After 15 years of singing about the nation’s malaise, the Californian punk trio Green Day continues to focus its attention on recent US political controversies, a move that is signaled in the CD’s title. American Idiot is Green Day’s seventh album, and a brave departure from previous, less engaged, efforts (eg., “Blood, Sex and Booze” from Warning released in 2000). On this release, this trio of malcontents denounces everything from mass hysteria to the media, political propaganda to “redneck agendas”. Other targets include: the Bush administration, organized religion, war, terrorism… the list goes on. If political polemic isn’t your thing, you can still enjoy their vivifying brand of music. The band, mostly famous for the hit “Basket Case” (Dookie, 1994), has polished their punk to a soft glow on “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”; they go for the pop gold on “Give Me Novacaine”. Quite a change from the loud noise tradition of 1970s UK punk music that marked their previous releases. Nevertheless, on several cuts, the East Bay enfants terribles still voice their anger through three-chord guitar riffs and lyrics written with vitriolic ink. And it’s been a success with fans and critics alike. Amercian Idiot won the Best Rock Album Grammy award in 2004 and has sold ten million copies worldwide. Punks getting rich may sound idiotic, but it’s not stupid.
WEA International

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
January 2006 issue