Not commenting on quality or my personal views on its quality, American Idiot was a huge reset for the band. Their first six records had a clear progression and an aging/maturing to them and there’s an alternate reality where they kept progressing in the direction of Warning instead of resetting and spinning off into their new trajectory.
Kind of a coin toss between that and 21CB. The latter came out right around when I graduated high school, so it's more of a sentimental favorite than anything else. Doubt I'd put Insomniac higher than 5, though. Recalling where their stock was as a band at that time, I think it makes total sense that they were ready for a reset, and I'm glad they took a really big swing (that, to my ears at least, still retains a lot of what made their earlier music special, just supersizes it). I get being frustrated about where the band went after that point, but IMO, American Idiot slots very comfortably into the progression they were on with those first six records. It's after that where they start to lose the plot.
I've got a similar purist (your word) / old person (my word) ranking. Insomniac nimrod Dookie Warning 1039 Kerplunk American Idiot 21st Century Revolution Radio Uno Tre Dos FOAM
I knew only listening to that song, and none of the others on those albums, would come back to bite me one day.
FOAM at 1. And such. Listen, there are severe issues, but they could have had FOAM and the trilogy as top 4. So, yea, not as bad as I feared haha
Insomniac Warning American Idiot Dookie Nimrod Rev Rad Kerplunk 39 smooth 21CB Uno Tre Dos FOAM I do think American Idiot is the best album but my favorite goes back and forth between Insomniac and Warning
1. Warning 2. American Idiot 3. Insomniac 4. Dookie 5. Nimrod 6. Kerplunk 7. 39 Smooth 8. 21CB 9. Tre 10. Rev Radio 11. Dos 12. Uno 13. FOAM
I just took a listen to the Dookie version of Christie Rd. and wow, it’s so surreal to listen to. It’s wild we went this long without it seeing the light of day. I think it would’ve fit pretty well on Dookie, tbh. I think I like it better than the Kerplunk version. I do wish we could hear it with the original Dookie mixing, rather than the remaster-version mixing though. Question though, was it common knowledge that they recorded it during the Dookie sessions? I legitimately never knew they recorded a second version of it until they announced the 30th anniversary version of Dookie. I ate, slept, breathed Green Day in my early teens and I thought I knew all the trivia, but I guess I don’t!
The harmonies on the final "Christie Road" of the chorus are just so good. Like this version and the original but don't think Dookie would have been any better for including it. Almost a perfect album as it is.
Wow yeah this sounds great I had no idea it existed. I prefer the original though, I love Billie’s squeakier voice on it.