My new favorite album
- This is one of the best rock albums and the biggest surprise of the year—a punk-rock opera and one of the only mainstream offerings to really address the emotional, moral and political confusion of our times.
- -Lorraine Ali
Newsweek
Okay, I know I'm late on this one. Jeri was blogging about it last September. Judging by this, Rob was probably there too. So I'm the Andrew-come-lately.
Fine. I'm still gonna say it: Green Day's American Idiot is all that and a can of whup-ass!
It was a stocking stuffer from Sharon. I knew it was supposed to be excellent, but hadn't gotten a chance to give it a listen. Last week I was driving an hour to Paramus every day. On Inaguration Day (aka Black Thursday), I wanted something to listen to that wasn't news coverage. I saw American Idiot and thought, what could be more perfect? I have not stopped listenning to it since.
5 comments:
Yes! I was on American Idiot early. I mean that just begged to be checked out the week it was released. But if you want something even cooler (I know I know...how could anything be cooler right now) then check out the Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots". A thematic rock opera as well - it's reminiscent of the good parts of Styx' "Kilroy Was Here" - while its music - lush, electronic and yet still organic - it's like a Moody Blues and Pink Floyd album mashed together with Moby's quirky electronic cues. That whole dreamy, eteheral quality - but somehow it all still moves along. I'm not always early - as this one was released in July of 2002 and I'm just now finding it - but man, is it bizarrely cool. I'll burn you a copy and if you like it you can buy it. If not, then you can chuck the CD.
--*Rob
"Warning" is also a great Green Day album. It began their socially relevant phase that to me made "American Idiot" nothing of a surprise. The title song, "Minority" and "Macy's Day Parade" are the three tunes that come to mind in this respect.
I've found myself unable to listen to American Idiot since Election Day. I gave it a spin on November 9 and nearly stroked out from rage. It taps into my blinding, skin-crawling, finger-twitching desire to do things that would get my ass hauled in by the Secret Service just for thinking about them.
I love this album, but it just reminds me how bitter I am. I don't know if this wound will ever scab over. In the meantime, it's blues and rockabilly as twin narcotics.
I was into Green Day early on and drifted away. After listenning to American Idiot, I decided I need to seek out the albums I don't have.
For me the album was a refuge from the Inaguration, even though it articulates the very issues I sought to avoid. For whatever reason, they were easier to face in that format.
The thing is, I listened to it (and Steve Earle's "The Revolution Starts...Now") a lot before the election, sometimes to give me the inspiration to do yet another ten minutes of phone banking. I listened to it back when I still had hope.
It made me feel like I was part of a big popular cultural swelling. I thought, hey, if all these big stars are on our side, how could we lose? But it turned out that those stars probably turned off more people than they turned on.
But that doesn't mean they were wrong. They're not, and we're not, and the swelling will rise again, in spite of heavy-duty Republican antibiotics and poultices.
I think most of the stars brought in more people that they pushed away. But it was such an uphill battle all the way.
I think the upswell is still there. It just didn't hit the height it needed to. It's got to get there sometime.
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