| American Idiot | 
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| Artist: Green Day
Label: Reprise / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy Used: $1.52
You Save: $17.46 (92%)
New (62) Used (111) Collectible (1) from $1.52
Avg. Customer Rating:  2073 reviews
Sales Rank: 571
Format: Explicit Lyrics
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 48777
UPC: 093624877721
EAN: 0093624877721
ASIN: B0002OERI0
Publication Date: 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | American Idiot | | • | Jesus of Suburbia | | • | City Of The Damned | | • | I Don't Care | | • | Dearly Beloved | | • | Tales Of Another Broken Home | | • | Holiday | | • | Boulevard Of Broken Dreams | | • | Are We The Waiting | | • | St. Jimmy | | • | Give Me Novacaine | | • | She's a Rebel | | • | Extraordinary Girl | | • | Letterbomb | | • | Wake Me Up When September Ends | | • | The Death Of St. Jimmy | | • | East 12th St. | | • | Nobody Likes You | | • | Rock and Roll Girlfriend | | • | We're Coming Home Again | | • | Whatsername |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
For its first new set of music since 2000's Warning, Green Day tears up the blueprint and comes up with something unexpected: a punk rock concept album built around elaborate melodies, odd tempo changes, and a collection of songs that freely reference classic rock warhorses like the Beatles and Pink Floyd. "She's a Rebel" and "St. Jimmy" might sound like vintage Green Day, but the rest of the disc finds the Northern California trio trying on a variety of different guises: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a cliché-strewn Foo Fighters-style power ballad; "Extraordinary Girl" floats on Indian strings; and the hushed "Wake Me Up When September Ends" wouldn't sound entirely out of place on a Jessica Simpson record. It doesn't always work. "Dearly Beloved" eerily resembles the Alarm's "68 Guns," while the title track eerily resembles something Green Day has already done far too many times. But, overall, American Idiot represents a promising step forward. --Aidin Vaziri
Album Description
The first original album since 2000 from modern rock superheroes Green Day, American Idiot is one of the most anticipated and controversial albums of the year. Scathing yet self-effacing as it tells the tale of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, American Idiot is the punk rock epic. "A bold, polished punk opera." (Entertainment Weekly) "They're the biggest, most successful, punk band the world has ever seen. What's more, Green Day's next album may well be their masterpiece." (Kerrang!)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2068 more reviews...
 Blown away by this album September 27, 2004
534 out of 654 found this review helpful
First of all, I've been listening to Green Day since the time before Dookie and didn't like the last couple of albums...
American Idiot is one of the worst songs on this album and it's a pretty good song. If you're basing your decision on whether or not to buy this album based on that song, you're making a big mistake.
Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams are all completely different songs and take a different approach from their previous albums. Is this album less "punk" than their older stuff? Yes, it is. But, if you want to hear songs like Dookie, listen to Dookie. Get upset with a band when they take a step backward, not when they take a huge step forward and put out an album like this.
Call it maturing, artistic growth, whatever else you want to call it. This band has changed and it's a change for the better. I was a little hesitant to buy it but it was on sale so I picked it up 6 days ago with some other albums. I decided to listen to it first and I haven't listened to anything else since then. I haven't even listened to the other stuff I bought last week. This album is that good and everyone I know that has listened to it agrees with me.
Wow!! January 24, 2005
267 out of 346 found this review helpful
I was never what you would call a Green Day fan...sure I liked some of the hits off the first couple disks, but I pegged Green Day as another flash-in-the-pan 90's band like Sublime or Stone Temple Pilots. When I was given American Idiot as a Christmas gift it wasn't high on my priority list to listen to. Well just this past weekend I popped it in my stereo and I was blown away. This is not what I expected at all. I love the blend of musical elements found on American Idiot. You actually get a rich blend of punk rock and hard rock, mixed with a healthy dose of classic rock elements. This is the way music should be going. Instead of a nice, radio-friendly (i.e. boring)album, Green Day has put out one of the most innovative and addictive cd's of the new decade. The title song, which many reviewers are slamming, is the perfect tune to open the album. From the catchy chorus to the excellent drum track, and the great guitar work, American Idiot just clicks! You will not be able to get this tune out of your head! "Jesus of Suburbia" is amazing. The time changes, the lyrics, the variety of muscial styles.....you just have to hear this tune. I won't waste your time with a song-by-song rundown, but let me say that after three listens all the way through...I just can't find a week song on the album. If you are looking for an answer to today's American Idol-Jessica-Ashlee-Simpson-Spears-Timberlake no-talents...then treat yourself to some music that will get your blood pumping...music that features actual musicians. Pick up American Idiot!
Never have written an Amazon review, but I feel obliged... October 4, 2004
56 out of 63 found this review helpful
Although I annually listen to hundreds of albums in my capacity as music director at my University's radio station, I can safely say that this album is the most bracing, rich and rewarding album of the year. Certainly, it is not a superficially original album-the influences that range from the Who's mini-rock opera "A Quick One...", general power pop, punk and pure pop are immediately recognisable. However, Armstrong and company have created an immediately endearing and--surprisingly enough-transcendent work that functions and succeeds on so many levels.
I suspect that those who have matured with this band, and have witnessed the seeming intra-personal, political and intellectual collapse of this nation in the decade since "Dookie"-will find this album to be particularly affecting. (Particularly those of us, such as the reviewer, who have reached a point of their life at which past dreams and illusions are beginning to be elided by the pressing concerns of an exhausting and enervating, if lucrative, professional existence that will come into existence after graduation.)
I must note, however, that this album has been unfortunately vilified by a variety of groups.
Elitist indie-hipsters, who find impossible the prospect of enjoying an album that is not only released on a major label but also is commercially success, castigate the band as trite, mainstream and unoriginal.
Frozen-in-time `punks' castigate the album for not being 'punk' enough (as if a standard, universal definition of punk exists!)
Those with extraordinarily limited capabilities for analytical thought castigate the band for being anti-american or some other nonsense.
However, what these groups fail to realise is that:
(a) this is a work of personal art that rivals any other musical art released this year by ostensibly more trendy and legitimate artists;
(b) that the band only uses the nation's current militarism, paranoia and "red-neck" conservatism for providing the context for a highly individualized narrative that resonates beyond mere politics and imperialism;
(c) and most importantly, Green Day are no longer a simple punk band. Their transformation began with the occasionally awkward "Nimrod," continued with the heavily Kinks-influenced "Warning" and has reached its temporary apotheosis with "American Idiot." Although the band use punk dynamics occasionally, this dynamic is used in a broad context of guitar based pop. Would one consider Godspeed You Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky or Mono heavy guitar bans simply b/c they use hevay guitar dynamics within their epic compositions? Like many `punk' bands, Green Day are a pop band at heart, but unlike so many other bands, they are capable of structuring brilliant pop that is both musically and lyrically effective.
Therefore, if you are interesting in refreshing, abrasive guitar-based pop that perfectly captures a current moment in time and moments that occur in the individual lives of many, buy this album. Now.
An awesome album from an awesome band October 3, 2004
47 out of 47 found this review helpful
For those of you who are unaware that this is a rock opera, let me fill you in.
My take on the album:
American Idiot: An introduction to the setting and mood of the story; describes the current way of life in America and the issues some have with it.
Jesus of Suburbia:
I. Jesus of Suburbia: We are introduced to the main character, "Jesus of Suburbia," so named because he's a typical suburban kid (there's nothing wrong with me, this is how i'm supposed to be): his parents are divorced, he sits around watching TV, and experiments with drugs. He feels an emptiness in his life.
II. City of the Damned: Jesus' discontentment grows as he realizes the apathy of those surrounding him.
III. I Don't Care: Jesus sees how widespread people's indifference is.
IV. Dearly Beloved: Jesus notes the effect of this indifference on his own personal relationships.
V. Tales of Another Broken Home: Fed up to the point of breaking, Jesus leaves home in search of meaning and a purpose in his life.
Holiday: Jesus meditates on the problems with modern American government and society as he wanders the streets of the city to which he has run away.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Jesus laments his lonliness in this new place. This song hints at the upcoming emergence of St. Jimmy (I'm walking down the line that divides me somewhere in my mind).
Are We the Waiting: Still alone, Jesus wonders what will become of him. He comes to reject his identity (the Jesus of Suburbia is a lie) and decides to create a new one, leading to...
St. Jimmy: The introduction of "St. Jimmy," the punk street kid personality that Jesus invents to go along with his new life. This persona rejects the cushy suburban life led by Jesus; Jimmy is a violent, drug dealing, melevolant criminal. As Jimmy, he falls in with a crowd of like-minded youth in the city.
Give Me Novocaine: In accordance with his new personality, Jesus/Jimmy becomes increasingly reliant on drugs.
She's a Rebel: The introduction of "Whatsername," an anarchist/punk girl that Jimmy meets and falls in love with. Her nonconformist ideals appeal greatly to Jimmy.
Extraordinary Girl: Deals with Jimmy's frustration with his inability to express his true feelings for Whatsername, as well as the sadness and lonliness hidden underneath Whatsername's outwardly tough persona (she sees the mirror of herself, an image she wants to sell to anyone willing to buy ... she's all alone again, wiping the tears from her eyes).
Letterbomb: Perhaps the most complex and important song on the album, as far as the story is concerned. Jimmy's new life and the lives of his new friends settle down into a kind of boring monotony, much like Jimmy's old life as Jesus of Suburbia. Whatsername, however, still longs for the unbridled anarchy (Where have all the b******* gone? ... Where have all the riots gone?). She's become as disillusioned with her current life as Jesus was with his at the beginning of the story. She harshly criticizes Jimmy, telling him--possibly via writing a letter, which would explain the song's title--that his new personality is just as empty as his old one, and neither is his true self (You're not the Jesus of Suburbia, the St. Jimmy is a figment of your father's rage and your mother's love). Fed up, much like Jesus was at the beginning of the story, Whatsername leaves town, leaving Jesus/Jimmy behind.
Wake Me Up When September Ends: Jesus/Jimmy is alone again and depressed about Whatsername's decision to leave.
Homecoming:
I. The Death of St. Jimmy: A conflict between the character's two personalities in his own mind. It ends with the destruction of the "Jimmy" personality (Jimmy died today, he blew his brains out into the bay. In this state of mind is my own private suicide).
II. East 12th St.: The Jesus persona is back, and leading the same kind of empty existence he fled from previously. He holds a boring job (Jesus filling out paperwork now at the facility on East 12th Street). He once again longs to escape, but remains stuck where he is.
III. Nobody Likes You: Overcome once more with loneliness, Jesus sits alone and feels sorry for himself.
IV. Rock and Roll Girlfriend: Once more longing to break free, Jesus has a midlife crisis and goes through a wild, "rock and roll" binge phase.
V. We're Coming Home Again: Unable to find meaning in anything, Jesus returns to his boring, middle class suburban life (their time has come and it's gone nowhere, nobody ever said that life was fair). Basically, Jesus ends up right back where he started, older but not much wiser, unable to find the fulfillment and meaning in his life that he went searching for so long ago. However, even though the character basically ends up as the kind of "loser" he always wanted to avoid becoming, he does find some kind of comfort in returning to his original empty existence.
Whatsername: After all is said and done, Jesus looks back at his life and wonders if Whatsername ever found the fulfillment he was never able to. Although he laments the fact that they did not end up together, and will likely always see her as "the one that got away" (there are strong indications that he misses her more for what she represented than for who she was, but it seems obvious that he does miss her: the regrets are useless, in my mind, she's in my head, i must confess), he takes comfort in remembering the times they shared.
Well, that's just my interpretation of the story. It's probably not entirely right, and perhaps it's completely wrong, but it's what I got out of the lyrics. For what it's worth, I found it to be a compelling and satisfying story.
 Green day - thumbs down February 13, 2005
37 out of 121 found this review helpful
Green Day, a band that never really impressed me anyway, has taken a sharp decline in my opinion.
The video to "american idiot" showing the flag of the USA in green, then bleeding, is blasphemous enough, but the lyrics are the real offense. Green Day is pandering to the elitist left-wing snobs in this country as well as England, and I've been thoroughly turned off by their whining. If they dislike the United States this much, then they can get the hell out.
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