So, I had this great idea in mind for my 400th Epinion. I was going to do a review of Green Day's latest album as a bunch of humorous impressions - caricatures of political figures, other celebrities, and even fictional characters, all of them thought by different segments of the general populace to be idiots. American Idiot as reviewed by actual idiots - that would have been hilarious, right? George W. Bush could have dropped by to comment on "Holiday" without realizing it was dogging on his administration. John Kerry could have joined the party to offer wishy-washy commentary on whether anyone is truly an "American Idiot". (I like to be bipartisan in my joking around.) A few blonde moments from Jessica Simpson would have worked nicely for "Extraordinary Girl", and maybe some bratty remarks from Avril Lavigne would have given "She's a Rebel" a little extra kick. And then Jerry Falwell could drop by to explain why the tragedy depicted in "Wake Me Up When September Ends" was all the fault of gays and lesbians. To top it off, I could have ripped off an idea from fellow Epinionator MattA75, and borrowed Beavis & Butt-head for some innuendo-laden commentary on "Homecoming". (And then a lawsuit for copyright infringement would have ensued.)

Yeah, that would have been fun. The problem? It would have become a one note joke after a while, as I didn't really know enough about the aforementioned lampooned celebrities to effectively write an entire paragraph each using their voices. And even if I could have done that, it would have been hard to hit the highlights when writing from the perspective of someone whom I expected to not really be paying attention in the first place. So as much as I wanted to make this a humorous "special edition" review, I'm just going to have to play it straight. Quite frankly, this album is too excellent for me to waste my entire commentary on a dumb running joke.

So, backtracking a little, I knew very little about Green Day before American Idiot. Friends of mine liked their Dookie album when we were in high school. I remember a bunch of us guys starting a mosh pit when "Basketcase" was played at a wedding reception once. I remember "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" being a bit hit during college, and how I liked the song, but thought it was humorous that people who didn't know the actual full title of the song would use it for sentimental and non-ironic occasions such as romantic mix tapes or graduations. And I remember our local STAR station never playing anything other than "When I Come Around" despite the band putting out three or four new albums after Dookie. My perception was that they were a punk band who had gone too pop or mellow or experimental or whatever the hell for people to really care about them any more. I never thought I'd get into them, and consider one of their albums to be among the cream of the crop in the year that it was released - especially when said album was heavy with political commentary. 2004 was an election year, and the timing was no mistake. While I don't mind a little Bush-bashing in conversation with friends, or from a stand-up comedian, I didn't really want to hear an album full of it.

Fortunately, Bush-bashing doesn't appear to be the main focus of American Idiot. Neither does rampant bad language and just saying "screw the system" for no good reason. To be sure, there's some of that, veiled in some place and obvious in others, but a lot of the disillusionment we're hearing is coming from the voice of a character in an ongoing story that the band weaves throughout what you might call a "punk rock opera". It's a concept album, with themes and characters popping up again and again in the lyrics, and even though this feisty threesome knows how to lay down some tight musical tracks (probably considered pop-punk by "real" punk fans, but if it's melodic without losing its teeth, I'll usually enjoy it), that isn't done at the expense of songwriting that makes you think, and go back and listen again when your brain makes connections between a name mentioned in track 2 and something that popped up way later in track 10, or whatever.

Naturally, some folks aren't going to be able to get past their being offended by the content of American Idiot and just accept that this is a solid piece of work. I'll allow them that, as I'm generally not a fan of a lot of swearing or references to organized religion that come across in a negative light. But if one looks beyond the surface, I think it's easy to find that the real disillusionment isn't coming so much from a certain religious or political agenda that Green Day doesn't like, but the fact that so much of America seems willing to accept that agenda at face value. It's the sort of thing that turns politics into an immature popularity contest, and religion into strip mall bargain hunting. Hey, I whine and complain about those things too, so while I may lean a little further to the right than these guys, I can respect what they're protesting here.

And like I said, it rocks my face off. Gotta give 'em points for that.

American Idiot
Well, maybe I'm the f*ggot America
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda
Now everybody do the propaganda
And sing along in the age of paranoia...
This urgent, rocking song is definitely a great way to get things started. The little bursts of guitar and Billie Joe Armstrong's snotty delivery of the lyrics ("snotty" is a compliment if you're a punk-influenced band), along with Tre Cool's fun, almost danceable drum riffs, make this the biggest blast of a protest song that I've heard in a good while. It's a song about a nation that just blindly goes along with whatever propaganda or "redneck agenda" its leaders dole out to it, creating an age of paranoia. Billie Joe's tone is extremely sarcastic, sounding like he's playing along with the idiotic song and dance, but in truth, he figures we should know better than this. It's short and punchy, and it really should have done better as a single than it did (I'm guessing words like "mindf*ck" and the pot-shots taken at some right-wing beliefs on the heels of an election probably ticked some people off).

Jesus of Suburbia
On a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my sins in hell
As far as I can tell
At least the ones I got away with...
Green Day decides to get their prog on with the first of two nine-minute epics dedicated to telling the story of the album's protagonist, a disenchanted boy from a small town who grows disgusted with the self-defeating way of life around him and who embarks on a trip to the big city to find... well, whatever it is that he hopes to find. There's a lot here, so I'll just tackle the five sections one at a time:

i. Jesus of Suburbia
Amidst medium-paced, starting and stopping guitar riffs, our "Jesus" protagonist describes his upbringing in a small town as "the son and rage of love". He knows there's something better for him than "Alcohol and cigarettes and Mary Jane to keep me insane, doing someone else's cocaine", but at the same time, he's rather apathetic, believing in "the bible of None of the Above" and claiming no one died for his sins (effectively, rejecting traditional conservative religious beliefs to become the central figure of his own empty religion).

ii. City of the Damned
Keeping more or less the same rhythm and tempo, but varying between acoustic verses and more driven choruses, our would-be savior arrives at the big city, finding little more than crass commercialism and bathroom stall graffiti that communicates more apathetic religious beliefs.

iii. I Don't Care
The rhythm switches to a bouncy, anthemia 6/8 over which the guys gleefully declare, "I don't care if you don't care!" The apathy explodes into an angry rant here, with Billie Joe declaring "everyone's so full of sh*t, born and raised by hypocrites".

iv. Dearly Beloved
Here, the band downshifts into a softer version of their playful rhythm, complete with playful acoustic guitar, xylophone, and softer background vocals. Here, our hero begins to question whether his apathy is just an attempt to anesthetize himself: "Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed?"

v. Tales of Another Broken Home
Returning to a rhythm similar to the opening section, but a little more aggressive, the song concludes with the protagonist doing what troubled adults so easily do in this country - he blames his parents for all of his problems. However, there's some resolve to "leave behind this hurricane of f*cking lies" - as angry as he is at the world for leaving him empty, he feels that he can possibly run away from this and find something better. A brief respite comes in the way of a sensitive final verse accompanied by piano, right before the slamming finale.

Man, nine minutes sure went by fast in that song! I can't believe they're actually going to release this one as a single (albeit reduced to six and a half minutes). Best of luck with that one!

Holiday
Zieg Heil to the president gasman
Bombs away is your punishment
Pulverize the Eiffel towers
Who criticize your government...
Some of the most concentrated establishment-bashing shows up in this song, which Billie Joe has described as "a big f*ck you to the politicians". Backed by another jaunty 6/8 rhythm, this twisted march criticizes those in power for playing only to their biases and basically giving the finger to the democratic processes. I love the bridge breakdown, with its thumping bridge and bass breakdown, where Billie Joe declares "The representative from California now has the floor!" Mike Dirnt's background shouts are also extremely well-timed here, making the song sound an awful lot like a three-man war rally. This one might be my favorite track on the album, except for the days when I'm more sentimental and prefer "Wake Me Up When September Ends".

Boulevard of Broken Dreams
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone...
As the washed-out, reverb-drenched guitar bleeds in from "Holiday", this mid-tempo song quickly establishes itself as an anthem for a disaffected generation, slowly ambling down a glitzy but empty street with no destination in mind. Green Day deftly balances the power of rock and the power of the ballad here, with their sad "ahh-ahh"s and piano-driven verses, and the much noisier chorus, with guitars and cymbals crashing about. The lyrics here are among the more vague ones on the record, making it easy for apathetic youth to identify, but perhaps taking the easy way out at times. Nevertheless, it's a solid use of a simplistic chord progression - they bend and twist it a little bit near the end just to up the level of melodrama, and it totally works thanks to Billie Joe's passionate guitar playing.

Are We the Waiting
The rage and love, the story of my life
The Jesus of suburbia is a lie...
Whoa, time to break out the lighters. Or cell phones, since our lighters got confiscated at the stadium door. Whatever. The slow thump of the drums and the gentle longing of Billie Joe's lonely guitar lines, along with the unabashed singalong chorus of "Are we, we are, are we, we are the waiting?" are probably enough for old-school fans to cry "sellout", but screw that, this is a beautiful and hopeful song. Here, it sounds like the protagonist has finally met up with a crowd of people just like him, bringing some redemptive meaning to the dirty town. "The Jesus of Suburbia is a lie", he declares, realizing that people have made up their own strip mall religion centered around whatever makes them comfortable. Hey, I think that version of Jesus is a lie, too, so I'm tracking with you guys so far. The only thing I don't like here is how I'm just getting into the sing-along when it very suddenly cuts into the next song. Clever transition, but I'll never be able to put this one on a mix CD!

St. Jimmy
Cigarettes and ramen and a little bag of dope
I am the son of a b!tch and Edgar Allen Poe
Raised in the city under a halo of lights
The product of war and fear that we've been victimized...
Fast, muted guitar and a speedy rhythm make this song a return to the more punk-influenced Green Day sound. Here, our hero is finally given the name of St. Jimmy ("and don't wear it out!" - tee hee), and he more or less declares himself to be a menace to a society, a contradiction in terms. (The use of "Saint" is obviously ironic, and meant to be a dig at the false religion that this character is escaping from.) Another short and sweet song, this one has a few crass lyrics (most of the songs do), but makes its point effectively in its short time, complete with a killer ending.

Give Me Novocaine
Out of body and out of mind
Kiss the demons out of my dreams
I get the funny feeling, that's alright
Jimmy says it's better than air...
A slower, thumping drum pattern (does that remind anyone else of U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky"?) combines with more pleasant-sounding acoustic guitar strumming - I guess this is Green Day's version of the elevator music you hear when you go to the dentist. It quickly moves from mellow to ferocious as Billie Joe unleashes another power chord attack during the chorus (it's the kind of crashing rhythm where you could just picture the lights flashing about if they were playing it live). He compares reality to a toothache, something that needs to be drugged and have its pressure drained in order to "kiss the demons out of my dreams". This voice in this song appears to be a follower of Jimmy's, instead of Jimmy himself - he's asking Jimmy to promise him that "I won't feel a thing", and suddenly, the defiant anti-faith of St. Jimmy is starting to mirror the comfort junkie mentality that he worked so hard to get away from.

She's a Rebel
She's the symbol of resistance
And she's holding on my heart like a hand grenade
Is she dreaming what I'm thinking
Is she the mother of all bombs gonna detonate?
Another beautiful segue, this time maintaining the rhythm despite a switch in song styles, takes us into another upbeat theme song that introduces a new character. The album's shortest track marches through confidently, describing a girl called "Whatsername" who apparently leaves an impression on Jimmy (which can aptly be described by the intriguing picture on the album's cover). The girl acts as a spontaneous and potentially violent catalyst to knock Jimmy out of his apathy. It's interesting that he's described as "the salt of the Earth" - that's a metaphor directly taken from the Bible, to describe the influence that Christians are meant to have on the world. Take from that what you will - I haven't figured it out yet.

Extraordinary Girl
She sees the mirror of herself, an image she wants to sell
To anyone willing to buy
He steals the image in her kiss, from her heart's apocalypse
From the one called whatsername...
I'm not sure what's up with the exotic percussion at the beginning of this track, because it's kind of a blind segue into another upbeat song. This song delves into the effect that Whatsername apparently has on Jimmy - they're both sick of being alone, so they hook up, though from the context of the song, it seems like more of a cold business transaction than a passionate love affair. While the song falls back on overused rhymes and lyrical tricks like juxtaposing "ordinary" with "extraordinary" (gee, I've never heard that one before), it also puts in some clever references to the album's political overtones, painting the girl as a "child left behind".

Letterbomb
You're not the Jesus of Suburbia
The St. Jimmy is a figment of
Your father's rage and your mother's love
Made me the idiot America...
A little girl's voice can be heard singing a childish taunt at the beginning of this track, and then terrorism strikes! In another punkish song that calls all of the b*st*rds, rioters, and martyrs to revolt, using violence if necessary (and apparently they're going for the Ted Kaczynski method). Again, the theme of a false savior is strong, echoing lines from "Jesus of Suburbia" as Jimmy is called out for being a fake, and asking "Where will all the martyrs go when the virus cures itself?" Apparently, they have nowhere to go; they can only die in the process, which more or less makes them the very same kind of extremists that they're revolting against. There's a whole theme of "becoming the enemy" here, at least if I'm reading it right, that's easy to miss amidst the slamming rhythms and tasty guitar riffage, but that's why American Idiot is a great album for repeated listening.

Wake Me Up When September Ends
Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are...
Wrenching the title of "American Idiot's most beautiful song" away from "Are We the Waiting" is this mournful ballad with its delicate acoustic guitar picking, which can be easily misinterpreted as being about September 11th. It's actually about the death of Billie Joe's father 20 years before the writing of a song, a traumatic event which still affects him to this day - the lyrics actually make that surprisingly transparent, either temporarily shedding the story motif or working this into Jimmy's story as a plot device. I'm not sure which. Either way, just when you think you're about to have tears forcibly jerked from your eyes by way of your heartstrings, the group signals a change in dynamic by more slamming drums - the band retains the song's sensitivity, but they kick the energy level up a notch, which paves the way for another sweet guitar solo in the middle eight. This one's got an indelible melody, and it reaffirms Green Day's sensitive side, allowing a personal memory to serve as a connecting point for many listeners who have come to view September as a dark and difficult month. The slow, quiet synths (or echoes of tweaked guitar, or whatever they are) at the end make for a nice coda before we dive back into one of the album's more complex pieces.

Homecoming
Jesus filling out paperwork now
At the facility on east 12th street
He's not listening to a word now
He's in his own world, and he's daydreaming...
Another five-part doozy shows up here to bring the album to a climax. While it's not quite the masterpiece that "Jesus of Suburbia" was, it serves to nicely wrap up a few plot threads.

i. The Death of St. Jimmy
A slow opening leads into another crushing indictment of the society that raised Jimmy, finding him right back where he started, blaming his parents for everything, turning back to drugs, and eventually committing suicide. Was he merely a product of this society, or could he have changed? We may never know.

ii. East 12th Street
The apathy theme comes back here as the band defiantly taunts "Well, nobody cares!", before segueing into a section about what "Jesus" is up to in Jimmy's absence (apparently he took an office job?) I guess he's one of the protestors who sold out, that were mentioned in "Holiday". This culminates in a humorous section where a zippy acoustic guitar riff is interchanged with a plea for escape - "Get me the f*ck right out of here!"

iii. Nobody Likes You
A familiar tune comes back into play as bells ring, drums roll in a sort of military cadence, and Mike Dirnt takes over lead vocals to sing about being a lazy bum watching TV and drinking tons of coffee. Yep, that's the same "Nobody likes you!" taunt that we heard from the little girl at the beginning of "Letterbomb". Genius.

iv. Rock and Roll Girlfriend
"Jeez", gripes Tre Cool as he realizes it's supposed to be his turn to sing. He responds by launching into a too-fun-to-be-legal section that marries old school sock-hop rock with punk as he yammers on about his rock & roll lifestyle (how do you afford it, anyway?), his multiple girlfriends and the children they've born for him, and how proud he is of having kicked smoking and alcohol for nearly a month, so get off of his case already!

v. We're Coming Home Again
Billie Joe returns to tie things up over a "Holiday"-esque rhythm, making references to a few other songs as he goes, and finally ending up in a slower section much like "Are We the Waiting", which kind of wraps up that unfinished song as the guys declare "Home, we're coming home again!" That, of course, means a return to "Jingletown", the nowhere-ville where this whole mess started. I'm not sure what that means, but as the song wraps up with one more reprise of the "Nobody Likes You" theme, I'm guessing that it isn't meant to be terribly encouraging. Apparently nobody likes a hero - even a dead hero - in an idiot society.

Whatsername
Seems that she disappeared without a trace
Did she ever marry old whatshisface?
Something about this song just seems off-kilter, paradoxically because it's so normal. It's a mild-mannered pop-punk song about a girl, and granted, it's an attempt to wrap things up for the "Whatsername" character, but the music could have been more interesting here. It's about a guy (perhaps the "Jesus" character, who apparently wasn't the same guy as Jimmy - I'll admit I wasn't quite following that whole thread) wondering whatever happened to his favorite riot grrrl, if she settled down and got married, or ever made a name for herself. A few bursts of guitar get things going later in the song, but it still seems to finish the album on more of a whimper than a shout despite the strong melodies near the end. I guess I expected more of a political "moral of the story" to wrap things up and sum up how things could have been better for Jimmy, rather than just whining about a girl. Either we're ending on an apathetic note, or Whatsername did serve as a "different path" that Jimmy could have taken, and he just didn't see the light.

While I don't "get it" after 20 or 30 listens, that doesn't stop American Idiot from being a fascinating album worthy of the buzz that it got. I can respect that it isn't for everyone, but I can't think of many well-crafted albums by rebellious mainstream rock bands popular with a younger crowd that actually encourage so much careful listening and dissection of their lyrics. This well thought-out collection of songs puts Green Day in the curious position of being "young veterans" of a sort. They've been around the block a few times, but they're unpredictable upstarts all the same, and I'm excited to see if that trend continues for them. They certainly won me over despite me never thinking they'd be my kind of band, so if you've had similar feelings about Green Day in the past, and the swearing and potentially depressing storyline don't seem like things that would bug you, I'd encourage you to check this one out.

And then maybe you can write the brilliant satire about it that I didn't quite have the know-how to come up with. Can't wait to read it!

ALBUM WORTH:
American Idiot $2
Jesus of Suburbia $2
Holiday $2
Boulevard of Broken Dreams $1.50
Are We the Waiting $1.50
St. Jimmy $1
Give Me Novocaine $2
She's a Rebel $1.50
Extrordinary Girl $1
Letterbomb $1
Wake Me Up When September Ends $2
Homecoming $1.50
Whatsername $.50
TOTAL: $20.50

Band Members:
Billie Joe Armstrong: Lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt: Bass, backing vocals
Tre Cool: Drums, backing vocals

Website: http://www.officialgreenday.com

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving