This rock style is CRAZY - American Idiot Album Reaction by Green Day 

I would highly recommend looking at the lyrics as you listen to Green Day songs, they are known for their very good songwriting. And as for the songs being connected, it’s a quirk of the deluxe album, they are all separate songs on the regular version

They didn't become popular because of Boulevard of Broken Dreams. You have to understand that singles didn't mean nearly as much back then. The entire ALBUM shot them into the sun. They were already insanely popular before, but this album basically secured them legend status.

this album was released at the height of the bush administration, not long after the US invaded iraq on false pretenses and deep in the throes of xenophobic hysteria. i don't think you NEED to know about the political/social climate at the time it was released, but it really does help. life felt very scary and hostile to those of us who came of age during this time, and this album was a breath of fresh air. it's hard, i think, for anyone younger than maybe 30 to understand just how drastically life changed after 9/11, but i recommend this album to people looking to understand how we felt watching it all happen. (also, i think jesus of suburbia was intended to be like a punk bohemian rhapsody, which is why it changes up so much.)

The reason the middle songs are paired is because way back in 2004, iTunes would not pre-load tracks, leading to a splice in audio. Green Day anticipated this by pairing the tracks together so they’re cohesive. On the cd the songs are separated though. This is in response to 44:58.

American Idiot and The Black Parade are both considered concept albums. However while The Black Parade is more a painted scenario through the eyes of The Patient, AI is a full-on concept album with definable characters and a through-storyline that you can actually follow along to while listening to the album. They even turned it into a Broadway musical a few years later! My favorite album from Green Day is Nimrod, which came out in 1997 (Actually it's my favorite album, period!) Definitely _not_ a concept album though. On the contrary, it's inarguably their most sporatic album to date. Although if _St. Jimmy_ busted your mind with its tempo, I don't think you're prepared to listen to Platypus!😂

It's interesting that Boulevard is, from the perspective of someone as old as this album, the song that their best known for. I'd place songs like Longview, Basket Case, and Good Riddance ahead of Boulevard, but that's likely because I grew up on those songs (I'm a good 20 years older than yourself, so that's certainly part of it). They have so many classics, and since their is in its 5th decade it's no wonder different generations will identify different albums / singles as Green Day's GOAT.

One of the best concept albums of all time. Genuinely despite the hate Green Day has incredible writing and they are virtuosic players

Dude… 31:20 boulevard did not make this band popular, or any song from this album. They were already popular. American idiot is green day second best selling album. Dookie, which came out in 1994 is their best selling album. Basketcase, when I come around and Longview are their breakout singles. American idiot is their 7th album. Also the lyrics, track listing and how some songs go directly into another is very important in this album because it’s a concept album. It has a storyline. Jesus of suburbia, st jimmy, whatsername, are different characters. Jesus of suburbia and homecoming are long songs but they don’t make sense if you split them up, and they don’t need to be split up into five short songs.

The reason for some of them being connected is because they are supposed to transition into one another seemlessly when played as a full album

also most of the songs are connected, as you hear recurring characters such as the jesus of suburbia, st. jimmy and whatsername. seeing the lyrics as you hear the songs gives a better more complete experience of the songs :)

I would LOVE if you did a reaction to either Dookie, Insomniac, or Kerplunk to get an idea of what earlier Green Day sounded like in comparison to this album. This album is what brought them back into the mainstream and it would be cool for you to listen to an album like Dookie which made them mainstream in the first place.

I like your point about tempo switches during songs. I love them. I also really like when an artist makes a song in 3/4 count instead of 4/4, or switching to half-time for a climax of a song. I think it comes off as a band trying to impress you rather than just repeating a formula every song to sell as many albums as possible

Great reaction!! I love how much fun you had with this! This is one of my favorite Albums, and Jesus of Suburbia and Holiday/Broken Dreams are my favs

This is the digital version which combined all the individual songs that flowed together, the actual album is 13 tracks so tracks 3-8 in this video is actually tracks 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

st. jimmy was such an anthem for the younger gen-Xers and elder millennials who felt angry and abandoned and directionless and self-destructive in the early days of the new millennium. it's still one of my favorite tracks on the album, though i've thankfully grown out of the self-destruction thing.

This album is also another concept album about a young man named the Jesus of Suburbia who leaves his suburban town to live in the city where he meets a girl named Whatshername (who is apparently actually called Amanda) and a drug dealer/addict named St Jimmy who is also JOS's split personality. Whatshername later breaks up with JOS and he realizes that city life is infinitely worse and he isn't ready for it so he returns home

Jesus of suburbia is my favorite track.

When I was growing up, this was one of the bands I listened to where i only played one (maybe two) albums, that I really really loved but just didn’t get into the others. And that’s probly true because this is a pretty unassailable album to me. The variety, the subject matter, the hits, the ambition, the overall production quality… This was a perfect storm of doing everything this genre aims to do at a very high level.

novacaine is a dru.g used for dental procedures so that the pacient no longer feels pain, in the song they're making a comparison with the pain of depression, as in the line "it's like a throbbing toothache of the mind"

This makes me so happy. I’m double your age have been a lifelong Green Day fan. Ya gotta remember their first main album came out in 1989. American idiot is amazing but it’s their sixth main album. But American idiot is what solidified legendary status (someone else in the comments said that too, I liked that phrase)

first my chem now green day, it just keeps getting better🎉

Jesus of Suburbia was on the radio a lot when it came out...

This album encapsulates what it was to be a teen in 2001-2005. Post-911, feeling completely lost and disillusioned in a world where us millennials were being pushed along the conveyer of high school and being told to study and become someone, yet the world seemed to be imploding around us. Politicians were starting illegal wars, we couldn’t find out the truth from anywhere and we didn’t really know where our lives or the world were going. If you can, watch a bit of the footage from Bullet in a Bible in 2005. Green Day toured AI and played a concert in Milton Keynes, England that was recorded for a DVD. I was there as a 17 year old. It was and still is the most epic concert experience of my life. I cried through Wake me up when September Ends and Are we the waiting? because of the memories of 9-11 and what we had just lived through. I can still hear Billie Joe’s words before playing JOS: “This song is dedicated to all the people who took the train to get here tonight, alright? This song is called Jesus. Of. Surburbia.” This album is pure magic and means so much to so many. 💚

"This album was released in 2004. I was born in 2004. Let that sink in." Nah I'm good, my existential crisis is already near it's max 😂

for your question at about 45:00, each song is coupled to itself. the song follows a story, and every pair of songs is an action and a reaction. Holiday being Jesus of Suburbia moving to the city and Boulevard of Broken Dreams being him feeling lonely and sad, Are We The Waiting being him becoming discontent and unhappy and St. Jimmy being his break in sanity and transition from Jesus of Suburbia into the St. Jimmy, and each pair works like that pretty much

Was born in 1993, dookie released in 1994. I know what u feel when listening to music as old as you

This video is the first time I’m listening to this whole album. I’m excited lol

Hello, very good reaction, you should react to the concept album "Queen of the murder scene" it is from the band "The Warning" they are three sisters from Mexico and I hope you like it, greetings

So . . . I found you through your Black Parade reaction I am 10 years older than you The Black Parade is first album I bought with my own money . . . American Idiot is the second. Remember - Iraq, Afghanistan and the Bush administration' were in full swing. This is an overtly political punk-rock opera of outstanding quality. Also: 'I read the graffiti in the bathroom stall Like the holy scriptures of a shopping mall And so it seemed to confess It didn't say much, but it only confirmed That the centre of the earth is the end of the world And I could really care less' No ball shoving 😂😂 I will say 'Jesus of Suburbia' and later 'Homecoming' could both be considered 'Rhapsodies' in that they are through composed songs with several contrasting sections that don't repeat but nonetheless tell a whole story. I'd say each has 5 distinct sections, and they are subdivided in the lyrics 'Jesus of Suburbia', for example, is made up of the following parts: 1. Jesus of Suburbia 2. City of the damned 3. I don't care 4. Dearly beloved 5. Tales from another broken home Homecoming is: 1. The death of St. Jimmy 2. East 12th Street 3. Nobody likes you 4. Rock and Roll Girlfriend 5. We're coming home again Think of them as 5 short songs that are stitched together to make a whole that is bigger than the sum of its parts. I definitely enjoy listening to the longer songs myself I don't need radio friendly - not when you can hear a whole soundscape develop over time 😂. Also - think of Holiday / BLVD. ; Are the waiting/ St. Jimmy ; Give me Novacaine/She's a Rebel; Extraordinary girl/Letterbomb as separate songs that happen to run into one another. They are listed as separate songs on the actual album. As for 'Extrodinary Girl'? That to me is the weakest song on the album and the only one I generally skip. It's got an interesting intro, but it descends into a bit of a mindless mess. That it runs into Letterbomb its saving grace to me. Letterbomb is brilliant - extraordinary girl gets more than a bit repetitive.

one hour video? i'm so excited let's goooooooooo

Man, I had no idea that this album was that old. I could've sworn it came out in like 2006/2007 😅 I remember listening to a bunch of songs from this album on the radio growing up, definitely shaped my music tastes later on lol. I have some pretty fond memories of jamming out to american idiot and boulevard of broken dreams with my mom. I haven't listened to all of Green Day's stuff but they lean more on the punk side in my experience, super high energy, a little less complicated and a little more explicitly political in the lyrics On why jesus of suburbia is so long, it's for the art of it! Especially in a concept album. I'm taking a history of rock class so I'm learning a lot about this kind of stuff lol, but 9 minutes is nowhere near the longest a song can get. I listened to parts of one the other day that was like... 20 minutes long. Insane. I think the reason why it wasn't split up into multiple songs was to carry through the theme that's going through all the different parts. If you split it up, it loses that connection. But yeah I agree with you lol, I never really listen to the whole thing front to back. Caveats of making more experimental/"artistic" music I'd definitely recommend looking up lyrics while you listen to a bunch of these bands, the singers can be pretty incomprehensible sometimes lol. I'm pretty sure you can look at them directly on apple music if you'd like, or just google 'em. I totally understand if you'd rather just focus on listening to the song though, just a thought :)

you need to check out The Offspring - Americana, punk perfection.

So the songs that are grouped together holiday/boulevard are two separate songs. Same with letterbomb and extraordinary girl. Other than that solid review!

I read the grafiti on the bathroom stall like the holy scripture of the shopping mall....

There’s actually a logical reason why the songs are combined like this. When this was released back in 2004 the ability to download music online was still very much in its infancy. Songs that would transition into other songs wouldn’t transition smoothly. So in order to create a smoother listening experience these songs were combined. However, if you were to buy the CD all the tracks would be separated.

i highly recommend jumping into the rabbit hole of slipknot, such a good band (amazing live) and their first album is insane. the drums (rip joey) are so good imo

Jesus of Suburbia is honestly so confusing, lmao. Dearly Beloved is a great segment, though.

Letterbomb is part of the soundtrack of the Movie "Journey 2 the misterious island" i thought you heard it from there

Glad to see your rock education progressing! Its important to keep in mind that Green Day is more of a punk band, and thus more politically minded, similar to System of a Down or Rage Against The Machine -- they took a queercore band, Pansy Division, on tour with them in the 1990s, the song 'Coming Clean' off the Dookie album is about Billie Joe's bisexual awakening. The other two members have since also come out as bisexual. When Billie Jo is singing "well maybe I'm the f@ggot, America" on AI's title track, this is in direct response to how unbelievably toxic and homophobic mainstream American culture was. In the 2000s, people called a straight cis man "metrosexual" if he bathed regularly and conducted "unusual" amounts of personal grooming and didn't dress like a slob. On 'Holiday' when they mention "Seig Heil says President Gas Man" they are talking about George W Bush and the illegal war he declared on Iraq, under the fig leaf of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" because of 9/11 even though the Saudis were the financial backing behind that attack. This is a critique of the jingoism of the era. "Pulverize the Eiffel Towers" is in regards to the absolute lather people worked themselves into because France didnt want to invade a foreign country with us. This is also where we got 'Freedom Fries' from.

I remember being like 7 years old when this album came out and St. Jimmy blew my little mind lol

Just a weird, random idea for an album reaction - based on your favourite green day songs? Maybe check out 'Costello Music' by Glaswegian rockers 'The Fratellis'

i think the song extraordinary girl has an arabic sound to pay homage to iraq which was invaded by america in those years

Favourite son wasn't included on this list (Favourite son is a bonus track)

ill never understand mfs who just go completely blind into albums, then complain when stuff happens that they dont understand. also after watching this video, why is the only way that bro thinks about music is from a radio stand point. wild video and definitely a reaction i guess

green day yaaay 🔥🔥🔥

Omg how i felt old when you said you're as old as this album hahahha

TECHNICALLY, 'Jesus of Suburbia has "slashes" in that whole song. All the tempo changes and all.

Con la remerita de boca xd

I reas the graffiti in the bathroom stall like the holy scriptures of the shopping mall

Fun fact Jesus of suburbia and homecoming are filled with separate songs that create a cohesive narrative Jesus of suburbia consists of: Jesus of suburbia City of the damned I don’t care Dearly beloved And tales of another broken home

born in 2004 gang anyone🤚

American idiot I have to say, is my favorite song from Green Day

lol pmsl comparing to lol motlecrue lol aww bless

Bro i know you commented on this but believe it or not Jesus of suburbia was played on the radio so much! The whole 9 minutes!

Please react to The Ataris

Dude, you're king of pauses🎉 and misheard lyrics!

"The reason they got so popular is mostly because of this song" my dude, by the time this song came out Green Day had 7 other albums, four of which are certified double-platinum in the US (2+ million copies sold) and another one certified diamond (10 million copies sold), and I just checked just in case - they got all these certifications before they released American Idiot. By the time this song came out, Green Day had been kings, than washed up failures and then with this album kings again. Yes, American Idiot is their biggest record in all possible measurements, but with all due respect, if you're looking for the song that made them popular, it's Basket Case released 10 years before this album.

Honestly I'd prefer the fact that this album is 19 years old not sink in