Yeah most days if someone asks me my favorite Green Day album is either nimrod or warning. Looking back it’s pretty wild just how sprawling and creative nimrod is, it has a little bit of everything
Given the greatness of She, Longview, Welcome to Paradise, Basket Case or When I Come Around, it feels wrong not to put Dookie at number one, but the truth is that Warning and Nimrod are also my top 2 Green Day albums.
Really cool video for what ended up being my favorite song on the album. What an amazing era for them, I feel like this was their most successful since at least 21CBD?
I agree something felt bigger than the last 15 years with this release, better material for sure and the tours felt like a peak, although purely commercially I'm not sure if this did any better than Revolution Radio.
American Idiot not being on all these Albums Of The Century So Far lists publications have been putting out is kind of dumb, feels snobby to a fault, that album should be undeniable
Agreed. A pivotal album for telling the story of the past 25 years of music, IMO. On a similar note, I saw that Steven Hyden recently did a “greatest lost albums” list over at Uproxx, and there was nary a mention of Cigarettes & Valentines on there.
blink's Untitled, American Idiot and The Black Parade are the three albums that shifted the mainstream face of rock away from pop-punk, and of those three American Idiot was clearly the biggest influence both musically and in sales
Very poor. I think aside from the rock opera aspect, artistically it wasn't that revolutionary when you look at the songs individually, but as what must be one of the top 3 post-2000 biggest selling rock albums (assume Hybrid Theory has more) that is a serious oversight.
I wrote about this for the 20th anniversary last year, but American Idiot really felt like the last true omnipresent rock album to me.
This got me thinking and no other post-2004 examples come to mind so far. Even an album like Minutes To Midnight, as successful as the album and its singles were, misses the cultural impact and critical acclaim American Idiot got.
lol Green Day has sold over 23 million albums of American Idiot. Agreed with everyone to not include such a cultural and commercial juggernaut of an album (a great album nonetheless) on these lists is embarrassing.
Enjoyed re-reading that piece. Of course you never know you are living in a moment until after it has passed. If that is to be the last rock album of that scale then few modern rock bands as worthy of having that honour, if any.
Here are the ones that came after this album that I think were even in a neighboring galaxy of cultural ubiquity: Nickelback - All the Right Reasons: It gives me no pleasure to admit how inescapable this fucking thing was for like four years. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium: In my opinion, the closest any post-American Idiot album came to the kind of domination I'm talking about. Definitely the only rock album that came out when I was in high school where it seemed like all my classmates were listening to it and talking about it at the same time. Also, a true hit machine. Radiohead - In Rainbows: More for the release strategy and all the conversation it ignited than the actual music, great as it is. But, that aspect definitely changed the conversation in a meaningful way. Coldplay - Viva la Vida: Had a number 1 hit lead single, and the "Coldplay goes full U2" narrative was strong. fun. - Some Nights: The dead cat bounce.
I think Viva la Vida is the only one that can really match it in terms of sales, and impact. It also relaunched the band into a new era and a whole new dimension.