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  1. #1
    Musicaholic Forums Moderator ForeverAutumn's Avatar
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    American Idiot: A Review

    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.

  2. #2
    Forum Regular audiobill's Avatar
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    Cool New Green Day....

    Quote Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
    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!

    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.
    Ditto -- whatever ForeverAutumn just said -- audiobill

    P.S., Great review Esther.

  3. #3
    Forum Regular BarryL's Avatar
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    I Thought This Was...

    Quote Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
    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!
    ..a summary of the three presidential candidate debates.
    "A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission" - Rush

  4. #4
    very clever with maracas Davey's Avatar
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    Strange bedfellows....

    Is it getting cold in hell, or what? Hehehe, I wonder if you and MindGoneHaywire will ever agree on anything again? Long live both Rush and Green Day

  5. #5
    Musicaholic Forums Moderator ForeverAutumn's Avatar
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    Now that you mention it...it has gotten a little chilly.

    Quote Originally Posted by Davey
    Is it getting cold in hell, or what? Hehehe, I wonder if you and MindGoneHaywire will ever agree on anything again? Long live both Rush and Green Day
    And let's not forget The Honeydogs. What is this world coming to?

  6. #6
    Forum Regular MindGoneHaywire's Avatar
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    Funny, I didn't even catch the last post until now. I detect a slight irony in one of the least argumentative posters I know pointing out the differences in taste that exist between other posters! I really hadn't had a proper chance yet, but I very much wanted to weigh in on this thread. Even now I still want to, this record is that good.

    >this CD is a roller-coaster ride of excellence.

    Very good way to put it.

    >I find this CD to be a little less "Green Day" than their previous CD's...if that makes sense.

    Makes sense to me--it's better. As I've said before, I don't think they've put out a bad record, but I've always heard lots of good tracks surrounded by plenty of filler. As good as Dookie is, the lesser tracks always made it an inconsistent listen for me & I almost always went with homemade mixes & comps instead. This is really the first rec they've put out where there's not anything even approaching a clunker from start to finish.

    Looking at the track listing, I sort of groaned when I saw 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams.' But even that's a good song, and it'd take something mighty fine for me to like something with a cliche like that for a title. As for 'Wake Me When September Ends,' that has to be their best ballad. Actually, I don't know that I've heard many ballads from them, but knowing that 'Good Riddance' occupies a place on Lite playlists...that song's real good, I think, mind you. But I also think this one's better. A pop gem.

    >If Green Day can possibly have a "masterpiece" it would be the five part Jesus Of Suburbia.

    Although this is one of two suites on the rec, a few of the single tracks are segued together as well. But the roller-coaster analogy works. The only quibble I have with the entire rec is here, I think, though I might be wrong; there's a part that borrows from Ring Of Fire pretty heavily, though elsewhere on the rec there's also a lighter pull from the Who's A Quick One...which is funny, considering how much of a Townshend influence there seems to be in the way the album is constructed, the way the ideas are put together, the way the tunes flow. It's like a punk rock Quadrophenia...some might say Tommy, at least musically, but I think Quadrophenia works better as a comparison since the common bond is a...frustrated, disaffected youth.

    >If you are lucky enough to get to a Green Day concert this year

    Forget 'lucky,' just go. Listen to Billie Joe hold that note on 'Holiday' and belt out Queen's 'We Are The Champions' & tell me he isn't the most underrated singer going. I've been listening to this band since before Dookie came out & I never would've thought he could sing like that. He may not have the greatest instrument, but...maybe he's been taking vocal lessons. His ability is awe-inspiring.

    >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.

    Agree 100% completely. Part of the impact is because...who would've thought that they had an album like this in them? I was kind of skeptical that their new rec would be good, I wasn't crazy about Warning, and they seemed to be resting on their laurels, what with greatest hits & B-sides/obscurities collections, but this is a great, great rec. Amazing stuff.

    I don't like others.

  7. #7
    AR Newbie Registered Member
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    I will say this much... I didnt like Green Day before I listened to this album.

    I am a fan now.

    "One of the BEST albums from a mainstream band ive heard since Riot act from PJ."

  8. #8
    Musicaholic Forums Moderator ForeverAutumn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Travis Bickle
    I will say this much... I didnt like Green Day before I listened to this album.

    I am a fan now.

    "One of the BEST albums from a mainstream band ive heard since Riot act from PJ."

    Hey Sloshy! You hear that?

    Welcome to RR Travis!

  9. #9
    Indifferentist Slosh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn
    Hey Sloshy! You hear that?

    Welcome to RR Travis!
    C'mon, this is a mowawk headed guy who's hot for twelve year old prostitutes.

    You talking to me? I don't see anyone else standing here so you must be talking to me.
    Originally Posted by Troy: She has that same kind of cleft-pallet, slightly retarded way of singing that so many other people find endearing.


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