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American Idiot (Deluxe Version)

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Editors’ Notes

No one saw this one coming: three minute Berkeley punk rock heroes put together a compelling concept album (Punk Rock Opera) about a guy known as Jesus of Suburbia who suffers the rise and fall of the American Dream with a nine-minute track (“Jesus of Suburbia”) that splits into five parts as if it’s a tune from Rush. Other tracks follow in similar fashion, splitting into various parts. Characters such as St. Jimmy and Whatsername show up to advance a plotline that’s less important than the overall feeling that something’s going terribly wrong for everyone involved. Post-9/11, the world’s a mess and Billie Joe Armstrong summons up his inner Joe Strummer and Green Day’s Clash tendencies for the title track. But the most rewarding moments are when Armstrong lets his melodic firepower loose. “Holiday” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” use sweet choruses to express their fears and frustrations, with “Extraordinary Girl” and “Letterbomb” furthering the push for pure pop for the now concerned people. The “Deluxe Edition” contains several additional tracks outside the spectrum of the album’s original narrative that are welcomed additions to the Armstrong songwriting catalog (“Shoplifter”).

Customer Reviews

Great Album..Different But Good!

Green Day is known for American Idiot and Dookie. Some people say they sold out, but whatever, it's their opinion. This album is sort of a "rock opera", it tells the story of a teenager named Jimmy, who is reffered to as "Jesus of Suburbia" and also "Saint Jimmy". Saint Jimmy is Jimmy's darker side. JOS is Jimmy's rebellious and 'innocent' side. Both sides battle the troubles of adolesence, and also battle each other. Another character, Whatsername, plays a part in Jimmy's life. American Idiot- Jimmy's veiw of America Jesus of Suburbia- Introduces Jimmy as JOS, tells of hischildhood and begins his journey. Holiday- Tells he is living in the streets and is running away from everything. Also states some of his political veiws Boulevard of Broken Dreams- JOS is alone and doesnt have anywhere to go, all his happines from Holiday is gone. Are We The Waiting- He begins to doubt himself and who he is (ex: "the Jesus of Suburbia is a lie") St Jimmy- Saint Jimmy is introduced and the insanity and anger begins. Saint Jimmy is not afraid to kill and is 'bad to the bone' Give Me Novacaine- Saint Jimmy and JOS bond in JOS's mind. They do drugs together and JOS depends on St Jimmy. She's a Rebel- Whatsername is introduced. JOS falls in love with her. Extraordinary Girl- JOS's feelings about Whatsername Letterbomb- JOS and Whatsername break up. This is a letter to JOS from her, taunting him (ex: "Nobody likes you, everyone left you") Wake Me Up When September Ends- JOS is alone again. (on a side note, this song is also about lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong's father's death when Armstrong was 10 years old.) Homecomming- JOS realizes he wants to go home, but he has to get rid of St Jimmy. St Jimmy "kills himself" in JOS's mind. He is alone as life moves on around him. He misses Whatsername. He finally begins his journey home. Whatsername- JOS regrets losing Whatsername and wonders about her. The other songs are not directly in the story, although at some points do reffer to it. I love all Green Day's albums, and American Idiot is as good as all of the others. ----BillieJoeRulez----

Great Album - Not a sellout

A common misconception with American Idiot is that Green Day sold out to make this album. But people forget that just because an album is popular does not make it a sell out. Selling out is defined as when a band changes their sound intentionally for their audience in order to make money. Green Day's sound has evolved consistently from album to album. Dookie and Insomniac were quite similar, but Nimrod and Warning were all shifts in sound for the band. This shift was simply due to Green Day's own musical growth. If you have listened to Warning, you can see the stepping stones for American Idiot. Billie Joe's songwriting began to focus more on social commentary with songs like Warning, Macy's Day Parade, and Minority. American Idiot was the culmination of this change in songwriting style for the band. American Idiot was the first song written for the album. Billie Joe heard a country song on the radio that celebrated being an ignorant hillbilly, and was disgusted by it. And American Idiot was born. Then he came up with the idea to make it a rock opera. After they finished the album, Green Day was quite unsure whether the album would be successful, for the album was orginally crafted when nationalism was high. Green Day went against the grain with American Idiot, but it just happened to come at the right time when American sentiment toward the government was beginning to shift. No album by Green Day was more punk (and risky) than American Idiot, and just because it was insanely popular doesn't mean it wasn't punk or authentic. Green Day made punk mainstream, and that is something no other band has been able to do. And that says something.


The one-star is not to the five star album, but to iTunes. They called letterbomb a push for pure pop influence! The song frickin screams! How in any way is that song pop?


Formed: 1988 in Berkeley, CA

Genre: Alternative


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