Manufactured doesn't mean its bad. Some people like that, that's why they made it.
All pop music is manufactured. Does that mean Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are bad?
american idiot is 10 years old this year
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Manufactured doesn't mean its bad. Some people like that, that's why they made it.
All pop music is manufactured. Does that mean Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are bad?
BUNTING1243
Banned
I'm a recovering Green Day fan, but anyone who says this album is terrible is goddamned liar.
Because pop punk is the commercialization of a genre founded on anti-consumerism. It doesn't make sense.
That's not what punk is. Punk is just anti-whatever.
To many people, yes.
Back on topic, this album wasn't really that bad as far as fun commercial guitar driven albums go.
I totally feel how this album bothered a lot of fans since it was a once major punk band "selling out", but outside of that viewpoint it was a decent album with some okay musicianship and fun songs to listen to.
Edit: I went to listen to Jesus of Suburbia since I haven't heard it in at least 5 years, and wow did they ever cut a lot out of the video to play it on TV. I miss those days when watching music videos on TV was cool to me.
Jazzy Network
Member
I enjoy the album. I don't give a shit if its commercialized or popular or whatever. If I enjoy it, I don't give a fuck.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
I thought it was cute when (I think it was a Rollling Stone interview) they were discussing burning an American flag on stage but was worried that it was illegal. Little did they know that it's a protected form of free speech.
Oblivionmancer
Member
I consider myself largely immune to nostalgia in general, but this here's the exception. This album kind of is high school to me. And it seemed pretty badass and so like my life and so on at the time.
This.
This album proved to me, personally, that Green Day had sold out. This album, the months leading up its release and everything after was all pure shit.
However.
To those who enjoy it, I respect that.
That's dumb. Music is subjective. Arguing that your kind of music is better because its not "manufactured" is just silly.
blame space
Banned
wait, liking things is subjective?
This (and a lot of green days recent work) would probably be a lot better if the production wasn't so "clean." Everything's too perfect. Listen to this cover by them. Eek.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
This album kicked ass
Serpentine
Banned
I loved it when it came out, but I don't anymore. gave it a listen like a year or two ago, and nope, still not good, though i still love a lot of Green Day stuff pre-AI (even Warning!). there's a few good tracks on here that are aight though
Booty Patrol
Banned
I don't use.
Indeed, music is subjective. To some people perhaps music that is manufactured is less passionate or spontaneous or natural or raw or whatever.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong to dislike manufactured music, I'm just saying that there are people who do prefer music that feels less manufactured.
Like the hat?
Banned
Far from my favorite green day album, but still good. Been a fan since kerplunk.
RumblingRosco
Member
Boulevard of Broken Dreams is one of my favorite songs of all-time. It's mostly just nostalgia at this point, but yeah, I can't help but still enjoy it.
Surface of Me
I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
green day is such a pleb band, even weezer is better
Dookie is 20 years old. I give props to the band for sticking around. But they were at their best at their most teenage stupid. When they tried to get political and such they were just so far out of their league. I guess if you were 13 at the time, maybe that album was somehow inspiring to you. But even the song American Idiot describes the band more then it does the subject of their angst. It is like Beavis and Butthead woke up one day and felt they had something to say.
To Far Away Times
Member
There are few moments where you can pick an exact time and place and say "this is when a particular band sold out." This is one of those times.
SpectreFire
Member
But punk isn't anti-establishment. Punk is doing whatever the hell makes you happy and to give fuck all about the haters.To me, it's like Jay-Z selling Occupy Wall Street shirts for personal/corporate profit. Or mass-produced Che Guevara shirts. They're selling an anti-establishment image. It's just fundamental hypocrisy.
Green Day's been doing a pretty damn good job at it.
I never understood this sentiment at all. Green Day went from being a massively popular pop punk band... to a massively popular pop punk band with this album. How did they sell out?
I still think it's great fuck all y'all
Uno/Dos/Tre can die in a fire though, Billie Joe does not have the songwriting chops to write three albums of good material in a single go. Shit, most of the time he doesn't have the chops to do one good album.
Uno/Dos/Tre can die in a fire though, Billie Joe does not have the songwriting chops to write three albums of good material in a single go. Shit, most of the time he doesn't have the chops to do one good album.
Also all y'all motherfuckers hatin' on Weezer gonna get clubbed in the head with my copy of The Pinkerton Diaries
This album is particularly nostalgia-inducing to me cuz it was around the time I came to the country and I'd listen to American Idiot and other songs all the time on the radio. Love Angel Music Baby by Gwen Stefani evokes similar feelings which will also turn 10 this year, like both of those albums.
It's a great song, but it seemed to be a tad overplayed at the time.
Doctor Decimate
Member
as a concept album it's kind of horrible, but individually i do like American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, St. Jimmy, and Letterbomb.
Serpentine
Banned
yeah it felt like they recorded too many songs, and were like "fuck it let's release ALL OF THEM." I thought Dos was pretty fun though.
I actually don't think this album is bad. The singles were over played, and not all of them were great. And yeah, the political messages are pretty cheesy. But I don't really get the hate this album gets. As someone that grew up with Green Day's music (all the way back to Dookie), to me, this was one of their more progressive albums. At least to me, all the non-singles on this album are pretty great. And songs like Homecoming and Jesus of Suburbia are a lot of fun (they are pop punk on Crack. All the movements are catchy as hell).
SO yeah, even in the context of their overall career, I have no issue with this album. At least to me, it was the last great thing they put out. 21st Century was a bloated mess. Uno, Dos, Tres had some decent singles (but overall was a mess). Ironically, I knew a lot of older people that loved this album, because it reminded them of the Who and other classic rock acts that put out concept
albums. YEAH I'm not saying this is of the quality of the Who. Obviously. But I just find it funny how diverse the opinions on this record are.
SO yeah, even in the context of their overall career, I have no issue with this album. At least to me, it was the last great thing they put out. 21st Century was a bloated mess. Uno, Dos, Tres had some decent singles (but overall was a mess). Ironically, I knew a lot of older people that loved this album, because it reminded them of the Who and other classic rock acts that put out concept
albums. YEAH I'm not saying this is of the quality of the Who. Obviously. But I just find it funny how diverse the opinions on this record are.To me, the album has merit if you take the cheesy political messages as St. Jimmy's naive response to his environment/feeling of being an outcast/not really knowing what he's about, as a way of dealing with them. Eventually, that's not enough so he turns to drugs, but that's not enough so he kills himself.
But if I want to think about the album like that I'll just listen to Against Me's Reinventing Axl Rose because it does a much better job of that theme.
Yeah, I mean there is a story being told here. It's a simplistic one, but it's there. And I think when you take it in the context of a character trying to be rebellious, trying to make change, but ending up being a strung out bum that doesn't do shit with his life, and becomes a miserable fraud....
It's not as cheesy as you would think. However, when you hear lyrics on "American Idiot" and "Holiday", it's kind of hard to not roll your eyes.
CountAntonius
Member
Jesus of Suburbia is a great song.
Yeah, that's why I don't like the album. I don't think the political cheesiness as part of the naivete of the character was necessarily intended, or executed well. It's kind of a reach for me to take it that way. It wasn't necessarily intended on Reinventing Axl Rose either, but the political rhetoric in that album is so damn emotional in its delivery that it's clearly an outlet for personal inner turmoil. They even admitted that later when they moved to more moderate themes from their old anarchist ones and the singer coming to terms with her gender dysphoria.
I think my dad was going through a midlife crisis around the time this album came out and he somehow got into Green Day through American Idiot. He would go on and on about how they're the best politically aware band our generation, despite not having gotten into virtually any new music in 25 years. That was embarrassing for him.
I knew older folks that loved this album, but not for the political messages. They liked how the album was a throwback to the 70's/80's concept albums. I think most of us would roll our eyes, given this doesn't compare to what those bands were doing. But I oddly knew a lot folks into classic rock, that appreciated this album (at the time). I don't know their feelings on it now.
freenudemacusers
Member
This is a great rock album, and a great Green Day album. These guys have really tapped into the core of the green day melodies, harmonies and jsut song writing in general. Songs like Letterbomb, She's A Rebel, St. Jimmy and many others really show how Green Day should really sound. They have really grown musically and American Idiot shows the best of fast loud agressive green day, along with the softer, more heartfelt green day songs. The added musicians/ instruments on this not only makes the songs sound fuller but is perhaps a sign that the old skool green day style writing songs is predominately over.
I jsut want to add a comment here in response to the review saying that Green Day were never about themes etc....
Green Day albums were always packed with themes, although it is true that American Idiot is not merely a collection of songs, but every Green Day album after kerplunk did have a dominant themes which gave the album an identity....
Overall, this album is very sastifying and I'm sure it will please many green day fans. American Idiot shows that green day is still relevant in today's mainstream music scene that's overflowing with medicore bands and cheap trends. Furthermore, green day is perhaps a rare if not the only band with a strong sense of conviction and integrity in their music in the mainstream circuit today.....good to see a band like that to still be influential after so many years, unlike bands like offspring and Rancid.
PS. what is up with green day concerts tho, someone mentioned their performance at warped tour and i couldn;t agree more, they practically play all singles and seeing them about 4 times I have never hear songs like panic song which would make a kick ass live song, and coming clean, westbound sign, sassafras roots, words i might have ate, one for the razor back etc etc....
I jsut want to add a comment here in response to the review saying that Green Day were never about themes etc....
Green Day albums were always packed with themes, although it is true that American Idiot is not merely a collection of songs, but every Green Day album after kerplunk did have a dominant themes which gave the album an identity....
Overall, this album is very sastifying and I'm sure it will please many green day fans. American Idiot shows that green day is still relevant in today's mainstream music scene that's overflowing with medicore bands and cheap trends. Furthermore, green day is perhaps a rare if not the only band with a strong sense of conviction and integrity in their music in the mainstream circuit today.....good to see a band like that to still be influential after so many years, unlike bands like offspring and Rancid.
PS. what is up with green day concerts tho, someone mentioned their performance at warped tour and i couldn;t agree more, they practically play all singles and seeing them about 4 times I have never hear songs like panic song which would make a kick ass live song, and coming clean, westbound sign, sassafras roots, words i might have ate, one for the razor back etc etc....
CreepingFear
Member
I saw Green Day in concert perform most of the album in Vegas. It was my first and only concert I've been to, so I have a special place in my heart for it. If Green Day did sell out, then I have another vote for it being Dookie.
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