|
| REVIEWS |
Green
Day
American Idiot
(Reprise)
It’s been a good ten or so years for Green Day. Their
career path since the release of the multi-platinum selling
Dookie boasts the type of longevity comparable to some
of music’s most able of servants. And the reason why perhaps
Green Day have gone with the ups and downs relatively unscathed
is their seeming reluctance to find a formula to their success.
Unlike their counterparts of the 1994 explosion, they have never
once written a song reliant on a pathetic suburban cliché
stretched thin over the course of several albums. And while
the Offspring seems to have fallen by the wayside, this Berkeley-bred
trio continues to challenge not only their own limits, but test
those of their listeners (some of who have been on the journey
since the early days when Billie Joe and company were still
named Sweet Children).
There have of course, been a few bumps and bruises along the
way. The difficulties of writing a successful follow-up to a
massive album is one well documented, and some may be quick
to point to 1995’s Insomniac as rushed work;
heavy on the noise, a few choice melodies, and little discernible
ingenuity of any kind. But no matter how comparatively “unsuccessful”
that album was standing next to its predecessor, there is no
doubt that Green Day never wanted to write a “Pretty Fly
(For a White Guy).” Thank God. And instead of looking
to recapture previous album sales, they went away after an exhaustive
schedule in 1996 to recoup and inevitably, write a bunch of
songs that would begin their solidification as premiere artists
rather than one-trick ponies and/or gimmick hounds. What subsequently
followed were albums that made clear their intentions of musical
growth; experimenting with styles (from “Hitchin’
a Ride,” to “Time Of Your Life” to what would
make up the majority of their well conceived Warning
album) while never once forgetting their principal means to
success.
And so four years on from Warning comes American
Idiot, their “punk rock opera;” and as the
description suggests, their most elaborate, ambitious, and concentrated
effort to date. Easily surpassing Warning on almost
all accounts, this lavish production is one of introspection,
critical deconstruction, and a dose of life’s weary tales
that come across as urgent as it does potent. From the brash
commentary of “American Idiot” and the breakneck
speeds of “St. Jimmy” (packed to the brim with Billie
Joe’s trademark vocal sneer), to the marathon medley of
“Jesus of Suburbia” (or as listed early on, read:
“Jesus Of Suburbia: City Of The Damned / I Don't Care
/ Dearly Beloved / Tales Of Another Broken Home / Jesus Of Suburbia”
and clocking in at nearly ten minutes), its clear that Green
Day show no reluctance in stepping forward to previously uncharted
territory. Even though the medleys (yes, there’s two,
both topping nine minutes) are the very antithesis of the punk
rock norm (tested several years ago by NOFX’s The
Decline); they are both grandly visualized (only at times
can they both feel rather overdrawn- due prominently to the
stretched nature of their disposition), and provide the album
with its most challenging efforts.
Nevertheless, the eleven other numbers on here are simply put;
bloody brilliant. A selection of crème de la crèmes
boasting the kind of wisdom that reminds listeners of mainstream
punk’s less maligned qualities- that punk on the radio
can be without the shrill bellyaching of emo diarists (the reserved
reflective nature of “Wake Me Up When September Ends”
and the mournful lament of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”),
without the alienating mutinies of judgmental overthrow (the
very Clash sounding “Holiday”), and without the
glossy sheen of rockstar wannabes. It’s rewarding to note
that the album possesses plenty of concurrent themes and characters
that weave in and out of the songs. And like any great production,
it transpires with the sort of fluidity and grace associated
with the very operatic theme suggested by American Idiot’s
description.
To pluck an apex point of the album, one need not venture any
further than “Give Me Novacaine.” An authoritative
track that comes off as a cross between “Macy’s
Day Parade” and “Brain Stew” with brief moments
that can perhaps be best depicted as a “punk rock luau.”
It’s just another in the many choice moments reflective
of Green Day’s perceptive understanding of their career;
that growth and strong roots go hand in hand. And unlike the
Good Charlottes of the world and/or the recent misguided breaking-out-of-cocoons
of the Blink-182s, Green Day have never once forgotten about
either of them. It feels like forever, but mainstream punk music
can finally fly their flag with a little dignity again.
Reviewed by
Billy Maulana
September 20th, 2004 |
|
|
|
|
