American Idiot: 10 years later

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by SITKOL'76, Sep 20, 2014.

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  1. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paradise
    That would actually be...
    [​IMG]

    or

    [​IMG]
     
    nosticker likes this.
  2. testikoff

    testikoff Seasoned n00b

    You thought wrong, dude :D
     
    Keith V likes this.
  3. boyjohn

    boyjohn Senior Member

    Really solid album, a good listen from start to finish. Loved the lyrics to the title song.
     
  4. Colgin

    Colgin Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I was a Green Day fan from pretty early on. American Idiot was great and seemed to be the right record at the right time. I loved it then and think it still holds up very well. Definitely a classic from the 00's IMO.
     
    Aftermath likes this.
  5. Raider4life

    Raider4life Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wenatchee, WA
    I still enjoy American Idiot and have been a fan since Dookie. Green Day is just an excellent rock & roll band.

    Tre Cool has one of the best rock & roll names ever.
     
  6. cgw

    cgw Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    I was not really interested in Green Day when they first came out (I was in my 30's at the time)(the first I really noticed them is when they played at the Ramones hall of fame induction). But American Idiot really caught my attention immediately. It may be the (for a lack of better term) more mature themes were more in keeping with where I was at the times.
    The follow up album is good and I now listen to the earlier stuff (and have seen them live).
     
  7. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    I can understand the nod to Kid A here, but for the life of me, I've never comprehended the massive accolades that the Strokes' debut has received in some circles. I don't think it's a bad album or anything, but it just sounds like pretty run of the mill indie rock, nothing extraordinary or groundbreaking. Their inability to come up with a really convincing follow up would seem to suggest that there wasn't much there to begin with.
     
  8. Vinyl Addict

    Vinyl Addict Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    Nit a fan. However i do have an American Idiot poster autograohed by the band lol
     
  9. RomanBlade

    RomanBlade Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I tried to get into Green Day but most of the stuff I heard from them is hard to understand the lyrics and that's frustrating for me. I still have this one sealed in my collection and I'm hoping it's easier to listen to than some of the other songs I heard from them.
     
  10. FastForward

    FastForward Forum Resident

    My collection is chock full of albums with great songs. Some have one great song, some have 2 or 3, fewer have more than that. Any album "of the moment" can stay on my turntable or player for weeks or months, until I reach a saturation point and burn out on it. The very, very few albums I own that I have never reached a saturation point on and can listen at any time and be as enthralled and entertained as I initially was are what I consider "landmark","defining","unrivaled" records. It's based on my ears, not some anonymous critic, not popular belief, or sales numbers. American Idiot is one of those albums. I can go back to it time and time again, and it's thrilling to hear. The guitars bite, the lyrics are insightful, the music is loud yet not overwhelming, from start to finish I can listen and feel comfortable with it, not disliking any part, not hitting the skip button, but full of a free flowing sort of pulse of energy blatantly punk yet with a smattering of classic rock homages, masking politics in the mix yet not offending with overt viewpoints. Some people call albums like this "deserted island records", the ones you would take with you if you were marooned on an island forever and only had music to entertain you. American Idiot would be among my island discs, and it would be in a case holder with remarkably few other albums, because good is easy to come by but great all the way through is the rarest commodity in music...
     
  11. HominyRhodes

    HominyRhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Until this album, I'd always dismissed Billie Joe and the boys as a punk-pop act, geared towards teenage girls. But in that post-9/11 era, American Idiot (and Springsteen's The Rising) really hit home with me. I saw them for the first time on that tour and was knocked out. The album was so well-written and well-produced, and the songs resonated with a lot of younger people. I still consider it to be Green Day in their prime, and I still use American Idiot in my 4th of July music mix.
     
    nosticker likes this.
  12. erniebert

    erniebert Shoe-string audiophile

    Location:
    Toronto area
    I don't think I was aware of this fact.
     
    BluesOvertookMe likes this.
  13. sbsugar

    sbsugar Representing Benton County since 2010

    I have always found this album to be derivitive and overrated...much like Green Day themselves. When you have to steal vocal hooks from Bryan Adams, that says a lot.

    NJB
     
    Complier likes this.
  14. Chris from Chicago

    Chris from Chicago Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes

    I don't mean to split hairs here... but I'm pretty sure it was the Snake River Canyon he jumped. Or tried to. Jeesh I'm getting old.
     
    wavethatflag likes this.
  15. abbeyroad2

    abbeyroad2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I played this to death when it first came out. I loved it. New releases hadn't effected me much in years when this came out. It was so epic at the time. I tried to play it recently and couldn't get through the first 2 songs. For me, it just doesn't stand the test of time. But, in it's defense, I have gone around the world and back in my musical taste since then. It's been a fun 10 years. I'm sure if I was in the proper mood and frame of mind I could enjoy this again.
     
  16. minerwerks

    minerwerks Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA
    I bought the album upon release as a Green Day fan and I thoroughly enjoyed it from the start. I was always impressed with the small ways the band tweaked their sound on "Nimrod" and "Warning," so it was gratifying to see them go even further on "American Idiot."

    In the past two years, I've twice had the opportunity to see the play based on this album, and that has served to remind me how much I enjoy these songs. In fact, the album has joined the ranks of the few in my collection where I enjoy each and every track.

    I'm intrigued how this album inspires strong reactions in both directions. There was an article on the Onion A.V. Club just a few months ago where comedian Jon Daly talked about hating "American Idiot" (http://www.avclub.com/article/comedian-jon-daly-why-he-hates-green-days-american-205293). Rather prejudically, the interview begins with the question, "Besides the obvious, why do you hate 'American Idiot'?" (What are these unstated "obvious" reasons to hate the song?) Ostensibly, it's a criticism of the song, but it seems to be more about Green Day turning the album "American Idiot" into a musical and reaping profit from it. Some of the comments seem to paint Billie Joe and Green Day as the architects of the musical for purely commercial reasons, which is not quite accurate to how the project came about.
     
  17. Sill Nyro

    Sill Nyro Forum Resident

    I used to love this album when I was in middle school. Great record.
     
  18. paulisme

    paulisme I’m being sarcastic

    Location:
    Charleston SC
    For family consumption? Their breakout hit Longview was about masturbation, and not at all subtle about it, either.
     
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  19. paulisme

    paulisme I’m being sarcastic

    Location:
    Charleston SC
    I bought it the week it came out. I was 24 and just starting a new job in a new city at the time it was released, and all the new friends I made were also into the album. 10 years later and we're all still at the same company and when I go to their desks I often catch them still listening to it. It definitely made an impression on us.

    It also allowed me to explain "gapless playback" to them back when the iPod still didn't have it but my Rio Karma did :)
     
  20. Pennywise

    Pennywise Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Sewers
    Yeah, whatever. you know what I meant.
     
    Chris from Chicago likes this.
  21. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident

    Agreed 100% about The Strokes. I'd much rather listen to Television - Marquee Moon and the 1st 4 Talking Heads LPs.

    Kid A, while not my fave Radiohead album, remains interesting.
     
  22. JuanTCB

    JuanTCB Senior Member

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    While it can get a little tiring to listen to compared to their earlier stuff (due to the length, mainly), it's still a great, great album. My favorite track is "Letterbomb" - a classic, ferocious Green Day moment, especially the final verse which, to me at least, is the climax of the whole opera.

    Amazon was selling the double album for, like, eight bucks a few months ago - I snagged it but have yet to give it a spin. I might have to do that tomorrow. That said, I think the success of Idiot took the band by surprise. To me, the only really good record they've done since was the Foxboro Hot Tubs project. I thought 21st Century Breakdown was awful (and insanely over-produced), and the Uno/Dos/Tre thing had about a side and a half total of good material. I'm hoping post-rehab Billie Joe has his focus back - he's a really good songwriter when he's on his game.
     
  23. For what it's worth, Acclaimed Music currently has American Idiot at #61 on their list of most critically acclaimed albums of the decade (2000s); and for the year 2004 alone, it comes in at #5.
     
  24. cdollaz

    cdollaz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, TX, USA
    I'll stick with Insomniac.
     
    EasterEverywhere likes this.
  25. Izozeles

    Izozeles Pushing my limits

    I stand about it. That's a topic even Miley Cyrus can address.
     
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