American Idiot

If Kenny G. had a mohawk, he wouldn't be punk If Yanni had dumb tattoos, he wouldn't be punk If Garth Brooks pierced his nose, he wouldn't be punk If Liberace sounded like the Green Day, he wouldn't be punk

i can't say i'm thrilled about that f bomb unless it turns out billie joe is sucking dick more than 50% of the time

Manages the classic double of being bad and annoying.

Derivate nonsense. If you were producing a film featuring a high school band who were just starting to write their own songs, the songs might sound a bit like this. Manages to rip off Bryan Adams and (err) Travis in the first four songs. Seems happy with ableist slurs, seems incredibly pleased with itself. Not for me, Clive.

New to me, pretend music, 1 star. Tom.

Yuck

Fake vanilla overdone punk for the masses who don't know good music. Too much makeup, too much fake angst, too much whining, too much everything. I resisted this album when it came out, and was hoping that maybe I was just trying to be too cool by not liking this album then... But I can safely thank my too cool younger self for steering away from this one. I still love Dookie, but they just tried way too damn hard on this one. Corporatized rock/punk that just hurts my soul.

Thought I would hate it but wasn't bad.

pop punk greatness

Overall: 7/10 Green Day was probably my first "favourite" band ever, as I was a huge fan of there's in elementary school. This album was always a weird one for me, as I always really enjoyed it but felt that some of the songs weren't up to the standard that I enjoyed from Dookie or Insomniac. I like the rock opera feel of it, but it can be a bit bloated. The real stars of the show are the big suite songs, those two songs are probably the best thing Green Day has ever done. Fav Song: Jesus of Suburbia

Alright this hit so hard in high school it does less now but alas

OBRA MAESTRA

Well better than I expected! Of course not as good as "Dookie". But overall a nice album. So: 3/5

I love this album.

2.8/5 kinda goyslop listening to it now but mayb it’s just ruined by how overplayed these hits r

my 150th album!!! another one from my parents' cd collection!!! grew up emo and obviously heard the singles but somehow never got around to listening to this in full... i was still an angsty whiny teenager only two years ago and probably would've self inserted as whatsername as cringe as it sounds so this made me feel seen… loved this

Aż skręciło, bo GD przez jakiś czas miał u mnie nienajlepszy status. Ale eeej, jaka to jest dobra plyta. Pamiętam ją jako dobrą płytę i nie zestarzała się nic a nic. Dobra historia się z tego układa i dziękuję mojej mamie, że kupiła ten album kiedy wychodził.

Awful

American Idiot is not my favorite Green Day album (that distinction goes to 2000's Warning) and it doesn't feel as distinctive and important as Dookie (also on this list). It's still a good album with some strong hits that brought them back into the public eye and gave a simple political message that was refreshing. Surprisingly long tracks (though some of them are really two songs mashed together) for a punk band but they didn't feel long in the way that jam band tracks drag on ad infinitum. Do I think it should be on this list, probably not. It's not enough of a departure from Dookie to feel like something new, though the band has matured and improved, and if I was going to put a second Green Day album on the list it would be Warning, but that's purely because of my deep abiding love for every track on that album.

There are a lot of bitchy 1-star reviews of this album that complain that the politics aren't sophisticated. Dude, it's a Green Day album. The music is pop rock with a punk veneer, and the lyrics are about attitude more than political science. These are good songs - energetically played, more sophisticated than they sound, and well-produced. It's not gonna change the world, but it sounds real good. I know Billie Joe Armstrong's voice annoys some people, but I'm not one of them. And Mike Dirnt is low-key an outstanding bassist.

Classic album, have listened to it before. Love the two songs in one theme

that early 2000s sound i enjoy

No notes.

So glad I happened to wear a hoodie today, as it's the peak outfit for this album. Angsty, loud, over-the-top, and so of its time. American Idiot is an admittedly great song, but the rest kind of pales in comparison and feels like attempts to recapture the energy of that song, but just never quite hits the mark. Favorite Songs: American Idiot, Letterbomb

Gran álbum, muy consistente con su temática y sonido sin volverse repetitivo. Me gusta mucho que gran parte de las canciones sean doble-tracks y que no se sientan eternas.

generic pop

You just can't argue with these melodies.

Favorite Green Day album.

Не зря считается классикой

OK. Not my type of music but not as bad as I thought it would be and I liked a few of the songs that I'd heard before – Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends.

Solid Green Day at its best

Huge nostalgia factor from 2000a but these songs got overplayed too much that I can’t score higher

I remember quite qell when this came out, and as a teenager at the time I think I was the main target audience then. I liked the titled track and the sisngles back then, but I think only Boulevard of Broken Dreams aged well. Tli like the concept of the album, mixing politics with the story of Jesus of Subirbia but the whole thing was really bad executed: the story is quite shallow and juvenile and the politics are even more shallow with slogans about revolution etc. Listening to this after 22 years was not a good experience and even the song here is a poppy Ramones with a few of Green Day twists. I can tell the album is here because it was popular back then, but it did remind me Simple Plan most times, and even Warning was a best album than this. I love Dookie though, but this is a 2/5

Awful awful awful

Huge fan of this album and all the layers of narrative and culture that you can analyze, especially as a non-American. I can and will talk your ear off about my perspectives of this album but don’t have time to type them all out. I had the privilege to see this entire album played front to back on Green Day’s 2024 tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of American Idiot and 25th of Dookie. Truly a special concert.

Dä Beat isch guet und vielfältig, d Lyrics und so isch chli wiederholend. Trotzdem recht guet für zwüschä durä:)

7/10

There are a few ok songs but I have never been too keen on this one.

A good ol' Greenday album. A song like American Idiot has only gotten even more relevant with the time. Once that has been said, it's Green Day and as such it's punk just a bit more convoluted than the others. Favorite Songs: American Idiot ; Jesus of Suburbia ; Boulevard of Broken Dreams

A 9 track album and I couldnt wait for itto be over. I dont understand the love for this dogwater band

I like it - but even though its more complex and probably a better album than Dookie, I still prefer Dookie.

Great album. Probably their magnum opus, although I like a lot of their albums personally.

It’s the stand out pop punk album for that decade , it’s hard not to listen to this and think of childhood for me . Love it

Ett helt fantastiskt album med i stort sett inga dåliga spår. Fullträff!

Vilka minnen! Älskar detta. Trallvmvänligt, bra låtar osv osv osv.

I enjoyed this more than I expected as I have not listened for years. 1. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams 2. Wake Me Up When September Ends 3. Homecoming

Hatte ich gar nicht so geil in Erinnerung. Aber das ist auch nach den ersten 4 Bangern noch richtig gut!

Starkes, mutiges Album. Bisschen lang, aber nur ein bisschen.

Not my thing

Nossa senhora... Só de ver a imagem já vem imagens da adolescência... Imagina tu comprar o CD no lançamento e já ouvir essa pedrada. Mesmo ouvindo até hoje 200 mil vezes por ano, dar um play aqui com um outro olhar chega a arrepiar. Os caras já metem uma música de 9 minutos em segundo... ousados. Mais um álbum que o cu artístico dos caras tavam virado pra lua. 4 hits sequenciais. Ainda vem Wake me up when September ends... justamente no dia 01 de outubro kkkkk. Que timing. O álbum todo é bom, vai tomar no cu. Foda. Dá pra ouvir todo ano e ainda arrepiar.

Gear: INAWAKEN Twilight-DS Artwork: ️🫀🧨🤡 Production: 🔊⚠️😮‍💨 Music: 📻💅✊ Rating: 🍊🍊(🍊)/5

I’m not a huge fan of Green Day (or much of a fan at all), but this album directly links me back to being 17 and being sick and tired of hearing Wake Me Up When September Ends. So that’s something!

This album is a masterpiece! I had a copy and when I was a teen boy o used to listen to it everyday after school

A well-known band, well-known songs, not bad at all. Three stars...

Earlier during this project I referred to the White Stripes’ Elephant as “my generation’s Sgt. Pepper.” Well, that makes this my generation’s Tommy. A tighter narrative structure, with all the drama and theatrics of its predecessor. I have to thank my sister, who rushed to the record store to pick this up the day it was released. Back in the day when people still did that.

Albums My Mother Showed Me My mom picked me up from school in 2005. She had just gotten a brand new car, very exciting. She sat my sister and I in the back and said “look in the seat pocket” as we each revealed a CD she picked out for the both of us. I got American Idiot, my sister got something by Usher. Sign o the times. This is my favorite Green Day album for several reasons. The foremost reason being the flow. The message it portrays, the musicianship that the band exhibits and the creation of St. Jimmy are some others. Sign o the times, sign o the times…

Have I listened to this album before No How familiar am I with this album Pretty familiar How do I feel about this artist? I like Green Day Pre-Listen Thoughts: This is one of those albums where I know most of the songs but I’ve never listened to them all together, I’m excited for this one Favorite track(s): Wake Me Up When September Ends, Homecoming Post-Listen Thoughts: This was good, nothing surprising, but it all flowed together really well.

sonido de infancia

I was supposed to listen to this album yesterday, but never got to it. I think that's because I heard this album for the first time recently, and didn't really enjoy it too much. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. And after a second listen thanks to the album generator, I don't think my opinion has changed much. I'll preface this by saying I already don't love pop punk. So I wasn't expecting to enjoy a whole hour of it. The songs really just blend together (the deluxe version literally merging half the tracklist doesn't help). It feels very repetitive at times. There are some cool moments, though, such as the coda of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and the intro to "Extraordinary Girl." I also don't love the lyrics. Maybe I'm not emo enough for this album, but they just come across as cheesy most of the time. And that's without mentioning Billie Joe Armstrong's apparent obsession with a certain slur. Meh. Listen to it if you like pop punk, otherwise it's just okay. ----- #0012 Heard on: 29 Sep. 2026 Rating: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ (182 / 332) Favorite track: Extraordinary Girl Least favorite track: Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Green Day is the black-eyelinered face that launched a thousand emo ships on the seas of MySpace, along with its cousins MCR, Blink, Evanescence and FOB (some of the strangest missing items from the list, probably as a consequence of its original publishing dateand the anti-emo rockist sentiment in vogue in '05). For the span of a few years Hot Topic T-shirts bearing that iconic bloody grenade-heart were the budding millennial's Nirvana tee. I remember having this record loaded up on my beaten-up second-hand iPod nano to accompany my first ever bouts of angst, so the call is definitely coming from inside of the house on that one. There's definitely something to be praised about American Idiot that despite inspiring 10,000 copycats like some Computer Age Velvet Underground and Nico (or maybe a more tryhard Nevermind), Green Day probably remains the best to ever do the pop-punk schtick. The singles off this album are worthy of the oodles of radio time they've received since release. A month ago I went through Dookie again for this list, and it's interesting to hear the evolution - what has changed in GD's sound and what hasn't. American Idiot is certainly just about as polished as pop-punk gets, completely shaving off that razor-edge of capital P-Punk that still lingered in Dookie despite 'selling out' to the major labels. American Idiot still carries some of that Minutemen-ish Pistols-esque DNA but it's alsmost been diluted out. Both are definitely great albums on an even keel tip to toe, so it ultimately becomes a matter of taste between the raw, honest bandroom sound of their earlier Dookie era and their much cleaner aesthetically-polished Idiot period. Personally I think I prefer Dookie's more hot-sauce vinegarish 'kick' to the more accomplished sound of American Idiot (and the former is definitely more interesting lyrically, it must be stated), but I wouldn't fault one side or the other. Fav tracks: American Idiot, Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends

I am not a fan of this band but this is as good as it gets in their field - pop punk college band. Love the drum sound on this. The rest is tight and to the point. I suspect they wanted to write a hit album and by all measures they nailed it.

Is it "real punk"? Probably not, though "real punk" is an incredibly vague term that no two punks would ever be able to agree on a definition for. Is Taco Bell authentic Mexican food? No, of course not. But a Cheesy Gordita Crunch is still delicious.

Один из любимых альбомов, прекрасный панк/поп-панк 10

Classic pop punk record with lofty ambitions and an interesting reflection of a turbulent time in America's history. Key tracks: Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday

admittedly i kinda forgot that this was like a concept album when i was listening to it but that certainly didn't hinder the experience for me really just a well written really enjoyable rock album. i wasn't sure how much i was going to enjoy 7-9 minute green day songs but they were actually great, along with basically the rest of the tracklist. favourite songs: boulevard of broken dreams, give me novacaine, homecoming least favourite song: are we the waiting

Doesn't hold the same power it did 20 years ago for me, but it's way too personally important and cozy to not love.

Kind of a 3.5 but rounding up for nostalgia

I was dreading relistening to this, a fixture in my middle school years that I feared hasn't aged well. I'm kinda shocked to report how moving I still find it, and how fun and punchy it still plays. Is it perfect? Not by any shot, it's still guilty of the Green Day chintzy punk sensibilities, and i hate tracklists that rely too much on medley, which this is really indulging in (although the medleys are all pretty good for the most part). But it's a work of messy brazenness in a messy, brazen time. I don't owe it brownie points for being valuable in its political moment but i do appreciate that about it. I also didn't realize, I genuinely remember every single sound in this album, even if I didn't recognize all of the track titles.

The hits on this album are phenomenal. The album tracks don’t have enough steam to carry their long run time.

Classic

It's too theatrical to feel wholly punk if you ask me, but who cares when the melodies carried by simple power chord progressions are THIS good. Faves: American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Give Me Novacaine/She's a Rebel,

Green Day have their place. And that place is 1995.

I mean. The songs were stuck in my head before I even started listening for the day.

Ah, nostalgia. Take me back. Spiked hair, skateboards, baggy jeans that soaked up all the rain, walking in a certain way so your cd doesn't skip, twisting the headphones so the loose connection isn't a problem and freedom. -------------------------------------------------------------- I can't believe how many hits were on this album. Holiday is the pick for me with it's rhythmic bounciness. The drums and bass through are tonally perfect whether that be the more punk rock style of songs like st Jimmy or the rock opera of homecoming. Those tom fills demand attention. There's a lot of depth here musically, something I didn't appreciate on release. Back in the day this wasn't heavy enough for edge lord me, but now? Hits just right. The vocals are distinctive and well delivered. Sure the messages are a bit ham-fisted but you can't deny the enduring quality of American Idiot. It's not quite a 5 but it's getting a 4 with distinction.

If you were in 6th-8th grade in 2004-5, this was one of THE albums, and there’s no questioning that. It felt like every third song on the radio was from this record. It being Green Day and I being in the Portland metro area then, it had major crossover appeal. I listened to this on a whim pretty recently (by that i mean within the past 2 years) and the super-saturation of Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends was still fresh enough after decades that i skipped both. This time i threw in Blvd and i can say again that i do like it. Letterbomb is an incredibly slept on (by me) Green Day song Homecoming > Jesus of Suburbia don’t @ me Overall? This album holds a really special place in my memory, and it might be nostalgia goggles a little bit but i still think it’s a very solid one. I enjoy it a good deal, but i wouldn’t say it’s GREAT, you know? A 4 it is!

The 3/5 rating could mean a few things. It could be because the album is merely okay, maybe with a couple of catchy songs without ever really wowing. It’s not boring, it’s just not that good. It could also be because the album contains a few total bangers, with a few true stinkers dotted in. A mixed bag. American Idiot definitely falls into the second category. I really like Green Day’s 90s stuff. Short, catchy guitar pop. I even like some of 21st Century Breakdown. American Idiot is the most divisive in my mind. Let’s talk positive. The title track, Holiday and Give Me Novocaine are great songs. She’s A Rebel is short and catchy. Maybe the most Green Day song on the album. However, nothing can come close to Whatsername. It is surely one of the greatest songs ever to see out an album. An epic lament of noise and angst which never spirals out of control. It may be loud, but it is coherent and structured. Fantastic. But there is some garbage here too. Are We The Waiting will always be in the conversation for Green Day’s worst song. Wake Me Up is cheesy and saccharine. The two 9 minute tracks are repetitive and pointless. Pretentious and unremarkable. St Jimmy is too silly to be taken seriously. In conclusion, there is some great stuff here, some okay stuff too. But when nearly half of the runtime is self indulgent rubbish, it’s hard to give more than a 3/5.

Better than Dookie (though the odd way the Spotify deals with tracks running into eachother on this is far worse than the CD. All Green Day CDs have tidy track markers and are well mastered)

Ooo

I didn't pay much attention to Green Day or their 90s pop punk peers back then. I wasn't really dismissive or anything, just had my head in other things. I'm familiar with the radio songs of course. I'm warming up to this band a lot more lately even before I got this album. The deeper cuts are damn good tunes. It does droop during the ballad-y songs so I will be skipping those on future listens.

This is one of those nostalgic ones for me; I think this literally goes back to 2015, when I was first dealing with ocd. Give me novocaine really connected with me at the time and still does. Whatsername killed me then and does now. Those two nostalgia bombs out of the way, the storytelling and degenerate energy of the entire album is incredible. Just look at the song titles - Jesus of Suburbia might be my favorite.

A really good album. Solid songs and great sounding.

No. Not for me. It deserves a 2, and I am sure is a 5 for some. But for me, no.

Love this album. The power ballads are a lot less lame than I remember. There’s some bside stuff that’s a little too cute for its own good and only used to shoehorn the concept album lore, but the bangers rip. Was going to say 3.5 but got the extra .5 because the album forces you to listen to it like an album. Want Boulevard? Gotta sit through Holiday sucker.

I was expecting to hate this album. I dislike the singles and think Wake Me Up When September Ends is one of my least favourite songs of all time. So I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. Songs that feel bombastic or sappy on the radio make sonic sense in context. Don’t get me wrong, Wake Me Up When September Ends still isn’t great but other songs made up for it. I especially liked Are We the Waiting and the glockenspiel on Homecoming.

literally every song is good. 5/5

listening to this while cleaning my gross as hell bathroom 😍🥰🥰🥰 boulevard of broken dreams is my fav so far i think why'd he say the hard r in this album do not like we are the waiting that much.... too chill and repetitive i like extraordinary girl

I didn't realize this album had such long songs and so many of the hit songs are actually joined together on the album. I appreciate that ambition from it. I think there's plenty to like here for this well done album, but I just don't like the palette. I'm not a pop punk guy, and this feels like the safest poppy version of it. Not a lot of particularly interesting or inspired choices from what I can hear. The ambition from the album comes from the length of the songs and willingness to be more grand and big sound rather than leaning into an angry punk edge. I wasn't paying super active attention while listening, and I don't feel like I missed out.

Average, very overhyped band

Gréât album! Holiday, boulevard of broken dreams, wake me up when September ends

Can’t separate my feelings and my life from the music here, which is fine. Realistically, this is probably more a four star album. Good, and important, but not great and some parts have aged clunkily. But for me, this is my early teen years. This has gotta be one of the albums I listened to the most in my life. Had a burned copy of it in my first car. Played it constantly. I remember in 8th grade, getting a friend to lend me his copy of the album and then going home and printing out all the lyrics for the album (slowly copy pasting them into a word document, printing it took forever) and then following along to the lyrics as I listened to the album. I didn’t want to miss any of the “story” (sure it’s just Fight Club for pop punks but it was mind blowing for an 8th grader). I remember how seismic the singles were. Genuinely inescapable. Green Day WERE the biggest band in the world for a moment there, and it was really cool. As a burgeoning teen I was starting to become politically aware - I also remember 2004 was the first year I started staying up and watching The Daily Show - and this album was speaking directly to me as I began to realize, “Hey, I don’t know if I think Bush is a good guy, and also war is bad.” Which, tbf, is also the pretty shallow politics of this album - but it was a big deal at the time! This was only 3 years after 9/11, and artists like The Chicks had already basically had their careers terminated for deigning to say “Bush is not a good man.” Yeah, love this album. Means so much to me.

A classic

You know, the idea of a punk rock opera is fine and all, but this album never quite stirred the pot for me. The songs are fine, fairly catchy even, but the concept isn't anything special, and the whole thing feels a tad long.

nah american idiot aight ig

Kinda like but i wouldn't listen to it make me feel like phinieas and furb and horrid henry

dont really mind but dont really like

Fantastic!

Despite quite liking Green Day around this time I never owned this or had heard it start to finish. The singles I obviously knew and they still get played on the radio. It's not but I can't say that on this listen I got much of the 'concept' and I don't know that I'd give it another spin any time soon.

Wall-to-wall bangers. Loved it then, love it now.

Need to be able to rate it 4.9 so I can have Dookie higher.

4.5 I feel like it could be a 5; I am unsure why I'm holding back from giving it 5 stars.