Can't believe it's the same guys that made Dookie!!!

[Zoots]

Just watched the video for Wake Me Up When September Ends. What a good video and song! Green Day have more than proved themselves as good songwriters IMO. American Idiot is arguably the best record of the last 4 or 5 years! I was blown away the first time I heard it... the first time!!! It didn't have to grow on me at all unlike certain other *cough* atyclb *cough*. Holiday is my favorite song of 2004. Whatsername is one of the best closers I've ever heard. Still can't believe that it's the same 3 goofy guys of Dookie and Nimrod fame!

 

[the rockin edge]

american idiot rocks I haven't heard any of their other stuff though

 

[TheQuiet1]

Love WMUWSE! Took me a while to get into BOBD but love it now. Am not too keen on American Idiot. Haven't heard any of the other stuff.

American Idiot [album] certainly seems to have bought Green day a massive new fan base in the UK, so it must be doing something right!

 

[Zoots]

Took me a second to figure out what you meant by WMUWSE.

Holiday, Wake Me Up, Jesus of Suburbia and Whatsername are my favorites here I think. Boulevard is okay. Love 'Are We The Waiting'... a wall of sound so different from their style of punk!

Btw, I realize that there are other threads about American Idiot in the band index. And I know I'm gonna get a bunch of smilies for that! But I can't help it... I just never tire of this album, NEVER! I don't know how they're gonna top this with the next album!

 

[TheQuiet1]

Took me a second to figure out what you meant by WMUWSE.

I thought you might, and I especially thought BOBD would confuse people but what can I say? I guess I'm just lazy.

 

[one4u2]

Greenday

 

[Zoomerang96]

i'd say american idiot shits all over kid a, yes.

best album of the last 4-5 years? more like... best album of the last 45 years.

 

[Zoots]

i'd say american idiot shits all over kid a, yes.

best album of the last 4-5 years? more like... best album of the last 45 years.

I can't tell if you're serious or joking.

 

[Se7en]

i like dookie better. go figure.

nice eyeliner though.

 

[lmjhitman]

i'd say american idiot shits all over kid a, yes.

best album of the last 4-5 years? more like... best album of the last 45 years.

what the hell is going on here?

 

[Se7en]

insanity my dear sweet lmj.

 

[lmjhitman]

insanity my dear sweet lmj.

serenity now!

 

[Layton]

'September' is a great song. Wish the guitar solo in the middle was better, though. "Holiday" is a real good pop song. Right there with "Vertigo" and "Take Me Out" as the best pop/rock songs in recent years, although I'd put those 2 ahead of it. 'Broken Dreams' is nauseating to me. It sounds heavy handed, to me. 'Idiot' is another great song. It's got some force behind it. I like that. All in all, a big step forward for Green Day.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I think this is one of the two weakest songs off the album (the other being "Are We The Waiting") Green Day don't do the mushy ballad thing as well as their three-chord bulldozers, IMO.


And I wouldn't use a mediocre Radiohead album as the benchmark of the last 5 years either..

 

[hedgehog]

The 3 songs Ive heard from their new album are pretty decent, although our radio round here kind of spoilt WMUWSE for me by playing it way too much (still, Id rather that then the majority of the crap in the charts to be fair).

All decent songs, but have to say that from the songs Ive heard they aren't as good as they are hyped up to be though IMO.
Nothing Ive heard that would make me want to go out and buy their album anyway.

 

[cujo]

'Broken Dreams' is nauseating to me. It sounds heavy handed, to me.

Agreed. But, I would extend that sentiment towards the entire record, myself. The apparent parlor trick of a concept-album pulled off by Green Day doesn't hold much weight when you compare it with the rest of their catalogue. There has been no dramatic progression of their sound on the basis of an individual song, and the "new direction" for the band is simply a synthesis of a group of songs that are filled with the style that appealed to the masses in previous releases. Examples like Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) and Brian Stew come to mind as pre-cursors for Wake Me Up When September Ends and Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and a handful of others from Nimrod and Warning have the same feel. The "subversive" anti-authoritative/anti-institutional sentiments have always been present in Green Day records (Warning especially)... I guess the only change I see is that they are more subtle on a whole.

I would compare Green Day's transition with The Goo Goo Dolls' decision to become an adult contemporary band after the success of "Iris", but the more suitable reference would probably be with Coldplay's "evolution" from Parachutes to X and Y. I am solely talking about approach to styles and ideas there... the comparisons have nothing to do with a ranking or value judgement regarding any of those bands.

Is an album truly considered a masterpiece or a step forward when it is merely an aggregate of all the accessible sounds from a band's predecessor records? To me, that would be better classified as a retrospective or greatest hits... and a signal that the band may want to explore new ideas instead of a shiny, polished re-tread of what people responded to.

At the end of the DAY (GEDDIT!!!) though, American Idiot is still a well-produced and executed record that embarrasses the hell out of its mainstream rock counterparts. But is that really saying much?

 

[The OOTS]

Not bad for a bunch of 'three chord' wankers.

 

[VertigoGal]

I don't like AI...but I like that Good Riddance song from awhile ago. Mostly cos it's the only song I can play all the way through on guitar that doesn't sound like complete shit.

 

[cujo]

Not bad for a bunch of 'three chord' wankers.

au2fansayswhat?

 

[unosdostres14]

I like the old green day stuff better

 

[Badyouken]

I don't like AI...but I like that Good Riddance song from awhile ago. Mostly cos it's the only song I can play all the way through on guitar that doesn't sound like complete shit.

Yes, I also love playing this song. It reminds me of Seinfeld

 

[Se7en]

Is an album truly considered a masterpiece or a step forward when it is merely an aggregate of all the accessible sounds from a band's predecessor records?

is how to dismantle an atomic bomb not the absolute zenith of u2's creativity?

 

[cujo]

Isn't it though!

 

[lmjhitman]

is how to dismantle an atomic bomb not the absolute zenith of u2's creativity?

what the hell is going on here?

 

[Zoots]

American Idiot is miles ahead of How To Blah Blah Blah.

 

[Bono's shades]

I like the song "Wake Me Before September Ends" but I hated the sappy dialouge between the two young actors at the beginning of the video. I had to hit the mute button. I also couldn't stand the girl screaming "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" in the middle of the video.

 

[Se7en]

what the hell is going on here?

insanity my dear sweet lmj.

 

[Se7en]

American Idiot is miles ahead of How To Blah Blah Blah.

i'm sorry but this i cannot agree with.

 

[2Hearts]

Green Day is at their all-time best, while U2 is at their all-time worst.



Yes, I can write stupid posts with the best of 'em.

 

[Zoots]

i'm sorry but this i cannot agree with.

With AI, I see a band not only pushing their creative envelope and expanding their musical horizons but mastering them as well.

With HTDAAB, I see a band excelling in what they do best but also what they know will work and will give them more success for sure. There is no risk, no chances taken, just a formula for the most part.

Hence I prefer the former.