Green Day
American Idiot
by Michael Nadeau

Give seminal 90s punk-rockers Green Day a ton of credit. Instead of falling into the poppy, shallow cauldron that has swallowed many of their contemporaries (Blink-182 and Good Charlotte come to mind) the maturing California trio turns out accessible, intelligent pop-punk for college-aged kids who grew up blasting Longview out of their boom boxes. American Idiot, an ambitious, smart concept album presenting a remarkable portrait of disillusioned Bush-era America, ranks with Dookie and Insomniac as the best work they have ever done.

Killer power-chord riffs -- the same ones that made Dookie so great -- propel American Idiot forward like a torpedo, but there's a new intelligence behind the band not seen in Green Day's earlier albums. Billie Joe Armstrong's lyrics have grown from teenage angst to adult cynicism, manifested in an assault on red-state values and politics. The title track mounts a vicious onslaught on conservative American attitudes ("Well maybe I'm the faggot America/I'm not a part of a redneck agenda") over a catchy four-chord punk attack. "Jesus of Suburbia," a powerful five-part, nine-minute-long examination of modern teenagers, tosses out golden lines such as ("No one ever died for my sins in hell/As far as I can tell/At least the ones I got away with").

The ready-for-radio "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" screams another tale of woe over a wicked delayed-guitar riff, while "We are the Waiting" provides the CD with the requisite ballad, complete with a scream-to-the-sky chorus. Best on the album, though, is the extraordinary "Holiday," possibly the finest song Green Day has ever done -- a four-minute explosion of rage against the rich, conservative ranks ("Hear the drum pounding out of time/Another protestor has crossed the line/To find, the money's on the other side").  As always, the underappreciated aspect of Green Day's success are the excellent rhythm duo of bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool, who provide a steady base for Armstrong's raw guitar chords. Armstrong's guitar work, while never flashy, radiates the same crude, pulsating power thrown out by Pete Townshend or Johnny
Ramone -- a punk Hendrix.

Unfortunately, Green Day can't sustain greatness through the whole album; American Idiot begins to lose focus towards the end, relying more on "When I Come Around"-soundalikes like "Extraordinary Girl" and "Whatshername" to finish up the tale. When it works, however, American Idiot jolts, shocks and surprises with intelligent, socially-conscious music. Billie Joe and company have moved beyond odes to self-love, boredom and excrement, and have aged gracefully, giving a sneer and raised middle finger to the establishment that would make The Clash or the Sex Pistols beam with delight.