Despite being a decent fan of Green Day in the 90s -- especially Dookie and Nimrod -- I kind of felt like this album was a "jump the shark" moment for the band when it came out. I felt like they'd abandoned their punk ethos in favor of trying to be the punk Meat Loaf or something. Not to mention, while they were always sort of pop-punk, they were more pop then punk now. I was probably a little harsh on it when it came out because I do think there's some good stuff here. I think it particularly starts strong -- the title track, "Jesus of Suburbia", "Holiday", and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" are all pretty solid bangers. From there though, I think it's a bit of a mixed bag. I think the rest of the songs kind of range from just okay to not very good. And while the multi-part rock opera stuff is certainly ambitious, sometimes it works ("Jesus of Suburbia") and sometimes it's a flop ("Homecoming"). The album does end on a good note with "Whatsername", but overall, I don't think the album's execution quite matches its ambition. 3.5 stars.