Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Green Day "American Idiot"

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Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 12-01-2004, 10:03 PM:

Excellent album. Anyone agree or disagree?

Posted by Sam Johnson II (Member # 2157) on 12-01-2004, 11:48 PM:

Haven't heard the whole album yet, but I've heard quite a few bits from a "Making the album"-type special, and it sounds really good, I think. I particularly like the new single "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

It's a bit more than their typical punk rock-style they did, but at the same time it's still punk, and still Green Day. I'll likely buy the album pretty soon to add to my small, but slowly growing collection of albums: "Start Something" by Lostprophets, "Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard, "The Beautiful Letdown" by Switchfoot, "12 Stones" by 12 Stones, "Potter's Field" by 12 Stones, "The Reason" by Hoobastank, and "Page Avenue" by Story of the Year.

Posted by Ben Holley (Member # 2247) on 12-02-2004, 01:02 AM:

psssshhh, you kids and your punk rock. although i do wish ska would make a comeback [Frown]

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 12-02-2004, 01:41 PM:

Dude, ska is still around. Check out Big D and the Kid's Table from Boston. Excellent ska band.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 12-02-2004, 05:59 PM:

I think the album works well as a whole. Listen to it all the way through and there's a good feeling that lasts through the entire album. Jumping into one of the singles, on its own, leaves a lot to be desired when compared to their other albums (Insomniac is easily their best). I sense on tracks like "American Idiot" or "Blvd. of Broken Dreams" they've partially given over to the pop-punk mentality which, unfortunately, record companies love because it makes girls scream and sells records to the teenage population of the world. But I gotta give them kudos for the marathon, multi-part, songs. Only Meatloaf keeps me hooked on a nine minute song like that [Big Grin]

I faithfully believe true punk has always been The Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks and the Clash. No band in recent years has matched them, and I feel like the pop infusion currently going on in the market is killing the genre at a unfair pace. But Idiot does have some important political value this year, and that does give it some wiggle room, if you ask me (which I know nobody did [Big Grin]

)

Pixies are still the world's greatest band [Smile]

Posted by Ben Holley (Member # 2247) on 12-03-2004, 01:02 AM:

quote: Brandon Willis
Dude, ska is still around. Check out Big D and the Kid's Table from Boston. Excellent ska band.

i am very aware ska is still around, its just going downhill. Newer ska bands like streetlight manifesto and big d are great but the people that go to there shows hardly know what the hell ska is. Less than jake concert, I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO SEEMED TO EVEN KNOW WHAT THE HELL SKANKING IS...i saw big d about a year ago and it was the same situation more or less.

edit- BTY 'dookie' is the best green day album ever, i remember i was in elementary school when that came out, and now i feel like some young punk ass projectionist

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 12-03-2004, 01:37 AM:

I think Black Flag is/was the world's greatest band.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 12-03-2004, 06:05 AM:

I don't really know which is the world's greatest band. But when I was at a friend's house recently, his daughter told me that SpongeBob was the greatest singer of all times. She seemed absolutely certain of that.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 12-03-2004, 10:13 AM:

Hey, SpongeBob is cool. But I have no idea what "Green Day American Idiot" means.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-03-2004, 12:29 PM:

It's a pretty good pop/rock song, but it would have been just as good without the anti-[political reference not included for obvious reasons] lyrics.

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 12-03-2004, 01:21 PM:

I think it's their strongest album music-wise since "Dookie." I like the slower songs like "Blvd. of Broken Dreams" but not as much as the faster material like "St. Jimmy." The faster songs totally shred right up there with the best tracks off of Dookie. I wouldn't even be listening to punk if it weren't for Dookie. I was 11 when that album came out and it changed my life the first time I heard it.
Another good album is the new one by The Explosion, "Black Tape". Has anyone heard this? The single "Here I am" is a great cut.

Posted by Jeff Akin (Member # 1198) on 12-04-2004, 11:44 AM:

It is a good ALBUM. Most of the songs, on their own, just aren't anything that really stand out to me. To much pop.

If you want to check out a great ska band, btw, here's one:

Skamatiks

They're out of Salem, OR.

Okay, it's my band. But we are ska, and have been since '96.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-04-2004, 04:57 PM:

Green day is just another in a string of young pop artists that actually THINK that people want to hear thier politics, instead of thier art.

It's ok to make a statement with what you do, but let's face it, the majority of people that buy thier so called "music", don't have the slightest clue of its meaning, and those that might understand it could be offended just enough to avoid buying it.

I have always thought, that if you wan't to make a statement, at least be able to back it up with something more than just "hey, were a band called green day, so were like smarter than you, so buy our album and you will be as smart as us."

In all actuality, it should go like this, "hey were green day, and we just suckered you out of 16 bucks, because we are rich greedy snobs who grew up that way and we are in fact laughing all the way to the bank."

In fact, any musical group with any kind of gimmick or message, is just full of it. Marilyn manson, Kiss, Judas Priest, iron Maiden, Green Day... all of them, full of it.

For me, I don't care what the message is. I often listen to music with messages that are counter to my own belief system. I just happen to like the music involved. I think that "american idiot", is just some band out of ideas and putting out lame crap to take advantage of timing, and that's about it. Green day is on the way out, like so many other acts.

For me, I happen to love a band called Maroon 5. Great stuff. The whole album. The band themselves are ultra left socialists that hate conservatives with a passion. Not my cup of tea, but they leave it out of thier music, because they know that to survive, you have to be able to approach people on a musical level, not a political one.

Ciao baby!!!

Dave

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 12-04-2004, 09:59 PM:

Dave Williams wrote :

quote:
Green day is just another in a string of young pop artists that actually THINK that people want to hear their politics, instead of their art.

i don't see how you can call green day a young band. they have been playing for 15 years. they started in 1989 when they added a drummer to the group and changed their name to green day.

Posted by Ben Holley (Member # 2247) on 12-04-2004, 11:04 PM:

Dave,
you seem to be thinking of the band 'anti-flag'. Green Day constantly pokes fun at themselves and especially the punk subculture. As for the 'american idiot' title, thats just them jumping on the political bandwagon. Aside from that they dont try to come off as a band to take seriously. They are moving into the emo genre not the 'we are smart and know what should be done to make the country better'. besides whats wrong with likeing a song even if you dont agree with its message 100%

Posted by Ethan Harper (Member # 472) on 12-04-2004, 11:05 PM:

Dave, Where do you get your facts from?

Ciao!!!

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-05-2004, 11:00 AM:

Oh i'm sorry....

I forgot to mention that Saturday is my "old man rant" day. [Eek!]

I actually like Green Day. Quite a bit actually. I have followed them for many years.

I was on a young person rant yesterday. Just ask everyone around me. I was even on an old lady rant too! [evil]

And as for facts on this, I was old man ranting. You know, making up stuff because I wanted to complain a lot for no apparent reason. [Roll Eyes]

That's what old man rants are all about!!! [fu]

And besides, I just wanted some attention. No one fed me my tapioca rice pudding for lunch so I had to blow some steam, ya know! [Confused]

So don't get too excited. Ask anyone here. I am the antagonist of the bunch. Most of the time I am serious, but when it comes to music? Please! I love most of it, even the stuff with messages from people who don't know any better.

However I will say this, in all truthfulness, the latest Green Day album is pretty lame, compared to thier other works. Even on its own without comparison, it just seems very trivial in nature. They need to hit the books harder.

Ciao baby!!!

Dave [beer]

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 12-05-2004, 01:42 PM:

Dave,

I knew there was something fishy about your other post. Couldn't put my finger on it but for some reason it did feel like you were acting like an old fart. Not sure if the rest of us will forgive you for that one. [Razz]

I'm actually surprised E-dawggg didn't beat you up for that one. [Big Grin]

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-05-2004, 04:03 PM:

I'm not into Green Day all that much. No offense intended, but I just consider them a tattoo-pop band. They're not "punk," at least not the kind I listenend to in the early 1980's.

Most people consider bands like The Clash, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, The Dead Kennedys and the Plasmatics as being real punk. But even there, they are a 2nd generation that followed the Sex Pistols, The New York Dolls (and Alice Cooper to a somewhat influential degree).

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that mohawks, tattoos, piercings and other seemingly punk fashion statements really don't shock anyone anymore. It's just another costume as far as I'm concerned.

Regarding Dave's comments about political statements made by Green Day and other bands, I agree for the most part that it is pretty unnecesary. Few bands are able to pull off the political rock angle without it sounding very pretentious. But I can usually tune out that part of it or just avoid the song altogether.

Usually the most successful bands that do it have some general inspiration to do so. The early work of U2 was really good in that they were inspired by the bloodshed happening in Northern Ireland and drawing parallels to the American Civil Rights movement. It usually takes some kind of specific event to spark an inspired song. Look at the Kent State incident. Whether you like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young or not, you cannot argue away the fact their song about that incident is an enduring classic in rock music.

I guess the thing that offends me more these days is the conduct of bands on various music awards shows. Am I the only one who wanted to throw some rotten tomatoes at REM's Michael Stipe on his various trips to the podium? His stunt of pulling off one political t-shirt to reveal another and another and another was beyond annoying. I'd even go so far to say that kind of thing was a factor in REM's downfall of popularity in the early 1990s.

These days I don't even watch music awards shows. That's because most of the corporate pop acts today just act like a bunch of arrogant drug abusing sluts. They seem to promote a kind of message that there's something wrong with you if you don't have model good looks and a criminal record. F**k that message.

Posted by Darren Crimmins (Member # 1116) on 12-05-2004, 05:26 PM:

Steve Scott said,
"Pixies are still the world's greatest band."

[thumbsup]

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 03-10-2005, 12:55 AM:

For the last month or so, Radio Wazee has been playing a medley/mix that's mostly GD's "I Walk Alone" with Oasis' "Wonderwall" swapping verses & running under. The finish is Aeromsith's "Dream On" tacked on with a razor blade. It's a hoot & really well done.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 03-10-2005, 11:07 AM:

What's even better is the mp3 that was floating around for a while of Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" played over "Someday" showing just how similar those two songs are.

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 03-10-2005, 01:41 PM:

I believe that greenday / wonderwall mix was done by Seattle's 107.7 The End. I downloaded it a while ago from their "mash-up" site, but i can't find it now. If it turns up, I'll upload it.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 03-10-2005, 03:06 PM:

I found it on the website for KHMX here in Houston.

Here it is