American Idiot
The opening title track certainly does a great job of opening the LP, with it's signature riff maybe being the most recognisable Green Day have ever come up with. It stands alone from the rest of the album with it's overtly political themes aimed at Bush's America and paints a picture of a pacified country that does nothing but follow what the media tells them. It's brevity and rigid verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure makes the next track even more surprising than it already is...
Jesus Of Suburbia
This track is the 9-minute behemoth of 'Jesus of Suburbia', widely considered to be Green Day's best ever song (along with several others we'll get to), with it's 5 distinct parts that are all equally amazing. The song starts off with 'i. Jesus of Suburbia' which introduces the main character of the plot, Jesus, a lower-middle class adolescent frustrated in America. Here, Billie Jones Armstrong also shows what you can do with just two power-chords. 'ii. City Of The Damned' builds upon this character along with the best of the 3 distinct hooks of the song. This transforms into 'iii. I Don't Care' which has a brilliant shout-along hook of "I don't care if you don't care!". The bombast quietens down to become 'iv. Dearly Beloved', a sweet acoustic guitar ballad that quickly morphs into the final section: 'v. Tales of Another Broken Home' which brings the track back up to the epic high of the opening track. When consumed whole (as it should always be), it gives a great idea of Jesus' character and just sounds incredible. For me it stands with 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'Paranoid Android' as a multi-part song in a league of it's own.
Holiday/ Boulevard of Broken Dreams
The second overtly political song on the album after the opener and one of the big singles, this is a rip-roaring criticism of Bush with another instantly recognisable riff. This is followed by the biggest song of Green Day's career, the number 2 charting, pop-culture ingrained 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'. With it's shuddering tremolo opening and acoustic guitar led verses before exploding into a heartbreaking yet uplifting chorus and hellish outro, it's easy to see why so many latched onto it and helped it sell 5 million copies worldwide.
The middle of the album
Tracks 5-10 are all great songs that work extremely well in the context of the album, as they set up and contain many of the characters and events of the plot. 'Are We the Waiting' is a stadium-ready anthem that goes extremely well with 'Blvd. Of Broken Dreams', and this transitions into the blistering punk of 'St. Jimmy', which introduces Jimmy as an anarchist criminal leading a revolution. This is followed by acoustic-led 'Give Me Novacaine', which has one of the best hooks on the LP. 'She's a Rebel' and 'Extraordinary Girl' both work together to introduce whatsername, who is leading a parallel revolution to St.Jimmy but one which is based on love rather than hate. 'Rebel' has one of the biggest earworm melodies on the album and 'Extraordinary Girl' has another great riff. The middle of the album ends with 'Letterbomb', which covers whatsername leaving Jesus behind a failing revolution.
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Another of the most recognisable songs in Green Day's discography and the most heartbreaking, 'September' has 3 different meanings. In the context of the album it represents Jesus' depression at being left by whatsername, but more sadly also represents the death of Billie Joe Armstrong's father and the 9/11 twin tower attacks. It has survived as the commemorative anthem of these attacks, which has only made the song harder to listen to over the years. The solo is enough to make anybody cry.
Homecoming
The second of the massive 9 minute+ tracks on the album, 'Homecoming' is less cohesive but as a trade-off is even more experimental than 'Jesus of Suburbia'. It starts with 'The Death of St. Jimmy', which does what it says on the tin and describes the death of the revolution, and after an interlude this is demonstrated in 'East 12th St.'. Now Jesus has given up on being a revolutionary as spends his time filling paperwork in an office. The frustration builds up until Mike Dirnt steps up to lead vocals on 'Nobody Likes You', which matches 'I Don't Care' for sing-a-long potential before bursting into the absurd, Tre Cool led 'Rock and Roll Girlfriend', taking the form of a letter form St. Jimmy to Jesus filled with jazzy, ludicrously upbeat instrumentation. The suite ends with 'We're Coming Home Again', itself in two distinct halves, the first being pop-perfection if only for 4 lines, while he second is a marching beat, mission statement of a triumphant return that would have ended the album on a high - but Green Day had one more trick left...
Whatsername
With it's palm muted guitars and dry drumming, 'Whatsername' is a gut-punching moment of sobriety as Jesus remembers sadly whatsername and then bursts into anger and tearfulness at the last moments when he can't contain the sadness anymore. It's depressing in a very different, more personal way than 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' and ends the album with one of it's most potent lines: "Forgetting you, but not the time."
So all in all, 'American Idiot' is a masterpiece, where every song is incredible and yet also works as part of a cohesive whole. Arguments about whether it's better than 'Dookie' are irrelevant - the albums are so different they may as well be made by different bands. 'American Idiot' changed the way political music could break into the mainstream and made Green Day bigger than ever, and all deservedly so.
10/10
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