By Brian Jurilla
By Brian Jurilla
It has been four years since we last heard from the trio known as Green Day. It can be easily said that the wait was worth it (unlike another trio whose return was not worth the wait). Billy Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt return with American Idiot (Reprise), a politically charged album that doesn’t give the message of fighting the system or telling the listener to go out and help the band fix the problems of the world. Instead the album tells of confusion in the world that is felt by Americans today. The song “American Idiot” talks about the confusion, paranoia and hysteria of American’s after the events of 9/11 that is given to us on a daily basis by the American media. Armstrong gives lyrics to his feelings “Welcome to a new kind of tension, all across the alienation, where everything isn’t meant to be o.k. Television dreams of tomorrow, were not the ones meant to follow, for that’s enough to argue.”
The album introduces characters Jesus of Suburbia, St. Jimmy and WHATSHERNAME and are referenced throughout the album. There is no one particular highlight on the album, but there are two songs that help portray the stories of the characters in “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Homecoming” are about 9 minutes each is where you hear a sound that you wouldn’t expect to hear from a band like Green Day. Emotion can be felt in songs like “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” portraying the feeling of loneliness, and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” brings the feeling of wanting the month to pass after 9/11. And the album finishes with the song “WHATSHERNAME” finishing the story of the young woman introduced earlier in the album ending on a good note.
There aren’t many bands out there today that can bring an album like this, but Green Day has done it and continues to please fans. Though many bands are delivering the anti-Bush message to it’s listeners, this album is different. American Idiot has a more lasting feel to it with songs at breakneck speed when you listening you don’t even realize that the entire album is almost an hour long and is not as forgettable as the Beastie Boys’ politically charged To The 5 Boroughs. This is an album that everyone should pick up. New or old fans, young and old will enjoy this album and will find at least one song on the album that they can relate to.
