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American Idiot's 10 year Anniversary


Fuzz

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This is kind of embarrassing, but I was still so obsessed with their older stuff that I didn't even realize that American Idiot existed until after the album had already been out for almost a month (I didn't listen to the radio or watch any music channels in case you were wondering how that was possible). I remember that I bought tickets to see Green Day for the first time EVER, and my friend (who is now my husband) burned me a copy of American Idiot and was like "Here, you may want to listen to this since this is what they'll be playing."

I remember putting it on and just being in complete shock at how different it was than anything else they'd ever done. I also remember thinking Jesus of Suburbia was too long haha (someone else said that on here too so I know I'm not alone there). But OF COURSE I became obsessed with it, like everyone else and ended up seeing them three times total on the American Idiot tour.

I can't believe it's been ten years.

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This is the song that was responsible for my parents deleting all my GD music from my computer. Cheers. :P

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I still have mine! It has AI, Holiday, JOS, BOBD, and then a bunch of MCR, The Used, The Killers, and Evanescence on it. Such a 2004 mix CD :lol:

it could be because everyone agrees with you :P

I guess they do! I'd be surprised if they did - maybe I should have posted it in Unpopular Opinions? :lol:
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Not my favorite GD album, but it still has a special place in my heart. My cousin was into GD at the time, so he told me to check them out and I first heard "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and I thought it was okay but I really liked it because they said "fuck" in it! lol Then I heard the title track and went and bought the album. I didn't buy it until summer 2006 when I was 9 and a half though, but it was the first album I ever bought. I remember even back then I was a nut for fast music ("St. Jimmy" was my favorite) but now I'd say my favorite is "Homecoming" actually. This album is pretty much what got me into music, I can thank this album for, in ways, making me who I am today. It's because of this album that I decided I wanted to become a musician, seriously. If not for this album, I might be an office worker or something! lol

And no dissing on "Extraordinary Girl", that's a good track!

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I still remember the first time I heard American Idiot, and later on Jesus Of Suburbia. It's as clear as day, in a "where were you when [historical event] happened?" As anyone who's read my piece in the zine knows, American Idiot was quite literally life changing for me.

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oh my god you were a wee little baby when it came out! So strange to think that this album is to some people what Dookie is to me.

I wasn't a wee baby, I was 8 when it came out. I was a little guy yes, but not a baby. When you say wee baby, I think like 3 or something.

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Not to turn this into a debate about what a tiny baby is, but you were only a couple of years older than my daughter when it came out, hence my usage of the expression :P

Ah okay, makes more sense now!

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oh my god you were a wee little baby when it came out! So strange to think that this album is to some people what Dookie is to me.

Yeah it's kind of crazy. I remember thinking that when it came out too. There were all these new fans and many of them would drop off. But I knew some of them would look at that time the same way I viewed Warning, as the thing that got them in to the band. It's weird to think the same will be true in 8 years when the trilogy is 10, or in 5 years when 21CB is 10.

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I wasn't a wee baby, I was 8 when it came out. I was a little guy yes, but not a baby. When you say wee baby, I think like 3 or something.

Accept it man, you'll always be a foetus in Kay's eyes.

Now there's a mental image...

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It's weird how I almost remember each time i first heard a new green day song even well before I was a big fan. I think for ai I was listening to the radio in my family's temporary apartment complex's workout gym and I think they played holiday or boulevard of broken dreams and wmuwse back to back and I remember thinking wow those are some of the best songs I've heard on modern rock radio in a long time. I went on to buy a few songs from ai on itunes after having a battle with my parents over curse words in some of the songs and so called "anti-american" ideals of the album even though a lot of music they listened to in the 70's had similar lines of thinking in them along with the curse words. The made me swear to never buy any more green day songs after buying bobd and wmuwse but obviously that never held up. I became a total green day fanatic when 21CB came out and it affected who I am today a lot more than any of the 60's and 70's music i listened to up that point. That music is great and i still listen to a lot of it but it never was as urgent, honest, or as reckless-abandon as green day's. Green day was my gate way to the punk, alternative, and indie scene. And today that is still the music I listen to most of the time.

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This is the song that was responsible for my parents deleting all my GD music from my computer. Cheers. :P

Your parents sound like fun people.

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10 years - wow! I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was watching a music channel on TV, it was called "Get the clip" and it showed which three songs/music videos are up next. It said "Green Day - American Idiot" and I had never heard of that band but the song title made me curious so I waited until it came on. That was basically the second that would change my life or at least be the beginning of a change that came slowly. I was blown away by the energy of the song and also the music video - back then, I was only listening to pop music so AI was like a kick in the face. A couple months later, I found out that a classmate had their album, so I borrowed it, fell in love with it... the rest is history.

PS I feel old now!

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AI will never be better than Dookie, Nimrod, Warning, ... It's in my bottom two.

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i just remember going on yahoo launch and watching every green day music video they had in horrible quality and printing out pictures from the gda photo vault to put into my school binder. discovered the gda forum two months later and here we are :P

Omg - I did that too! I downloaded every single picture and video that was on the GDA vault back then, I was so obsessed :lol: It's crazy to look at them now. I feel very nostalgic.

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Neck Deep actually made BOBD sound like it should sound. OMG that solo <3

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I remember hearing the single for the first time, being debuted on Radio 1, while I did Summer work in a factory before going to Reading Festival to see them headline. It was genuinely exciting in only the way a 16-year-old can get excited about his favourite band releasing a new song. It also took the edge off having to work in a factory and the rest of Radio 1's output at the time.

Weirdly the album itself came as a let down. I was probably expecting every track to sound like the punk blast of the lead single and when it wasn't (it was padded out with things like ballads and generic alternative rock songs) I felt slightly annoyed. Still, I like about 80% of it now so it gets a pass from me.

I've also since learned that much of the song's style was whipped from US Forces by Midnight Oil. Oh well, steal from the best.

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AI will never be better than Dookie, Nimrod, Warning, ... It's in my bottom two.

ok we get it

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AI will never be better than Dookie, Nimrod, Warning, ... It's in my bottom two.

Just go away

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I never get how anyone could truly interpret "American Idiot" as being anti-American. It's anti-political-establishment, yes, anti-media, yes, but anti-American? That's a stretch.

What's really annoying is that my parents just looked up online and a lot sites at that time said american idiot was anti-american. It's like they couldn't figure out for themselves what was meant by it just because they wouldn't take the time to really listen to it due to the fact that it was more profanity-laden and not as disguised as a lot of early rock songs.

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I never get how anyone could truly interpret "American Idiot" as being anti-American. It's anti-political-establishment, yes, anti-media, yes, but anti-American? That's a stretch.

People are idiots. Ironically.
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The hilarious thing is that the song isn't even full of profanity, as many parents seem to think. One "fuck" and one "faggot" does not a profanity-laden song make.

Plus, it doesn't even say "Fuck America" like most people think, it's "The subliminal mind-fuck America," which means something completely different.

i suppose it's coz the fuck and faggot are pretty damn unmissable, on some songs swearing is only noticeable coz of censoring!

I used to think it was 'and I fuck America', so I've no idea what I thought it was about.

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Neck Deep actually made BOBD sound like it should sound. OMG that solo <3

Neck Deep (A band that I respect) did a decent cover, but nothing more. The sped up tempo doesn't fit at all. The slower, anthemic nature of BOBD makes the lyrics all the more powerful, and it makes the build up of tension and then eventual explosion on the bridge sound incredible. Neck Deep's takes that aspect away.

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