Send "Green Day " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 If you haven’t heard the news yet, Green Day’s 2004 album American Idiot was kind of a big deal. A politically-charged rock opera that drew inspiration from the Kinks and the Who—the original masters of the form—American Idiot told the coming-of-age story of Jesus of Suburbia, a discontented misfit youth trying to find purpose amidst the pervasive post-9/11 “redneck agenda” of then-President George W. Bush. Never mind that the album wasn’t really much of a quantum leap compared to its underappreciated predecessors Nimrod (1997) and Warning (2000); in fact, one of its main flaws was that it recycled hooks from those records. There’s no denying that American Idiot captured the zeitgeist of mid-2000s America in a manner unmatched by any other musical attempts at political commentary, an occurrence that vaulted the punk rock trio into the rarified realm of rock megastardom.Having become both Green Day’s biggest commercial success since its 1994 major label debut Dookie and the recipient of much critical acclaim for its scope and subject matter, American Idiot has been unequivocally enshrined in the public consciousness as an Important Album. The canonization of the album continued apace with the production of a Broadway play based on the record, which began late last year. While a big Broadway production might seem a little pretentious for a bunch like Green Day, the translation of American Idiot into a stage show does provide the means for its story to stand as a true narrative. The effect is lost, though, when all you have is the music and not the show. As this cast recording demonstrates, the album’s transition into a new medium has changed little about the songs themselves. Green Day arranged and performed the play’s soundtrack, which also incorporates material from the group’s 2009 follow-up rock opera 21st Century Breakdown. The primary type of alteration present is the sort intended to facilitate the flow amongst the play’s musical numbers (for example, the play loses the segue between “Holiday” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, while inserting one between “Favorite Son” into “Are We the Waiting”). One of the more drastic reconfigurations is the combination of “Last of the American Girls” and ”She’s a Rebel” into a call-and-response mash-up, throwing in a snippet of “St. Jimmy” at the end for good measure. Nevertheless, the cast recording is largely identical to the original recordings, throwing in enough changes to pique the interest of those who’ve played the album to death over the years....full text |
| Vivalamainstream |
| Let me preface this review with two things: I am reviewing the Broadway Cast Album of American Idiot, not the show itself. I have not seen the show (though I’ve heard some bootlegs), and can only speak to the cast recording released last month. As such, Your Mileage May Vary on what follows. Don’t buy this album on CD. The copy I got had no artist, song title or album metatags, and I spent an hour and a half trying to put them in by hand. I don’t know if this was intentional or manufacturer’s error, but save yourself some trouble and get it through the digital outlets. Now then. I was a supporter of a Broadway adaptation of American Idiot since the idea was first floated out years ago. My favorite album of all time is Tommy by The Who, and I’ve waited for a band from my generation to shoot for the same grandeur and method of storytelling through rock n’ roll. With American Idiot, Green Day were the first band to come close (some might argue that The Decemberists topped them with The Hazards of Love, but that’s a different argument). So I put the cast recording on with very solid expectations. After hearing the Broadway Cast present their take on the album, I can’t exactly say I was let down, but based on music alone, American Idiot ends up falling short on its promise. The biggest problem with American Idiot‘s soundtrack is Green Day. Whether the result of Executive Meddling or because the band couldn’t let go of their baby that easily, Green Day provide all the instrumentation for the cast album. As a result, fan favorites like “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Holiday” wind up sounding more like karaoke versions of the songs than the larger than life tracks that Broadway versions deserve. On the other hand, it provides a fascinating look at how these songs have grown in six years. Songs like “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, once a guitar-heavy anthem for angsty high school freshmen, now has a human side to it once it strips away the electric guitars and adds a touch of harmony. Likewise, adding a female voice to “Extraordinary Girl” does wonders for an already underappreciated song. On top of that, the back-and-forth battle between St. Jimmy and Johnny in the tense “Know Your Enemy” (which hints at “Jesus of Suburbia”) is simply brilliant....full text |
| Consequenceofsound |
| It’s now been six years since Green Day’s punk rock concept record American Idiot surfaced; six years since acclaimed music video director Samuel Bayer brought the loosely-translated storyline of Johnny & Whatsername, via the numerous singles, on cable channels, and YouTube domains across the globe (epic “Jesus Of Suburbia” included). Shortly after, the band who went from grungy pop-punk to quasi-political mega-stardom dabbled in alternative musical forms more akin to The Beatles (see: Foxboro Hot Tubs) while semi-confessing to an American Idiot film script being in the works, a la The Wall. Last year, Green Day released another album in the vein of American Idiot titled 21st Century Breakdown, and now American Idiot’s track list (along with a handful of Breakdown’s tunes) graces the Broadway stage in full musical form with a sung-through format and a varied cast of actors and actresses on board. American Idiot: The Musical has received mixed reviews from theatrical critics, and though the members of Green Day themselves are not physically amongst the cast, a live on-stage band provides sound accompaniment, and therefore we have a soundtrack....full text |
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