Green Day-American Idiot
Putting aside my political disagreements with this for a second. This album is really, really good. It has a punk sneer that is as close to classic Dead Kennedys as a band that isn't the Dead Kennedys can get. It's all about politics too and what Green Day thought was the destructive and dystopian like civilization under George W Bush. It becomes a concept album that tells the story and while there are other punk concept albums there aren't many of them. American Idiot tells a story and has some great songs while doing so.
There is a haunting loneliness to the the entire album. The title song is full of anger but underneath the angry sound to it lies a feeling of loneliness. The speaker wants to live in a country that he understands and accepts him but can't allow himself create a home in modern day America. He finds not just the leaders to be idiots but everyone else who supports them idiots as well. His anger turns to loneliness in "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" a touching song describing what it's like to feel like you are the only one who thinks a certain way in the world.
I wonder what Green Day will rebel against next. The Sex Pistols, Ramones and Dead Kenndeys sneered against everything, liberal and conservative, republican and democrat, capitalist and socialist. What separates Green Day from the greatest punks bands of all time is their refusal to give the middle finger to everything-not just the opposite side from their own views. Green Day comes close, oh so close with this album.
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