American Idiot, finally reviewed!

[Reverend Jax]

So yeah, this came out weeks ago. I was hoping someone else would review it so I could just comment, cause, well, I'm lazy, and commenting is easier. But I guess not.

 

 

If you're not up to date, this is Green Day's first album of new material in over 4 years (since 2000's Warning), plus, it's a rock opera...or a punk opera anyway.

 

It's ironic that so many critics compared them to the Kinks (as well as many other bands like the Clash and the Ramones) back during their rise to fame, because while their stuff prior to this album is similar to the early work of the Kinks singles(GD even covered Tired Of Waiting For You), thsi is very similar to the Kinks rock operas, like The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society, Lola versus Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part One or Arthur - Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire, at least much more so than other 70's bands' rock operas (Pink Floyd, The Who, Rush, Styx, or David Bowie).

 

If you thought Green Day was straying away from the standard Guitar/Bass/Drums/Vocals setup on Warning, with tracks like Misery, hu-boy! American Idiot makes tracks like Misery look like The Sex Pistols by comparison.

 

The band has two epic medleys: The second track and the second to last track. The first is

 

Jesus Of Suburbia, City Of The Damned, I Don't Care, Dearly Beloved, Tales Of Another Broken Home

 

The other is

 

Homecoming, The Death Of St Jimmy, East 12th St, Nobody Likes You, Rock And Roll Girlfriend, We're Coming Home Again

 

Both are phenominal, incredibly arragned, interesting, experimental, unconventional and prefectly strung together, but if I had to pick one I prefer, I'd lean to the latter, but I've been listening to these two tracks more than the whole rest of the album. I would recommend these tracks before any other tracks, but I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff.

 

It's incredible how far Green Day can stray from what you thought defined them as a band and still sound like themselves.

 

I predict Boulevard of Broken Dreams will be their ballad single release, not as popular as Time of your Life, but probably more a hit than Macy's Day Parade was. It's a good track, if some of you are thinking of downloading a few tracks, and like Green Day ballads, this one is a good one. For other ballads, look to Wake Me Up When September Ends, Are We The Waiting and Whatsername.

 

For the classic Green Day sound, try out the title track (American Idiot), She's A Rebel, Holiday and St. Jimmy.

[Reverend Jax]

Damn, I've been listening to like nothing but American Idiot the past few days. I stick anything else to listen to in, and after 3 songs, American Idiot back in. When I first got it, I liked it, but for some reason I didn't think it was going to grow on me. Man was I wrong. It's like an addiction. Unlike the haters like MLB, I love every track, including the title track, but some of the tracks that really stand out to me, besides the two grand medleys, are Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Are We The Waiting, Give Me Novacaine, Letterbomb and Wake Me Up When September Ends.

 

I can't say how much I'm into this album. Green Day have really outdone themselves. This is their crown jewel, their masterpiece. All the songs of Dookie as still a piece of my childhood, and the nostalgia factor for that album is off the chart, but I have to say, I think this album is even greater than Dookie, adn I never thought I'd say that shit.

 

Damn! If you haven't given this record a spin yet, spin it!

[Reverend Jax]

PS Spin has announced that the sublimely beautiful Boulevard of Broken Dreams will be the next single. I thought it would be the third single (third single usually being the ballad), but I guess not. It's such a good track, and I'm sure once it hits airwaves, it'll move the album off store shelves like crazy.

[JunkerSeed]

Agreed, I'm absolutely loving it, Jesus of suburbia is probably my favorite track for now but the whole thing is amazing, every single song has gotten stuck in my head at least once it hasn't left my cd player since I got it.

[alive she cried]

I've only heard the title track, but my god is it terrible.

I get it Green Day, you heard Bu$hleaguer and wanted to jump on the anti-bush bandwagon, but try to pretend you're anything but a critically acclaimed Blink 182, is delusional.

 

Few bands have made me want to kill them after i heard their "music" but Green Day are right up there, just behind Will Young fuckin Doors fuckupering little bastard

Edited May 1, 2007 by alive she cried

[IguanaDon?]

Greenday are shit. I hope they die.

[Ganny McVagflaps]

Hey at least they have geetars and write their own songs. One can see why you'd wanna kill the Pussycat Dolls (and then more than likely fuck their pretty little corpses...I know I would) but at least they're real songwriters. Also Tre Cool is a brilliant drummer. You can't fault that man. Oh, and before you start saying shit like "fuck you, that dude from Dream Theater is the best drummer" or "Up Cool's ass - Neil Peart is all there is and will ever be" I didn't say he was the best drummer, I said he was a brilliant one.

[Reverend Jax]

Also Mike Dirnt is a great medolic bass player.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...but Neil Peart is a better drummer

[Ganny McVagflaps]

Oh yeah, I agree on both counts. Dirnt's bass-playing doesn't get the props it deserves.

 

Matt Freeman from Rancid could be the best bassist though (sorry Bootsy... )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*edit for pesky HTML tags

Edited May 1, 2007 by 2track

[Reverend Jax]

Ever time I listen to Maxwell Murder my ears fall off and I need to reattach them.

[MetalHeart]

[alive she cried]

Hey at least they have geetars and write their own songs.

 

You see this is one of the reasons i dislike them so. People saying, at least they play their own instruments and write their own songs, but whether you play your own instruments or not if the song is'nt good then it does'nt matter. At least people like westlife are open about the fact that they're shite and are just in it for the money.

 

It annoys me when people say rock is back and then reference bands like the GD, Franz Ferdinand & The Kings Of Leon as prime examples. Yes they're rock but their just doing piss-poor version of older bands sounds (GD would'nt be guilty of this really, they're just imo opinion crap). It's akin to what's going on in the movie world right now, If your movie is'nt a badly made remake of a popular film of old it won't be released, either that or a superhero movie. It's happening everywhere you look, on t.v. it's hard to flick through the channels without finding some crap reality t.v. show that is a copy of a show that's popular on another channel. The mentality today seems to be, to make as much money as possible with the least amount of effort, thought and originality, and i'm more than just a little bit sick of it a t this stage.

[Reverend Jax]

And why won't these dang kids get off my lawn! Pull up your pants and get a job, ya young whipper-snappers! Back in my day, we respected our elders....

[Ganny McVagflaps]

Yeah, let's bring back original rock bands like Led Zeppelin or...oh wait...

[Reverend Jax]

Dang kids today with their music....

[alive she cried]

Dang kids today with their music....

 

There are some great bands today, just not enough of them are in the charts.

 

Yeah, let's bring back original rock bands like Led Zeppelin or...oh wait... pinch.

Nearly every blues band or artist over the years took bits and pieces from other people's songs.

Led Zeppelin took the blues sound to the next level, few people can say that.

 

Oh and i have actually said "kids these day's" before

[Reverend Jax]

Your just a few months away from hanging out in jazz clubs, talking about how it's all been downhill Coltrane died. It's a slippery slope.

[alive she cried]

Your just a few months away from hanging out in jazz clubs, talking about how it's all been downhill Coltrane died. It's a slippery slope.

 

I know, i know, but you it could be worse, i could be an emo

[Reverend Jax]

Then you'd get all the girls with low self esteem....

[the division of joy]

emo's.... the only people who confuse themselves with pizza's

[Ganny McVagflaps]

Nearly every blues band or artist over the years took bits and pieces from other people's songs.

 

Yeah, but Led Zeppelin are serial offenders. They don't just take bits and pieces...

 

* "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" - A folk song by Anne Bredon, this was originally credited as "traditional, arranged by Jimmy Page," then "words and music by Jimmy Page," and then, following legal action, "Bredon/Page/Plant."

 

* "Bring It On Home" - the first section is an uncredited cover of the Willie Dixon tune (as performed by the imposter Sonny Boy Williamson).

 

* "Communication Breakdown" - apparently derived from Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown."

 

* "Custard Pie" - uncredited cover of Bukka White's "Shake 'Em On Down," with lyrics from Sleepy John Estes's "Drop Down Daddy."

 

* "Dazed And Confused" - uncredited cover of the Jake Holmes song (see The Above Ground

Sound Of Jake Holmes).

 

* "Hats Off To (Roy) Harper" - uncredited version of Bukka White's "Shake 'Em On Down."

 

* "How Many More Times" - Part one is an uncredited cover of the Howlin' Wolf song (available on numerous compilations). Part two is an uncredited cover of Albert King's "The Hunter."

 

* "In My Time Of Dying" - uncredited cover of the traditional song (as heard on Bob Dylan's debut).

 

* "The Lemon Song" - uncredited cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor" - Wolf's publisher sued Zeppelin in the early 70's and settled out of court.

 

* "Moby Dick" - written and first recorded by Sleepy John Estes under the title "The Girl I Love," and later covered by Bobby Parker.

 

* "Nobody's Fault But Mine" - uncredited cover of the Blind Willie Johnson blues.

 

* "Since I've Been Lovin' You" - lyrics are the same as Moby Grape's "Never," though the music isn't similar.

 

* "Stairway To Heaven" - the main guitar line is apparently from "Taurus" by Spirit.

 

* "White Summer" - uncredited cover of Davey Graham's "She Moved Through The Fair."

 

* "Whole Lotta Love" - lyrics are from the Willie Dixon blues "You Need Love.". I'm not listing covers that the band credited to the actual authors ("You Shook Me") or the less blatant ripoffs (the "Superstition" riff in "Trampled Underfoot").

 

* "Train Kept A Rollin'" -- Written by Tiny Bradshaw, L. Mann, and H. Kay, first recorded by Bradshaw's Big Band in 1951. Rewritten as a rockabilly tune in 1956 and recorded by theJohnny Burnette Trio (whose guitarist, Paul Burlison, was an influence on Jeff Beck and inspired him to cover the tune with the Yardbirds). The Yardbirds recorded both the "original" tune and a rewritten version called "Stroll On" (the lyrics were modified to avoid copyright hassles) in Michaelangelo Antonioni's film _Blow Up_, which features the Beck/Page-era Yardbirds imitating the Who. The original version was often played live by Zeppelin, and is often mistakenly attributed to the Yardbirds, which is why it is included here.

 

* "White Summer" -- Davey Graham's "She Moved Through The Fair."

 

* "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" -- Anne Bredon (a/k/a Annie Briggs) (the Joan Baez version was the one this was based on).

 

* "You Shook Me" -- Willie Dixon, first recorded by Muddy Waters.

 

* "I Can't Quit You Baby" -- Willie Dixon.

 

* "Communication Breakdown" -- Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown."

 

* "How Many More Times" -- Howlin Wolf's "How Many More Years," Albert King's "The Hunter," Zeppelin's version is lyrically related to a cover called "How Many More Times" by Gary Farr and the T-Bones (liner notes by Giorgio Gomelsky, one-time producer of The Yardbirds). Zeppelin's particular arrangement grew from the live jams on "Smokestack Lightning" that the Page-led Yardbirds used to do.

 

* "Dazed And Confused" -- Jake Holmes, written and recorded as "Dazed & Confused." The Yardbirds covered it under the title "I'm Confused," with different lyrics. Page again changed the lyrics (which were originally about an acid trip) for the Zeppelin version. The version on the _Session Man_ album (on Archive) credited to the New Yardbirds is actually the Holmes original. Page: "I don't know about all that. I'd rather not get into it because I don't know all the circumstances. What's he got, the riff or whatever? Because Robert wrote some of the lyrics on that album. But he was only listening to...we extended it from the one that we were playing with the Yardbirds. I haven't heard Jake Holmes so I don't know what it's all about anyway. Usually my riffs are pretty damn original [laughs]. What can I say?"

 

* "Black Mountain Side" -- traditional, Annie Briggs, Bert Jansch The main riff is almost identical to the riff Jansch uses in his song "BlackWater Side," though he cites Annie Briggs as an earlier source. Page: "I wasn't totally original on thTHat riff. It had been done in folk clubs a lot. Annie Briggs was the first one that I heard do that riff.

 

* "The Lemon Song" -- Chester Burnett (a/k/a Howlin Wolf) "Killing Floor," Robert Johnson ("squeeze my lemon" lyric). In some early concerts and on some pressings of _II_, the song was actually called "Killing Floor." ARC Music filed a suit against Zeppelin in the early 70's, which was settled out of court. Ironically, the "squeeze my lemon" lyric was lifted by Johnson as well--from Art McKay ("She Squeezed My Lemon"--1937).

 

* "Moby Dick" -- Bobby Parker (music), Ginger Baker's "Toad" (drum solo). The song was originally entitled "The Girl I Love," which was written in 1929 by Sleepy John Estes and called "The Girl I Love, She Got Long Curly Hair." There are also some drum lines lifted intact from George Suranovich's drum solo with Arthur Lee's Love's song "Doggone."

 

* "Whole Lotta Love" -- Willie Dixon's "You Need Love" (lyrics). Plant: "Page's riff was Page's riff. It was there before anything else. I just thought,

'well, what am I going to sing?' That was it, a nick. Now happily paid for. At the time, there was a lot of conversation about what to do. It was decided that it was so far away in time (it was in fact 7 years) and influence that...well, you only get caught when you're successful. That's the game." Willie Dixon sued Zeppelin (actually friends of his at the time) in 1985 when his daughter noticed the resemblance--though by this time, Zeppelin has sold the rights to their international catalog and knew _in advance_ of the suit, which was filed only _after_ the sale had been completed.

 

* "Thank You" -- There is a striking chordal similarity to Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy." "Bring It On Home" -- Written by Willie Dixon, though the Sonny Boy Williamson II version is the one which this bears a similarity to. The "Lemon Song" lawsuit also included language about this song.

 

* "Traveling Riverside Blues" -- Johnny Winter's "Leavin' Blues" (music only), plus lyrical references to Robert Johnson, St. Louis Jimmy Oden, and Sleepy John Estes.

 

* "Since I've Been Loving You" -- brief lyrical nod to Moby Grape's "Never."

 

* "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" -- intro lifted from "The Waggoner's Tale" by Bert Jansch.

 

* "Gallows Pole" -- traditional, associated with Leadbelly. Page says that his version

was based on a cover of the song by Fred Gerlach.

 

* "Hats Off To (Roy) Harper" -- traditional, Bukka White (song entitled "Shake 'Em On Down"), also covered by Joe Lee Williams and Blind Lemon Jefferson.

 

* "Black Dog" -- the vocal arrangement is very similar to Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well."

 

* "Rock And Roll" -- drawn from Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly/Keep A Knockin'" (mostly the drum line).

 

* "Stairway To Heaven" -- Possible (though unlikely) lift from "And She's Lonely" by The Chocolate Watch Band, which became the intro chords. There's really no way of knowing for sure. The solo chords are also similar to the chords of Dylan's (and Hendrix's) "All Along The Watchtower," though the chord progression is hardly uncommon and any direct influence is also unlikely. A more believable lift might be from Spirit's "Taurus," an instrumental from their _Time Circle_ album--the intro from "Stairway" is remarkably similar, and Page and Plant were certainly aware of the band.

 

* "When The Levee Breaks" -- Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy.

 

* _Physical Graffiti_ -- The album cover is identical in concept and very similar in design to the cover of the Jose Feliciano album _Compartments_, including the pull-out card and the "hidden" photos.

 

* "Custard Pie" -- Sleepy John Estes did a song entitled "Drop Down Daddy" in 1935, which seems to be the earliest source for this material. Blind Boy Fuller recorded a song entitled "I Want Some Of Your Pie" in 1939. Sonny Terry covered it with the title "Custard Pie Blues." Big Joe Williams also covered it under the title "Drop Down Mama," and his lyrics are pretty much identical to Plant's. There is also some Bukka White material in the song.

 

* "In My Time Of Dying" - traditional

 

* "Boogie With Stu" -- Ritchie Valens.

 

* "Nobody's Fault But Mine" -- Blind Willie Johnson (lyrics).

 

* "We're Gonna Groove" -- Ben E. King, James Bethea.

[Reverend Jax]

The version of In My Time of Dying by Dylan is a completely better song.

[The NZA]

Your just a few months away from hanging out in jazz clubs, talking about how it's all been downhill Coltrane died. It's a slippery slope.

 

i cant even find such a dive to pose in, how sad is that?

also, 2T's point stands, tho my beloved Doors ripped off more than a few blues songs as well. Its not uncommon in classic rock.

[Lorelei]

makes you feel a little sorry for people when they call green day punk

[Mr. Hakujin]

This is the closest thing I could find to a general Green Day thread here. Anyway, I'm digging their new single.

 

 

And for nostalgia's sake:

 

http://youtu.be/t8UaRQYq_Es