American Idiot (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Green Day > Reviews > Green Day off...Three chord discord.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Unmemorable
Value for Money

Advantages:	The first punk - prog concept album
Disadvantages:	The first punk - prog concept album !

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Proto-punk popsters Green Day are the reason we have Blink 182, Busted and the Lost Prophets.

You may already hate them on this information alone my friends.

They have also made one of the things mayhem punk came along to destroy, a concept album…and it’s about politics! (No, come back dear reader!)

A punk symphony is as strange as a white boy named after a brand of sweet becoming a hip-hop icon, Metallica working with an orchestra or the fat dancer from Take That becoming a multi-millionaire – oops! Crazy world!

These masters of the three-minute/chord pop song (whom you may remember from such festival faves as Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) Basket Case and Minority.) have based a whole album on pops at the George W Bush and his American cronies.

It’s all very reactionary. Everyone with a recording contract is Bush-thwacking at the moment. It’s all worthy and I can’t argue with the politics, but its getting a bit boring.

American Idiot begins with the single of the same name, the undeniable highlight of the album. Its high-energy stomp is the kind of song that makes it alright for 30-somethings like me to still bleach and spike our hair and feel everything is ok.

Its because we have grown up with Green Day providing this kind of single to soundtrack our lives and cheer us up during rainy festivals in Leeds.

When they submerge into the prog-rock mini-opera of Jesus of Suburbia however thoughts of Yes and Genesis come flooding back…Even the title reminds me of something. Anyone remember David Bowie’s Buddha of Suburbia? No? Exactly!

They do wear their influences on their sleeves. Extraordinary Girl is very much like late Jellyfish’s “The King Is Half Undressed” and I was sure there was a Manics song or three in there.

This isn’t a BAD album, far from it. It just isn’t a very good one. And Green Day have always raised the bar each time.

They will always be a singles band (hint: Spend two quid on the CD single rather than eight or nine on the album and use the saved cash to buy something by The Sex Pistols or Buzzcocks.

Perhaps a concept album with nine-minute epics on it is so un-punk it is kind of punk..

Even so I can hear Sid Vicious and half The Ramones turning in their graves.

I can imagine the sk8rs and shakers buying the album on the strength of the single being disappointed and actually looking forward to the next Offspring album.

You may already hate it from this information alone my friends!

*The band are due to appear on Later With Jools Holland tonight (Friday 15th October)