American Idiot Review

"Don't wanna be an American Idiot!" Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day's frontman sings on "American Idiot," the opening track of the album of the same name. We've all heard it at some point in the past year or so, out in public, else we were stalked down by the ever-present "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," off the same album. What American Idiot attempted was rock opera, punk rock opera, that is. The album is a horrific in-your-face life story of a coming-of-age rebellious youth in America. Ironically, after the main character opens the album singing about avoiding being an idiot American ...he uses 12 more tracks of drugs, failed romantic relationships, misplaced political activism, and identity crisis to prove he is just that: an idiot. Another rebellious young idiot, who doesn't arrest any cultural crisis, but gets arrested, instead. Green Day's latest and now year-old endeavor is at times morose, bitter, vulgar, and depressing, but most unfortunately it's an accurate depiction of what it's like to grow up in the country this band is so angry with.

I was interested in AI when I first saw the odd album cover. I love intense imagery. Then I heard the first single, the title track on the radio. It appeared Green Day (the slang name for a day of smoking marijuana) were at their drug-induced angry state as usual, especially when watching the stupid guitar-throwing, green slime-oozing music video. And then of course there was the political, anti-Bush statement, "I'm not a part of a redneck agenda." As my friend Matt says, "Well then according to their [the band's] definition, I guess I am!" Of course you had to love the song musically, as well as the clean-slice rock single "Holiday," which was an equally musically likeable assualt of guitar-drum antics. Of course, the the song's implication about the war in Iraq made me want to severely slap the singer. But then there was "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," a cliche-ridden song that escaped the normal moan-and-groan ballad to become a simple lament about loneliness. And I really, really liked it. I read a little about the concept of the album as an opera, heard some clips, discussed it with several people as it was becoming popular, and recently eventually (gasp) just...
...bought it. It was both better and worse than I expected.

I listened through it once and was a little shocked, a little amazed. Before having a second listen, I went online to gather a little more understanding about the plot of the album's story. Basically, American Idiot is 13 tracks of back-to-back songs that blend into each other, in rock opera fashion. There are two 9-minute bookends that form the main plot structure. It is the story of Jesus. Not the Biblical Jesus, but a guy in his late teens named Jesus, who lives in Jingletown, USA. Possible interpretations of use of the name Jesus may be that this is a ridicule of Christianity, or that the character is attempting to save the town he lives in, the "Jesus (or savior) of Suburbia". The album notes give dates, which put the whole story at about a year in length. The opening track is a tone setter for the album. It is Jesus' statement of defiance and his own awakening to a perception that the media is clouding the public's judgment of reality. Track 2 is "Jesus of Suburbia," a 5-part, 9-minute song. It is my favorite on the album, musically brilliant and telling a mammoth story that is a slice of modern life, a portrait of the wickedness of this age. Jesus (of Suburbia) describes his upbringing in a divorced/torn family, experimenting with drugs, loitering at gas stations, becoming fed up with the poverty and social problems of Jingletown, and eventually deciding to run away from the "hurricane...of lies" that he has been raised in. He leaves for the city, leaving behind a tale "from another broken home." "Holiday," #3, is after Jesus has arrived at the city, and he runs into some war protestors. He joins them and finds security in the crowds, happiness in being passionate about something, albeit political activism. Next is the hit "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," where Jesus discovers that even in the big crowds of the city, it is easy to become isolated, and to feel alienated. Think modern literature's theme of "fragmentation." Track #5, "Are We the Waiting," is a beautiful short ballad describing a turning point for Jesus. After the disappointment expressed in "Blvd.," he is in a waiting room of sorts, feeling like a change in his life is about to happen, realizing that "the Jesus of Suburbia," the person he has tried to be, "is a lie." It is a marvelous concept song about the feeling just before change occurs. His response is to become "St. Jimmy," Track 6, and an alias he will now try to use to create a new image for himself. He starts a gang, becomes a criminal, has a following, and declares "I am a son of a gun", don't-mess-with-me sort of thing. "Give Me Novocaine," #7, is Jesus/St. Jimmy's turning to drugs, as he deals with the pressure of living a double life. After having tried political activism and now being a first-rate criminal, city life has proved to be "a toothache of the mind." 8 is "She's a Rebel," typical punk rock from Green Day. It is St. Jimmy's sudden meeting and the start of dating an astounding girl in the city. She is everything he is not; he is faking it, but she is really rebelling against the status quo and doing what she has dreamed. He is captivated by her. 9 is "Extraordinary Girl," a Mexican-guitar surprise where St. Jimmy learns he is too cowardly to provide what Whatsername (the girl) needs. She's extraordinary and he's, well...ordinary. 10 is "Letterbomb," Whatsername's bomb of a letter written to Jimmy telling him of the end of their relationship and bashing him for not becoming anything. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" follows and is perhaps the album masterpiece. Going from acoustic to acoustic/drums to acoustic/drums/electric guitars and back again, it is a beautiful ballad, new territory for the band. Jimmy is feeling loneliness after his girl has left him, and he wishes he could go back to happier times. There is a line about his father's death. (Armstrong, the lead singer, actually did loose his father to cancer when very young, pointing out that this album is largely Armstrong's personal story.) #12 is "Homecoming," the other 9-minute, 5-part track. First of all, Jesus "kills" the St. Jimmy identity, realizing it is a farce. He ends up getting arrested and filling out paperwork . Upon release, his friends start leaving him, and one writes him a letter stating that he's moved on to stardom, so he's leaving Jesus behind. This all culminates in Part V: "We're Coming Home Again," in which Jesus goes back to Jingletown. The closer, "Whatsername," is Jesus' musings on what could have been had things gone differently and wondering how Whatsername is doing. The track suggests that he has ended up in a mental institution, because he cannot remember Whatsername's actual name.

First of all, the album is musically brilliant, from typical punk guitars to use of piano, acoustic guitars, bells, even the glockenspiel, apparently. Secondly, the storyline is captivating. The plot is sketchy as are the characters, but the tale is something we've all heard before, but shut our ears to, maybe. A confused young guy tries everything out. The world chews him and spits him out, and though he has intentions of doing and becoming something great, he ends up coming back to his broken house of upbringing like a whipped dog with his tail between his legs. And he is worse off than when he started. The downside is the opera becomes depressing often, but Green Day's approach of "having a great time being miserable" carries things along well enough. So it's no secret that overall, I like the album. Some downsides are that the philosophies set forth are outright wrong, and there is quite of bit of profanity. The "f-word" is an album staple and the cynicism is mind-boggling. That said, it is not only an intriguing honest summary of the decadence of our time, but it is a masterwork of musical continuity. As a Christian, what should my response be to American Idiot? I don't know, but I like it. I don't subscribe to the hopelessness of the opera. I guess as a Christian hearing this, I am hearing a whirlwind of questions from desperate people who need answers. I know the Answer. They don't. They just honestly put forth what they see. And here is a little bit of that, all taken from one song ("Jesus of Suburbia"): I'm the son of rage and love...on a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin... City of the dead at the end of another lost highway, signs misleading to nowhere, city of the damned, lost children with dirty faces today,no one really seems to care ... Everyone's so full of s***, born and raised by hypocrites, hearts recycled but never saved, from the cradle to the grave ... To live and not to breathe is to die in tragedy, to run, to run away to find what you believe. And I leave behind this hurricane of f****** lies. I lost my faith to thisthis town that don't exist ... I don't feel any shame, I won't apologize when there ain't nowhere you can go. Running away from pain when you've been victimized:tales from another broken HOME.

I came away from this album feeling surprised to have liked Green Day. Brit / classic / indie rock are where my heart is, and Green Day's punk would not seem my cup of tea. But there's something urgently real and honestly cathartic in AI. We can take the obvious "Jesus" jibes as persecution, which it may be. Or it may be an honest wake-up call to a weak and carnal church. Are we serving a false concept of Jesus, a Jesus of suburbia who doesn't have the power to keep marriages together or enable the Christian teen girls to keep from getting pregnant till marriage...a Jesus who wants to be served by just going to "youth group" once a week? There's something I like about these guys. I sometimes feel guilty about it, as if I'm condoning their druggie craziness and general ungodliness. But there's some bit of hope for people who remain honest. It's when we cover up what's going on that there's no chance of salvation. I used to love the music, hate the people of Green Day, but this time I found myself actually praying for them as I listened to this CD. That Armstrong would be born again...do we realize what an impact that would make on this generation? The cover of the CD is a heart-shaped hand grenade. This is a band of confused souls determined to passionately let their heart, however dark and erratic, explode for all to see. What if the church took the same approach? If the the world can explode and put out frustrated questions, why don't we explode with the Answer, Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected?