Green Day burst onto the music scene in 1994 with their third album and major label debut Dookie, when life was much simpler. Elderly women didn’t worry about “the terrorists” blowing up the local Target, restaurants all over were dishing up huge portions of fried foods, and everyone was mourning the loss of Kurt Cobain … except for possibly Courtney Love.
It was a great time for punk songs like “Basket Case” and “Welcome to Paradise,” which were heavy on drums but pretty shallow in meaning. “I went to a whore/ He said my life’s a bore” isn’t exactly Shakespeare, but it was still great music.
Fast-forward 10 years and things are much different. Punk bands are a dime a dozen, but they are following in the path set before them: relatively meaningless but fun songs. In a sea of teeny-bopper punk musicians, Green Day emerges again as the now almost middle-aged punks willing to try something new.
American Idiot bills itself as a “punk-rock epic,” but comes off more as the band trying to reinvent itself only to realize that they haven’t changed at all. Sure the lyrics have more meaning behind them and it’s not the same simple three-chord progression, but the new material isn’t all that different from their old work. For the legion of Green Day fans, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The album kicks off with the short and sweet first single “American Idiot.” Billie Joe Armstrong’s signature voice rattles through the anti-government lyrics: “Can you hear the sound of hysteria? / The subliminal mind-f–k America.” Hold on a second. Does this mean Green Day is being political? Apparently.
One of the true highlights of American Idiot comes with “Jesus of Suburbia.” The song clocks in at over nine minutes and is broken up into five separate chapters. Is this a punk song or an opera? The lines are blurred, but it works quite well. The chapters flow seamlessly from “City of the Damned” to “I Don’t Care” to “Dearly Beloved” before culminating in “Tales of Another Broken Home.” Any song that can transition from raging punk to a light piano ballad yet still maintain continuity deserves any accolades it gets.
The rest of the disc is what people have come to expect from Green Day, just with politically charged lyrics. The album should come with a sticker reading “Now with new poignant lyrics!” Tracks like “Holiday” and “Give Me Novacaine” deliver what are essentially old Green Day songs just with new content. Armstrong bellows on “Holiday”: “I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies.” Ouch. Apparently little Billie is all grown up now and feels like sticking it to the man. Stick away Billie.
It seems like Armstrong is reaching a bit far at times with the rather convoluted plot of this “epic.” With characters named Jesus of Suburbia, Saint Jimmy and Whatsername, one is left to wonder if he was channeling e.e. cummings or just trying to be witty.
At their cores, the songs are all classic Green Day. They may appear to be directed at changing society, but it’s highly unlikely that the major chunk of punk fans (teenagers) will have any clue what Armstrong is singing about when it comes to phrases like “the age of hysteria” and “redneck agenda.” It’s nothing incredibly complicated, but certainly more complex than Good Charlotte’s “Shake it three times/ You’re playing with yourself” line.
Overall, American Idiot is a solid outing for the band. Despite all odds, they are staying true to their roots while still innovating enough to keep people interested in them. Then again, as Armstrong sings: “I don’t care if you don’t!” Wow, what a punk.
Grade: A/B
