun to listen to.

wake me up when september ends

Not a fan of the genre, but there were a couple good hits. Rest of the album didn't change my opinion of the genre.

i was really not looking forward to this. i do not like green day and i told myself i would never listen to an album of theirs. it's not as bad as i thought it would be, but jesus fucking christ its so corny. im 18 and i feel like im too old for this album. best track is whatsername 6/10

Iconic album

Incredible wall of sound. Unrelenting angst and emotion.

10/10 no notes perfect album

This is a perfect album. I love that Green Day has been fighting the fight against our fascist government for as long as they have, and they haven't switched up, not even once. Every song on this album is dripping in nostalgia, amazing instrumentation, cool lyrics, and just pure talent. I absolutely love this album. 5/5, no notes.

Great Album

This is like meeting a friend you haven't seen since kindergarden in the first week in college where everyone is super pretentious and you finally see a familiar face. Even though I haven't listened to this Album for a long time, I had a good time with it then and now.

I remember when this came out. Dookie was definitely in my top 5 albums at the time, and I very much remember being disappointed in this album. Green Day had grown up, but I hadn't. I have heard some of the singles a number of times as they had significant radio play, and maybe listened to the entire album once when it came out. It wasn't ever something I purposely went back to, let alone listened to with intention. Listening today, in the first days of 2025, I regret all the time that went by that I wasn't listening to this album. I am glad I have been able to mature enough to appreciate this album for what it is: a fucking masterpiece of pop punk, and opera, perfect commentary on the time it was released, and an unfortunately accurate prediction on the time I'm listening in 2025. I listen to music a lot, and have always had a feeling that I couldn't name about certain songs or bands. Sometimes, a song just feels...BIG. An epic. Led Zeppelin and My Chemical Romance are two bands that stick out to me as making songs like this that I couldn't describe well. Reading the Wikipedia article, Green Day said they wanted to abandon the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge structure and go big. That's it. That's the thing I haven't ever been able to put my finger. Also, Tré's toms sound so big on this album. The bass and guitars sound huge and so good together. This was masterfully produced and recorded. 5 stars

I can’t say there is anything wrong with this, but by this point Greenday had a “formula”. Listening now after getting back into all the 50s rock, that’s what I hear. I hear the same sensibility that the Ramones were drawing from. I want to hate this but I can’t. I love the melodies and song structure. It has punk energy and elements of gentle 50s pop. I’m over the “hits”. I will probably skip those. Although, again I like the approach to the sounds. It’s very produced. And that’s not bad. It’s just from a time where there formed a sound template and everything after sounded the same. I really hate that I like this album. 🤣 “we are the waiting” is an amazing anthem and I would love to experience this live. “Homecoming” is a great song. I hate that I really like this album. 🤣

I have a soft spot for a concept albums... and this one is a great pop punk rock album, that also kicks dirt at the GW Bush era, win-win! 🤘

Classic!

Still great and fun to listen all the way through. S/o to my cousins and their Limewire plug

Already heard this one, very many times - great project; one of the best pop punk works of art there is. Relevant even today.

Nostalgia bomb. Awesome album, and the slow/fast song double features are pretty fun, I kind of forgot about that format

the album starting off with two hits is crazy. i kinda checked out towards the end but this is still a good album!

Classic album that helped push punk rock into the mainstream, green day is not perfect, but they are a fantastic band with so much influence. 8/10

I love the angst and the story Billy Joe is a great songwriter and tre cool carries with his drumming

Den her rammer lige i ned i gymnasie-mig. Der er virkelig mange gode sange og jeg kan stort set synge med på det hele. Når det er sagt, så synes jeg at der er direkte irriterende numre på pladen. Er klar over at det er meningen at det skal være en punk rock opera, men jeg kunne godt være foruden et par sange.. Stur stur 4-tal!

Somehow, I never understood the hype about Green Day or the specific sub genre. Not bad though, this one. Easy listening Punk Pop if you ask me. Catchy with some pretty good lyrics, but nothing for my island

So I always liked Green Day – not loved, as I’m not really a punk guy, but have appreciated their work over the years… Was looking forward to listening to “American Idiot” from start-to-finish, and it did NOT disappoint… For me, there were 3 really outstanding tracks – with most of the rest being a nice collection of solid songs… My favs in order were – #1 – “Holiday” – 5-stars of out 7… #2 – “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” – 4-stars out of 7… #3 – “Wake Me Up When September Ends” – 4-stars out of 7… I know a lot has been made of the lyrics, though nothing really stood out as exceptional – though again, really pretty solid… Not sure as to the accuracy of their protests in hindsight, but the fact that they were thinking about content like this, was at least interesting… The musicianship is top notch, and always liked Billie Joe’s vocals, so all-in-all, a pretty well put together album… I know there is massive love for the album from the younger generation – which I get, and would probably give it a 3.50 if I could – but when I look at the albums I’ve rated a 4, I just can’t get there… A strong 3 for me…

-I KNOW THIS ALBUMMMM -AND this band! -i have only listened to american idiot tho -so very excited to have a fresh listen -forgot how good this song is -remembering the cover 5sos did of this song -liking the switch up in jesus of suburbia -i do really like his voice i’ll be honest -i Do know wake me up when september ends -i honestly think the slurs are the only reason this album isn’t a 4 or a 5, but a 3 (but also because idk if this album is that amazing but it is legendary and very good

Proof that the the old axiom, “no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people” is not only true, but that you can turn a buck (quite a few, as it turns out) calling them idiots to their face.

long songs n quirky lyrics 😪💔

decent. not in the mood

Får mig til at føle mig ung. (Sådan, lidt for ung)

Hey punk rock fans! Listen to NOFX's EP The Decline. I'm serious, listen to it. Then only after that, you''ll be able to judge whether Green Day pulled it off writing a punk opera. I leave the link down here for those who don't know what I'm talking about: https://open.spotify.com/track/2Wm84PF0DHyRQx79Lj9NwI?si=PUPhtW_UTOCvw3tgbfLlKg&utm_source=copy-link To me, NOFX certainly managed to write a punk opera five years *before* American Idiot came out, and they only needed 18 minutes of runtime to convince me. The exhilarating twists and turns of the music, the hardcore accelerations, the trippy, almost proggy interlude, the grand parade of the finale, sarcastic and desperate with its ironic trombone, and the pointed lyrics, saying what *American Idiot* tries to say with far more wit than any song on the latter--everything in *The Decline* surpasses Green Day's seventh album, and this without the financial means and production tools said album profited from. The huge difference lies in the songwriting--both for the music and the lyrics. Case in point for *American Idiot*'s overall shortcomings: 9-minute centerpiece "Jesus Of Suburbia", which soon wears out its welcome, if only because its own musical twists and turns sound lazy, torpid, and quite predictable (once again compared to the ones of "The Decline", for instance). Plus, stealing Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire" melody for the main guitar riff at the end of the song--and this for no discernible reason in the song itself--doesn't help me take Green Day very seriously here anyway. As for the lyrics, they are pestered by the same problem found in the rest of the LP--their supposed denunciation of American hypocrisy, as related to specific issues such as the gulf wars, the media or Bush's lies, is all too vague, not just to say virtually non-existent. Actually you'd be hard-pressed to find more than a few passing indirect allusions to those things in the lyrics of this record--PR agents from the label sure had you believe there was something politically substantial in *American idiot* at the time. Turns out there's not. As a consequence, this here sounds and feels like an all-too polished, fully-"corporate", fantasy version of so-called "rebellion". And this critique also concerns the music--those copied-and-pasted "heys" of the background vocals, those very bland, uniform chord successions, the pristine lead vocals drenched in effects that have nothing to do with punk's ethos and aesthetics. The awful truth about *American Idiot* is probably this: at the time, Green Day didn't have it in them to write enough true pop-punk anthems that would be as good and catchy and visceral as the ones on *Dookie*. So instead of admitting this and move on (or just call it a day, "green" or not), they used expensive production values, marketing, costumes, and so-called "high-brow" topical ambitions to cover their lack of inspiration. What a shame. The only true punk pop anthem that could be compared to what they did before is the nice title-track opening the LP. And if "Holiday" is already going to some other places than punk, it's still a catchy song, more than decently written. But that's it. And in the end, that's probably the only thing that's gonna save this album from a 1/5 grade on my part. Everything else is indeed either a huge letdown or a fuck-up of major proportions. The other two "hits", "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" are cheesy attempts to sell out and reproduce dad-rock ballads that didn't suit the band well anyway (those attempts worked out in the charts, unfortunately--people have bad taste sometimes). What's worse, those tunes are not even the most ridiculous thing that this record has to offer. Because even if you don't take into account Green Day's 180-degree turn when it comes to what punk should sound like and just consider the whole thing as a general mainstream rock album, *American Idiot* still doesn't work for most serious music fans out there. And the songwriting and production is to blame, once again. Those tunes can't compare with older rock operas: they are just void and calculated reenactments of their aesthetics, but without the lively inventiveness and quaint charm you could find in them. In other words, *American Idiot* is no *Tommy*. And it doesn't end with a bang, just like the latter does, but with a whimper. Worse, that long boring end actually starts *before* the middle of the record, with "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams", and drags on forever. Of course, one could argue that this anti-climactic ending is sort of the point of the story told by *American Idiot*, at least from what the songs are able to convey about the overall yarn--it's always been hard understanding the precise tales of rock operas, admittedly, so we won't blame Green Day for *that* at least. From what we can perceive about the story, everyone's in for some disappointing outcomes in the story. The "Jesus" character ends up pushing paper in a cubicle. "Whatsername" marries "Whatsisface", a soulless nobody. You can't get too excited about those final story developments, I guess. As I imagine those are actually nothing but another cynical and somewaht futile way to repeat the old "No Future" punk motto to the masses. So yes, maybe the anticlimactic end is all part of the design, and this might be another reason we won't go as low as 1/5 for this one. BUT that intellectual argument still doesn't save the album for me. Because: a. Being aware of all this still can't excuse the dour music on the second half (and remember that I wasn't even convinced by everything on the first). Ideally, you can speak about boredom without being boring yourself. b. When it comes to having anti-climactic ends for your rock opera that yet still has some emotional effect on you, maybe Green Day should have taken notes from The Pretty Things' *S.F. Sorrow* on how to pull it off. c. You can't just improvise being a rock opera writer. Apart from all the necessary conceptual pretensions and delusions of grandeur, your heart must *also* be in it somehow. Not sure where Green Day's heart was on this one. Maybe it exploded way too soon, just like that grenade on the cover, and all they could do after that was trying to pick up the pieces, and try not to look too cynical about the whole thing. Yet some music fans saw through them at the time. I sure did, and I still do now. Hence the fact that, to me, including this record in a list of essential listens somehow misses the point of what "essential" really means, in spite of a couple of decent singles. Not everyone is an "American Idiot", Billie Joe. Pass the word to Robert Dimery, please. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 836 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 90 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 40 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important: 35 (including this one)

Dookie is still the best Green Day album, but some classics on here

Longstanding fan of everything up to and including Dookie. But nah, there's easily 2002 better albums to listen to this. Never listened before because I was fully done with them by this point. Heard the singles and thought nah. Maybe It's ok. Maybe I just stopped liking new Green Day stuff when I stopped being a teenager when they came out. It's a theory. Wait, what? The second track is 9 minutes long. Who are this band? Starts off aping the Beach Boys and then segues into All the Young Dudes. Actually quite funny how all over the place it is. What the hell, the next track is 8 minutes. Ha, Bush sent them mad. Ok I'm on board now. Might get 3 stars just because of how ridiculous it is. Yeah boulevard is still as dull as it always was. I see what's happening here, they've just removed the space between separate songs. Nah, too long and too many mediocre songs. 2 stars it is.

Jesus, Billie Joe, and I’m not talking about the phony one in suburbia either, but the real one full of truth and grace and love. Billie Joe Armstrong is clearly hurting, as I’m certain are his devotees, probably an army of likeminded disaffected ‘youth.’ Armstrong is now 50 himself, so he would have been 32 at the time of 'American Idiot.' I’m a baby boomer, and at 32 I was already well invested in my particular vocation. My parents even more so, their parents more still, and so on. And American life in the early 20th century, not to mention the vast history of human civilization, was a whole lot tougher than anything myself or, I’m guessing, Billie Joe endured. While my grandparents were fighting WWII and my generation was trying to advance human and civil rights, yours (and I know its not all of the gen Xers) Billie Joe’s just blames their trials and tribulations on mom and dad (‘Homecoming’). ‘Welcome to a new kind of tension,’ Billie Joe announces in the title and opening track, ‘all across the alienation where everything isn’t meant to be ok. In television dreams of tomorrow we’re not the ones who’re meant to follow.’ That kinda made me sad, it really did. My heart went out to him for whatever wounds he had occurred that led him to this belief. Likewise, on the next track, ‘Jesus Of Suburbia,’ he bewails, ‘And there’s nothing wrong with me. This is how I’m supposed to be in the land of make believe that don’t believe in me.’ Again, initially, I was really hurting for the guy. Until he then threw himself to the floor- at 32, mind you- and flailing his arms and legs (and guitar picks) he cries like a bitch ass toddler: ‘I don’t care if you don’t care!’ over and over and over again. Green Day is a good, tight combo- pure power chord, no frills, locomotive pop punk. I like their sound, their energy. Hard rockin’, yet melodic, kind of reminiscent of Nirvana. But, lyrically, and conceptually… Billie Joe is in need of a good spanking. After close to an hour of bitching and blaming, I didn’t find one positive, helpful solution offered. Apparently, Billie Joe doesn’t have enough emotional/spiritual maturity to even go there. He just wants ‘America (everybody else)’ to fix it, and then ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends.’ Even then, after waking from his nice lil’ nap, he’d probably still bitch about the boxed juice you gave him: ‘Billie doesn’t want apple, he wants grape!’ 'American Idiot’s' message seems to be: America, we are only the fuckups that we had to become to survive out there on the boulevard of broken dreams you built. America, you created us. Now deal with us, or else. A message they unfortunately share with one, Charles Manson.

Green Day were my first favorite band, and this was my first favorite album. I don’t love this album quite as much as I did when I was 8 or 9 but it still has its moments. Jesus of Suburbia is still just as amazing as it was the first time I heard it.

While their earlier work is a lot more poignant and relatable, the first few tracks of American Idiot are pretty good. The thing about this point on in Green Day's discography is that they will write maybe 1-2 good songs and then phone it in for the rest of the album. That's pretty much what happens here. Most of the tracks are very vague about antiestablishment/anarchist views, but American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, and Holiday/Boulevard are some great doomer-minded anarchist songs. The rest of the album can really just be thrown directly in the trash. Wake Me Up When September Ends doesn't really feel like it belongs on this album, and I honestly thought it was on Twenty One Guns or Nimrod, but it definitely solidified that Green Day could phone in their earlier punk talents for radio bullshit. Oh my god... there's even fake clapping added to track 6. This band fell so hard. It's like Weezer, but at least Weezer has had redeemable moments in the last decade. Highlights: 1, 2, and 3.

Very clean album. A bit too clean and predictable, I like a bit of fuzz. Some good songs to listen to on their own, but BJ’s voice and guitar gets a bit grinding listening to a whole album.

I like their other records more. I know this was caught up in the hysteria of a rock opera but for the NEW MILLENNIUM, but I don't think it was quite as amazing as it was made out to be.

Ok guys. I’ve decided our next album is going to be a concept album! Oh wow that’s great Billy Joe. What’s the concept? A punk rock.....wait for it....OPERA! Amazing! Does that mean you’re gonna write punk songs again? Hahahaha of course not Tré Cool don’t be très dumb. No it means I’m going to base all of the songs around a few different characters. Do you think you’re capable of writing like that? Oh yeah definitely. See there’s this one character called St. Jimmy so I just call the song ‘St. Jimmy’ and write lines lines like “St. Jimmy that’s my name and don’t wear it out” Ok but that sounds awful Billy Joe. It is Tré Cool. It is.

Sophomoric attempts

Idiotisk highschool-punk MED allsang-tendenser. OMG.

Pop punks love politics. So edgy!

LOL WHO MADE THIS LIST, TRASH

Oh, hello again 12 year old me. Skating and listening to this type of music was definitly my eartly teenage years, though if I recall correctly Green Day was never my most listened-to band in the skate punk genre. With the amount of traction and air time this record got, I think it felt a bit too commercial. It really was played everywhere, and this rock genre really was extremely popular and common to hear around the early 2000's. At least that's how I remember it. Anyway, fun album to hear! Since Green Day was formed in 1987, and without any commercial success close to this album, I wonder if it was intentional to try to cater to a wider audience or just a happy accident. Say what you will about the commercial side, when listening through it it's still a really solid record, and understandable that it was received the way it was. The album is just front-loaded with hits after hits, like 'American Idiot', 'Holiday', 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', 'Jesus Of Suburbia'. Then it's quiet for a while, but saved in the end by 'Wake Me Up When September Ends', which admittedly is a bit cheesy perhaps. Considering how big fan I am (was) of skate punk, it's very strange that I have such a hard time with "regular" punk. Sadly you don't hear music like this anymore being played on the radio, but I still think it sounds very good to this day. Maybe we'll see a resurgence of this soon, who knows. Considering more than half the record are hit bangers, and the ones between are decent as well, I can't give this anything else than 5 stars. If I had to pick the greatest skate punk album, it wouldn't be this. But can't deny that it's still rock solid.

I was 13 when this was released, and I hadn’t really heard of Green Day before. American Idiot was everywhere, though, so I got the album, listened to the hits, and then moved on to other types of music. To prove a point: around 2009, my father wanted to see Green Day live, but none of his friends were interested. I got to tag along out of pity, and I remember thinking that going to a Green Day concert was pretty uncool. To make it even worse, one of my dad’s friends told me how nice it was of him to take me—assuming I was the one who wanted to go (the audacity!). Anyway, I ended up really enjoying the concert. They were great live, and that experience helped me rekindle an appreciation for the band. Being a few years older, I could better appreciate the album as the rock opera it is. It’s a very solid piece of work. Behind the anthems like “American Idiot,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” and “Holiday,” there’s a much more somber coming-of-age story. While the political angle of the album is perhaps a bit too simplistic to truly resonate, the themes of first love, drug abuse, and growing up are surprisingly poignant. And it’s not just the story, the songs themselves are strong. “Jesus of Suburbia” used to bore 13-year-old me, but now it’s one of my favorite tracks. It’s an epic journey told through early-2000s pop-punk. Of course, the big anthems are still great (although I do think “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is one of the weaker tracks). I think this album is both legitimately good and a great reflection of the political and cultural landscape of its time. Just look at the cover art, that visual style dominated pop-punk and 2000s aesthetics for quite a while. A true 5-star album.

Definitiv eines der besten Rock-Alben aller Zeite. Highlights "Boulevard of broken dreams", "American Idiot", "Wake me up when September ends". 5/5

This is #day289 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... oh well, it's hard to be objective with this one, as it's easily one of the top 10 albums of my teenage years. I bought the CD in 9th grade back in 2004, and I still have it. So yeah, listening to it on Spotify feels a bit wrong. But since I don't have a CD player at the moment (I've grown to be more of a vinyl/tape kind of guy), it'll do. Anyway, the moment those first chords of the title track kick in, the memories come flooding back. But let's try to look at this through a broader lens than just nostalgia. It's safe to say American Idiot is kind of The Wall of modern rock. It's big, it speaks to its time. It's a massive fuck-you record, and, honestly, twenty years later, I can't think of anything else quite like it. The '90s gave us Nevermind. And then what came after? This, maybe. I'm not even saying how it completely revived the band. Okay, I just did. Some of my absolute favorites: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Give Me Novacaine," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," "Whatsername"... honestly, the whole album. It's been a while since I listened to it in full, but hearing it now still feels the same as it did 21 years ago. Except... I'm fucking older now. "And in the darkest night, if my memory serves me right, I'll never turn back time. Forgetting you, but not the time." This is a 5 out of 5. Looking forward to #day290.

I love green day

Gets extra points for having a few hits, including one of my favourite loneliness songs, as well as for being a concept album. I like the weird bits. However, it also drags on for too long, and it's not my favourite type of rock. Wish there was a moment to breathe. Low 5.

Handgemacht! Mitreißend! Genial!

I was just the right age when this came out that it hit so hard it almost single handedly kick started my love of music. I'll love and defend this till my dying breath.

It is now a classic punk record. Nuff said.

That was awesome! Brings back memories.

Amazing. One of my daughter’s favorite albums, and it’s easy to understand why.

This was the first CD I ever bought, it has a special place in my heart. I was lucky enough to see it performed in its entirety live. I can't give it less than five for my personal score.

I'm surprised that I found this album to be really good!. Catchy melodies, enough pop, good rock. Not much to complain about, except, that the album is compressed as fck (I saw the waveforms and they look like fcking tubes!!). It gave me a headache. But I think musically is really nice. I've never payed attention to Green Day because I'm not really into punk pop.

An unavoidable classic for someone who grew up in the 2000s. It is surprising how many double tracks there are in the album, I am curious to figure out why they felt having 9 songs on the track list with 4 being 2 songs in 1 was important for the discography. Ultimately great pop punk

Listened to this album more than 40/50 times growing up, unmatched for its time and its purpose

This album contributed to the influence of so much music I adore and for that I can’t help but love it.

This is album 501 for me. Over halfway now but the exact halfway occurred 28 mins 36 secs into this album during track 7 Give Me Novacaine. I did the maths whilst listening to this album as I know it well and didn’t have to listen too closely. American Idiot is a one off album as I didn’t like what Green Day did before or since. I wouldn’t have normally been attracted to this album at all if it wasn’t for the fact it was been played everywhere in 2004 and 2005. I was firstly attracted to Jesus of Suburbia and this caused me to download a MP3 copy of the album from some pirate site. This went straight onto a 1st gen iPod shuffle which was ideal to use whilst running. The shuffle had a clip which went onto my shorts elastic. I was running 50 miles + at the time so this set up really got me acquainted with this album and others. Just about every track had a good beat fast enough to run and train at a good pace. Now having a bad back I can no longer run so this album really does remind me of those great days running not only on summer evenings across Yorkshire moorland but also cold winter nights on slippery pavements. Just writing that makes me feel very nostalgic of those days so a good reason to mark this album highly. So significant for that as well as a great one to mark my halfway point in this process. My average star rating at halfway point is 2.58 which seems low but will be interested to know if second half gets better. At least my score shows I like at least more than half what I have been so far served up. 5/5 17/5/25

Singalong snapshot.

9/10 Really liked it Huge green day fan Generally love punk/rock Favs: Holiday, St Jimmy, Jesus of suburbia

Reliving my teen years listening to this

Accidentally listened to the deluxe instead of the regular Bangers all around though

Such a fantastic album. So many famous bangers on this one. I love Green Day 🔥

All timer. Damn near perfect

I fuggin love this album. I remember having my mind kinda blown in the early-2000's W era by this one, when we were dumping Trillion$ into a desert because "they hate our Freedumb" and here was the pitch perfect retort delivered by a band that, up until then, hadn't really moved my needle (hey, in my defense, youth is wasted on the young). I knew their music, of course, but hadn't expected a concept album from them, and one with as much musicianship and just flat out face melting sound. I can loop this one over and over, doesn't get old. Love the journey on Jesus of Suburbia.

The idea that they created a theme album when no one else was doing it was impressive, especially for a band like them. This album is well done from start to finish.

Banger of an album by a banger of a band

Easiest 5 I’ve given out so far. I absolutely love this album, one of my all time favorites. There is not a bad song on this album. Every single one tells a story, has really solid lyrics. The songs are really well written, the sound is incredible. Love the anger and the way a lot of the songs have bite to them. Normally I think long songs are stupid but “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Homecoming” are incredible, especially since they’re so underplayed compared to the singles off this album. Literally nothing bad to say about this album, it is fantastic.

Great album, listened many times

Bedre enn jeg husket det som

Legendary album. Grew up on these songs. Love all of them.

Great Album.

An absolute favourite of mine, and has been for the past 21 years. This album influenced my life in a sense, and it has shaped who I am today. Got me through those tough late-teens. The messags feels more relevant than ever in 2025. The highlight for me is Homecoming: clearly inspired by The Who's A Quick One.