It’s been twenty years since American Idiot has been released, and music has never been the same. As someone who was blessed with parents in the upper middle class tax bracket and tour tickets for my birthday, I got to see Green Day live in Denver in September. And what a better way to celebrate the album’s birthday than by critically judging each individual track on a completely unbiased and official rating scale created by a Green Day super fan?
1) Jesus of Suburbia: Nine minutes is not a long enough song. Keep going. I want to hear this forever. If this song isn’t my number one on Spotify this year, I will be baffled. 7,982,679,008,293/10
2) American Idiot: Iconic. Because Green Day is a political band, on this tour, they’ve been replacing the lyrics “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” with “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda”, as a criticism of the Republican party candidate, Donald Trump. It goes hand-in-hand with the image the screens were displaying before the show started, which was a QR code to register to vote, and the phrase “Don’t be an American Idiot: Vote!” 11/10
3) Letterbomb: A complete and utter banger. The intro, “Nobody likes you / Everyone left you / They’re all out without you / Having fun” goes so hard. If this song doesn’t play at my funeral, I’m going to resurrect myself just to curse out the funeral director. 11/10
4) Whatsername: Every time I hear this song, I’m immediately transported back to being a little kid and scream-singing the lyrics in my dad’s car while sitting in my little booster seat. 10/10
5) Wake Me up When September Ends: The “up” isn’t capitalized in the song’s title. Improper MLA formating annoys me, but this song is quite literally about Billie Joe Armstrong’s dad dying, so I’ll cut this song some slack. 9/10
6) Boulevard of Broken Dreams: For a punk band, they really dove into the Hot Topic-encrusted emo scene to dig out that “eDgY” song title. It is a banger though. 9/10
7) Holiday: Another very political song, this one has an incredibly punk rock bridge that I adore. But the music video is painfully green-screened, and I can’t stand watching the first half of it. 9/10
8) Homecoming: Another nine minute song, yet also not long enough. This song has what I like to call “Bohemian Rhapsody Syndrome”: having no clear chorus, several distinct parts, and being a musical mess, but somehow being incredible anyways. 9/10
9) St. Jimmy: The perfect song to scream in the car while on the highway. But in the deluxe album, this song is mashed into “Are We the Waiting”, which makes it hard to listen to as a very impatient person. 8/10
10) She’s a Rebel: Underappreciated. Perfect for screaming along to. I’d absolutely mosh to this song. 8/10
11) Extraordinary Girl: This song is incredible if you’re in the mood for something a little slower and calmer. Also there’s bongos. Need I say more? 8/10
12) Give Me Novacaine: Misspelled. Maybe because Novocaine is a branded name? Otherwise, it’s a pretty forgettable song, but it has a catchy melody. 7/10
13) Are We the Waiting: Meh. Only reason I listen to it is because it’s lumped in with St. Jimmy in the deluxe album. Sounds like elevator music. 5/10
The special 20 year edition of American Idiot, now including never-before-heard tracks, is being released today, October 25th. If you are also a Green Day super fan, go check it out. I know I will!
