If you are a Green Day fan and have not purchased this CD yet, you have been listening to inferior music for the last few weeks!

Just kidding!

Seriously, I think that this is their best CD. From the angry opener, American Idiot, to the gloomy, Wake Me Up When September Ends, to the marching-band drums at the end of We're Coming Home Again, this CD is a roller-coaster ride of excellence.

I find this CD to be a little less "Green Day" than their previous CD's...if that makes sense. The signature pop tunes are certainly there in American Idiot; Holiday; and She's A Rebel. But the music is generally much more somber. Songs like Boulevard of Broken Dreams; Give Me Novacaine; and the aforementioned Wake Me Up When September Ends , are more melancholy (for lack of a better word) than Green Day fans are used to. I see this as a good thing. It's another side of the band. Fresh, new. I think that's why I am loving this CD so much.

If Green Day can possibly have a "masterpiece" it would be the five part Jesus Of Suburbia. This is where the roller-coaster ride begins. Nine minutes of twists and turns that leave you wanting more. And, as it's only the second track...more is what you will get.

If you are lucky enough to get to a Green Day concert this year and, I suspect, in years to come, be prepared for the crowd participation to be "are we we are, are we we are the waiting". As I listen to the song, Are We The Waiting, this phrase just rolls off my tongue. I can't help but sing along. I can just picture Billie Joe holding out his mic over the audience as they chant.

If I had to find a weak moment on this CD...well...the truth is...I don't think that I can. This a winner from start to finish.

I give it five out of five smilies.