by Michael Bennett
Daily Lobo
Green Day's latest, American Idiot, ventures into the Who's territory.
The album is an ambitious and seamless rock opera saturated with social rhetoric.
American Idiot is a concept album with its roots firmly planted in punk rock that consists of random tempo changes, melancholy melodies and vintage Green Day songs.
The album is predominately a compilation of songs that see the trio trying out a variety of musical styles. It is reminiscent of the Who's collaboration with Elton John on the musical opera "Tommy" - except with a punk rock edge.
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Green Day's last studio album, Warning, tried to recreate the feel of the band's major label debut, Dookie, and delivered a disappointing, formulaic and basically boring disc with two good songs on it.
Fortunately, American Idiot is a surprisingly innovative piece of work. Members of Green Day have broken free of the three-chord constraints that typify their musical style.
The first track does not relay this, though. The title track kickstarts the album in raucous, incendiary fashion, typical Green Day in style. But at the same time, it's lyrically sound, politically aggressive, unforgiving and a scathing commentary on contemporary American society.
Green Day released this track as the first single, which is somewhat deceptive of the overall mood and tone of the rest of the album.
The second track, "Jesus of Suburbia," is named after the lead character in a story that develops over the course of the album. The nine-minute song is segmented into five chapters. It uses this postmodern religious figure to attack the bastion elements of Americana, as he suffers and experiences the rise and fall of the American dream.
As the album progresses, the shift in emphasis becomes more obvious. Mellow interludes such as "When September Ends" are interwoven with more explosive tracks like "Letterbomb" without pause, creating an epic soundscape as opposed to individual songs.
American Idiot gets better the more you listen to it.
Considering the recent spate of bands with no previous political motivation that suddenly have something to say, Green Day could be criticized for jumping on the political bandwagon.
The focus of the band's music before this album has always been the highs and lows of youth, never really addressing an issue deeper than teenage angst. On the other hand, the change in direction could be seen as perfectly timed given the global state of affairs.
An album that attempts to address confused public opinion and offer some social commentary must be more worthy than one that travels down the same well-trodden path of girls, drink, drugs and alienation.
That said, American Idiot is not exactly a musical Chomsky essay and still retains those quintessential qualities, but the focus is firmly on the bigger picture.
American Idiot is by no means a masterpiece. It is messy, and some of the songs are clichÇ. It does, however, completely outshine anything Green Day's done since Nimrod. Overall, American Idiot triumphs.
American Idiot
Green Day
Reprise Records
Grade: B+
