I know, I know: this album isn’t exactly hot off the presses. But until now, at least from a web log perspective, I have remained quiet on the matter.

In a word, this album is excellent. It is one of the best rock (yes, I said ROCK) albums I have stumbled upon in the last couple of years. I have been somewhat of a Greenday fan for sometime now and snagged Dookie back in ’94(?), shortly after “Basketcase” became a hit single. My purchase back then was not motivated by their musical innovation or lyrical inspiration; I just thought the album contained some catchy tracks that begged to be played loudly. Until American Idiot, Greenday’s albums seemed to fall into the all-too-common trap of being designed around airplay potential: collections of 3 minute songs thrown together.

Not so with American Idiot. The album has a cohesiveness previously unknown to Greenday fans and increasingly rare in the music business. And yes, there are plenty of scathing jabs toward the right that have become such a fad these days, but they are delivered with sincerity and downright passion. Throughout the album, Greenday will bombard you with their signature style of neo-punk rock, allowing precious few moments of recovery before diving back in. Was it portentous that Greenday released Warning leading up to this album? Because they have unleashed a fury.

Music: A
Recording: B+