American Idiot

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American Idiot
Studio album by Green Day
Released September 21, 2004
Recorded 2003–2004 at Studio 880, Oakland, and Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, California
Genre Punk rock, pop punk, alternative rock
Length 57:16
Label Reprise
Producer Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Professional reviews
Green Day chronology
Warning
(2000)		 American Idiot
(2004)
Singles from American Idiot
  1. "American Idiot"
    Released: September 14, 2004
  2. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
    Released: November 29, 2004
  3. "Holiday"
    Released: March 28, 2005
  4. "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
    Released: June 13, 2005
  5. "Jesus of Suburbia"
    Released: October 25, 2005

American Idiot is the seventh studio album by American punk rock band Green Day, released on September 21, 2004 (see 2004 in music) on Reprise Records. Co-produced with longterm collaborator Rob Cavallo, American Idiot is a rock opera that follows the life of "Jesus of Suburbia", a sort of anti-hero created by Billie Joe Armstrong.

After Green Day recorded about 20 songs in 2003, intended as an album called Cigarettes and Valentines, they spent three months recording new music. The first song, "American Idiot", was followed by the recording of the two nine-minute songs on the album. The band decided to produce a concept album, inspired by The Who and numerous musicals. Following early recording at Oakland, California's Studio 880, the band finished the album in Los Angeles.

American Idiot achieved popularity worldwide, charting in 26 countries and hitting number one in nineteen of them, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Since its release, American Idiot has sold over 15 million copies worldwide, including 267,000 in its opening week.[1][2] The album won numerous awards including a Grammy for Best Rock Album, and was received mostly well by music critics.

Contents

Background and recording

In mid-2003, Green Day convened at Studio 880 in Oakland, California, and recorded about 20 songs for a new album titled Cigarettes and Valentines.[3][4] However, the master tracks went missing.[5] The band, wondering if it should re-record the songs, consulted with Rob Cavallo over what to do. Cavallo told the band members to ask themselves if the missing tracks represented their best work.[6] Guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong said the band members "couldn't honestly look at ourselves and say, 'That was the best thing we've ever done.' So we decided to move on and do something completely new."[3] The band members agreed to spend the next three months writing new material.[7]

The first new song Green Day wrote was "American Idiot". The band had difficulty following it up. One day, bassist Mike Dirnt was in the studio recording a 30-second song by himself. Armstrong decided he wanted to do the same, and drummer Tré Cool followed suit. Armstrong recalled, "It started getting more serious as we tried to outdo one another. We kept connecting these little half-minute bits until we had something." This musical suite became "Homecoming", and the band subsequently wrote another suite, "Jesus of Suburbia". Armstrong was so emboldened by the creation of the two suites that he decided to make the record an album-long conceptual piece. The band took inspiration from concept records by The Who, as well as musicals including West Side Story and Jesus Christ Superstar.[3] During their sessions at Studio 880, the members of Green Day spent their days writing material and would stay up late, drinking and discussing music. The band set up a pirate radio station from which it would broadcast jam sessions, along with occasional crank calls.[5]

With demos completed, Green Day relocated to Los Angeles to continue work on the album.[8] The group first recorded at Ocean Way Recording, then moved to Capitol Studios to complete the album.[3] Armstrong said, "As a songwriter, I get so deep into what I'm writing about, it's almost like I have to stir up shit to write about it." The band admitted to partying during the L.A. sessions; Armstrong had to schedule vocal recording sessions around his hangovers. Armstrong described the environment, "For the first time, we separated from our pasts, from how we were supposed to behave as Green Day. For the first time, we fully accepted the fact that we're rock stars."[5]

Music

American Idiot is a concept album that tells the story of a central character named Jesus of Suburbia. The album was a departure from Green Day's typical way of writing music. Armstrong said, "As soon as you abandon the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge [song] structure … it opens up your mind to this different way of writing, where there really are no rules." Armstrong said the band aimed to be ambitious, which he felt many contemporary rock bands were not.[3]

The band favored loud guitar sounds for the record; Armstrong said "we were like, 'Let's just go balls-out on the guitar sound--plug in the Les Pauls and Marshalls and let it rip'". The guitarist played more lead guitar on the album than he had on any previous release, which he said he previously shied away from for fear of sounding "corny". Armstrong added tracks of acoustic guitar-playing throughout the record to augment his electric guitar rhythms and Cool's drumming, creating a percussive sound.[3]

Story

The album's protagonist, Jesus of Suburbia, emerged out of Armstrong asking himself what sort of person the title of "American Idiot" referred to. Armstong described the character as essentially an anti-hero, a powerless "everyman" desensitized by a "steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin".[3] Jesus of Suburbia hates his town and those close to him, so he leaves for the city.[9] As the album progresses the characters St. Jimmy and Whatsername are introduced. St. Jimmy is punk rock freedom fighter. Whatsername, inspired by the Bikini Kill song "Rebel Girl", is a "Mother Revolution" figure that Armstrong described as "kind of St. Jimmy's nemesis in a lot of ways". Both characters illustrate the "rage vs. love" theme of the album, in that "you can go with the blind rebellion of self-destruction, where Saint Jimmy is. But there's a more love-driven side to that, which is following your beliefs and ethics. And that's where Jesus of Suburbia really wants to go", according to Armstrong. Near the end of the story, St. Jimmy apparently commits suicide. While the singer did not want to give away the details of the story's resolution, he said the intention is for the listener to ultimately realize that Jesus of Suburbia is really St. Jimmy, and Jimmy is "part of the main character that pretty much dies". The reason for St.Jimmy's suicide is because of the Jesus of Suburbia's conformity to regular life, illustrated in "Homecoming: East 12th Street" with "Jesus filling out paperwork now At the facility on east 12th st". Jesus of Suburbia longs to have the St.Jimmy personality back to break conformity and "be free" as heard in the same song by saying " I don't want to stay Get me out of here right now I just wanna be free". Then, in "Homecoming: Nobody Likes You" it is said that Jesus of Suburbia's relationship with Whatsername is starting to fade away. In the album final song, "Whatsername", Jesus of Suburbia loses his connection with Whatsername as well.[3]

Release and reception

Upon American Idiot's release in September 2004, American Idiot peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It achieved five times Platinum status in the United States, eight times platinum status in Canada and six times platinum status in the United Kingdom.

With the album came the singles "American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday", "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and "Jesus of Suburbia"; all of which had accompanying music videos. All the singles charted on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Charts and number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks. Its music video received heavy airplay on music television.

Allmusic praised the album from both perspectives; either as "a collection of great songs", or as a whole.[10] Pitchfork Media said the "ambitious" album was successful in getting across its message, and "keeps its mood and method deliberately, tenaciously, and angrily on point".[11] Uncut wrote that although the album was heavily politically focused, "slam-dancing is still possible", in a moderate review,[12] while The New York Times praised Green Day for trumping "any pretension with melody and sheer fervor".[13]

Entertainment Weekly said that despite being based on a musical theatre concept "that periodically makes no sense", Green Day "make the journey entertaining enough". It described most of the songs as forgettable, though, arguing the album focuses more on lyrics than music.[14] Robert Christgau's C+ said the album featured "emotional travails of two clueless punks" using "devices that sunk under their own weight back when The Who invented them",[15] and The Guardian called American Idiot a mess—"but a vivid, splashy, even courageous mess".[16] Rolling Stone said the album could have been, and was, a mess, but that the "individual tunes are tough and punchy enough to work on their own".[17]

In 2005, American Idiot won a Grammy for Best Rock Album and was nominated in four other categories including Album of the Year. The album helped Green Day win seven of the eight awards they were nominated for at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards; the "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" video won six of those awards. A year later, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" won a Grammy for Record of the Year.

Legacy

In late 2005, Dean Gray released a mash-up version of the album—called American Edit—and became a cause célèbre when the artist was served with a cease and desist order by Green Day's record label. Tracks include "Dr. Who on Holiday" and "Boulevard of Broken Songs". Billie Joe Armstrong later stated that he heard one of the songs on the radio and enjoyed it.[18]

Film adaptation

Shortly after the album was released there was speculation that American Idiot might be made into a movie. VH1 quoted Armstrong as saying "We've definitely been talking about someone writing a script for it, and there's been a few different names that have been thrown at us. It sounds really exciting, but for right now it's just talk."[19] Armstrong later stated that shooting would begin for American Idiot: The Motion Picture in 2006, stressing, "We want to see how it turns out first so that it doesn't suck."[20] On June 1, 2006 Armstrong announced in an interview with MTV.com that "it's definitely unfolding" and that "every single week there's more ideas about doing a film for American Idiot, and it's definitely going to happen,"[21] but the band later said, "It is gonna take a little while." Armstrong mentioned that this project is currently on hold to work on their music.[22]

Tracklisting

All lyrics by Armstrong and music by Green Day.

CD

  1. "American Idiot" – 2:54
  2. "Jesus of Suburbia" – 9:08
    1. "Jesus of Suburbia" - 1:50
    2. "City of the Damned" - 1:51
    3. "I Don't Care" - 1:44
    4. "Dearly Beloved" - 1:05
    5. "Tales from Another Broken Home" - 2:38
  3. "Holiday" – 3:52
  4. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" – 4:20
  5. "Are We the Waiting" – 2:43
  6. "St. Jimmy" – 2:55
  7. "Give Me Novacaine" – 3:25
  8. "She's a Rebel" – 2:00
  9. "Extraordinary Girl" – 3:33
  10. "Letterbomb" – 4:06
  11. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" – 4:45
  12. "Homecoming" - 9:18
    1. "The Death of St. Jimmy" - 2:24
    2. "East 12th Street" - 1:38
    3. "Nobody Likes You!" - 1:18
    4. "Rock 'n' Roll Girlfriend" - 0:47
    5. "We're Coming Home Again" - 3:11
  13. "Whatsername" - 4:14

LP

Side one

  1. "American Idiot"
  2. "Jesus of Suburbia"

Side two

  1. "Holiday"
  2. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
  3. "Are We the Waiting"
  4. "St. Jimmy"

Side three

  1. "Give Me Novacaine"
  2. "She's a Rebel"
  3. "Extraordinary Girl"
  4. "Letterbomb"
  5. "Wake Me Up When September Ends"

Side four

  1. "Homecoming"
  2. "Whatsername"

Personnel

Chart positions

Peak chart positions
Chart (2005/2006) Peak
position		 Certifications Sales/shipments Ref.
Australia Albums Chart 1 6x Platinum 420,000 [23][24]
Austrian Albums Chart 1 2x Platinum 80,000 [25][24]
Canadian Albums Chart 1 8x Platinum 800,000 [26][27]
Irish Album Chart 1 8x Platinum 120,000 [28]
Norwegian Album Chart 1 [24]
Swedish Album Chart 1 Platinum 60,000 [29][24]
Swiss Album Chart 1 2x Platinum 80,000 [30][24]
UK Albums Chart 1 6x Platinum 1,800,000 [31][32]
US Billboard 200 1 5x Platinum 5,000,000 [26][33]
Finnish Album Chart 2 [24]
New Zealand Album Chart 2 4x Platinum 60,000 [34][24]
German Album Chart 3 2x Platinum 400,000 [35][24]
Danish Album Chart 4 Platinum 40,000 [36][24]
French Album Chart 4 Platinum 375,600 [37][24]
Dutch Album Chart 4 Gold 40,000 [38][24]
Italian Album Chart 5 3x Platinum 300,000 [24]
Belgian Albums Chart 8 Gold 25,000 [39][24]
Portuguese Album Chart 15 [24]
Spanish Album Chart 22 [24]

Note: for all the certification definitions see: Certifications

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Winwood, Ian. Kerrang! Interview. Kerrang!, p. 32.
  2. ↑ Edna Gundersen (September 29, 2004). Green Day hits No. 1. USA Today. Accessed July 28, 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 di Perna, Alan. "Combat Rock". Guitar World. Holiday 2004.
  4. ↑ Spitz, p. 152
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Pappademas, Alex. "Power to the People (With Funny Haircuts)". Spin. November 2004.
  6. ↑ Spitz, p. 153
  7. ↑ Spitz, p. 154
  8. ↑ Spitz, p. 166
  9. ↑ Spitz, p. 165
  10. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. American Idiot > Overview. Allmusic. Accessed July 23, 2008.
  11. ↑ Johnny Loftus (September 24, 2004). American Idiot - Green Day. Pitchfork Media. Accessed July 23, 2008.
  12. ↑ Green Day - American Idiot. Uncut. Accessed July 23, 2008.
  13. ↑ Jon Pareles (September 26, 2004). Putting Her Money Where Her Music Video Is. The New York Times. Accessed July 23, 2008.
  14. ↑ David Browne (September 24, 2004). American Idiot. Entertainment Weekly. Accessed July 23, 2008.
  15. ↑ Robert Christgau. Green Day reviews. Accessed July 23, 2008.
  16. ↑ Dorian Lynskey (September 17, 2004). Green Day, American Idiot. The Guardian. Accessed July 23, 2008.
  17. ↑ Rob Sheffield (September 30, 2004). Green Day: American Idiot. Rolling Stone. Accessed July 23, 2008.
  18. ↑ James Montgomery (December 20, 2005). Green Day Mash-Up Leads to Cease and Desist Order. MTV. Accessed July 29, 2008.
  19. ↑ Corey Moss (September 21, 2004) Green Day COnsidering Movie Version of American Idiot. VH1. Accessed August 3, 2008.
  20. ↑ [1]
  21. ↑ Green Day Promise Next LP Will Be 'An Event' - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
  22. ↑ GDA | Current GD Projects
  23. ↑ Australia
  24. ↑ 24.00 24.01 24.02 24.03 24.04 24.05 24.06 24.07 24.08 24.09 24.10 24.11 24.12 24.13 24.14 "American Idiot Chart positons". australian-charts.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-24.
  25. ↑ Austria
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved on 2008-06-24.
  27. ↑ "CRIA Certifications". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on 2008-06-24.
  28. ↑ Ireland
  29. ↑ Sweden
  30. ↑ Switzerland
  31. ↑ United Kingdom
  32. ↑ "British Album Chart". Chart Stats. Retrieved on 2008-06-24.
  33. ↑ "RIAA Certifications". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2008-06-24.
  34. ↑ New Zealand
  35. ↑ Germany
  36. ↑ Denmark
  37. ↑ France
  38. ↑ Netherlands
  39. ↑ Belgium

External links

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Suit by Nelly
Encore by Eminem		 Billboard 200 number-one album
October 3, 2004 – October 9, 2004
January 16, 2005 – January 29, 2005		 Succeeded by
Feels Like Today by Rascal Flatts
The Documentary by The Game
Preceded by
Out of Nothing by Embrace
Greatest Hits by Robbie Williams		 UK number one album
October 2, 2004 – October 8, 2004
January 9, 2005 – January 15, 2005		 Succeeded by
Mind, Body & Soul by Joss Stone
Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters
Preceded by
The Sound of White by Missy Higgins		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
September 27, 2004 – October 10, 2004		 Succeeded by
The Chronicles of Life and Death by Good Charlotte
Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong · Mike Dirnt · Tré Cool
Jason White · Jason Freese · John Kiffmeyer
Studio albums
39/Smooth · Kerplunk · Dookie · Insomniac · Nimrod · Warning · American Idiot
Studio EPs
1,000 Hours · Slappy · Sweet Children
Compilations
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours · International Superhits! · Shenanigans
Live albums
Live at Gilman Street · Live Tracks · Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking · Foot in Mouth · Tune in, Tokyo... · Bullet in a Bible
DVDs
International Supervideos! · Riding in Vans with Boys · Bullet in a Bible
Singles
"Longview" · "Welcome to Paradise" · "Basket Case" · "She" · "When I Come Around" · "J.A.R." · "Geek Stink Breath" · "Stuck with Me" · "Brain Stew"/"Jaded" · "Walking Contradiction" · "Hitchin' a Ride" · "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" · "Redundant" · "Nice Guys Finish Last" · "Minority" · "Warning" · "Waiting" · "Macy's Day Parade" · "Poprocks & Coke" · "I Fought the Law" · "American Idiot" · "Shoplifter" · "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" · "Holiday" · "Wake Me Up When September Ends" · "Jesus of Suburbia" · "The Saints Are Coming" · "Working Class Hero" · "The Simpsons Theme"
Related articles
Discography · Awards · Pop Disaster Tour · Cigarettes and Valentines · American Edit · Live Freaky! Die Freaky! · Adeline Records · California punk scene · Rock Against Bush · Skull Ring · Other projects
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