Rarely does a band get better with age and more commercial releases, but that may be just the case with Green Day and their latest album, American Idiot.
After the modest success of its 2000 album Warning, the California trio is back with a vengeance and they are not playing it safe. Idiot is Green Day's magnum opus that defies rock subgenre labels.
While previous Green Day albums have been criticized for surface-depth lyrics, this one, which tells a story of a character called Jesus of Surburbia, is like an X-ray straight into the band's psyche.
The first half of the album shows Green Day returning to its roots, upstaging many of the cookie-cutter punk ensembles currently clogging the commercial airwaves.
Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong and company recall the fiery, unbridled joy of the band's history. The title track is a throwback to Green Day's early days with quick riffs and a catchy chorus.
On "Jesus of Suburbia," a nine-minute song with four distinct movements, the group is out in full force, displaying their former self-righteous absurdity through the use of sudden style shifts and tempo changes.
Back then the band followed no conventions and made its own rules. "I'm the son of rage and love/ ... From the bible of none of the above/On a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin/No one ever died for my sins in hell," Armstrong sings on the operatic track.
This trend continues on "St. Jimmy," where he remembers the band as being "that needle in the vein of the establishment."
But this is more a therapeutic exercise for the band, which is coming to terms with its past rather than actually trying to relive it. Idiot's second half is where the band really stands, showing an older, wiser, Green Day.
In "Letterbomb" Armstrong seems like he's writing a letter to his former self. "Everyone left you/They're all out without you/ Having fun ... /The television's an obstructionist/And you don't even know that you exist."
On "Wake Me Up When September Ends" he shows that even the good times won't last forever: "Summer has come and passed/The innocent can never last/Wake me up when September ends."
In the end, however, rather than trying to stay in the limelight too long, Green Day sound like more polished musicians this time around.
It's to the band's credit, because no matter how classic Dookie was, as "Whatsername" says, "If my memory serves me right/I'll never turn back time/Forgetting you, but not the time."
Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
