American Idiot - Is it the greatest album of all time? if not, what is?

[Hermione]

The fact that i see Green Day, Blink 182, My Chemical Romance, and Sum 41 here is a joke.

Ahh come on now, you know Green Day is several cuts above the others you've listed there

[burnout409]

The fact that i see Green Day, Blink 182, My Chemical Romance, and Sum 41 here is a joke.

.

Not a joke, another persons valid opinion

[beejeezee]

It's probably the best known Green Day album, and with how it sold, all the awards and nominations, the play, the movie, and how much larger Green Day was known and respected as a band after AI probably is considered their greatest. But personally I'm always gonna be a Dookie kid.

[dersulbob]

Certainly it's one of the greatest albums of it's era. That's as much as I will say for it. I just think other albums have had a much more long lasting impact. I mean, today, as an 18 year old, one of my favourite albums to listen to is The White Album. And this is 43 years after the album was released. I'm not sure if in 36 years, the 18 year olds will be listening to American Idiot. Love it as I might, I just don't believe AI is the "greatest".

[xxSaintNikkixx]

I think it is, it has a great story line, awesome lyrics, etc.

[Zero.]

There are so many great albums, and there are probably (Hopefully) so many more amazing ones still to come. American Idiot is an amazing album (It's even got it's own musical that's how awesome it is) but I don't feel as if it's Green Day's best album, and in the grand scheme of things it's definitely not the greatest albums ever (In my opinion). You have to look at not only how the album makes you feel but the album's influence in the music world, how many copies it sold, and how it sounds musically (There are other areas, but I won't bore you). American Idiot (and all of Green Day's other work) of course fills all these categories, but not to the extent that other albums have, I feel though that American Idiot is definitely one of the greatest albums of this century.

Albums like the; white album, the wall, sgt. pepper, Led Zeppelin IV, Queen II, (What's the story) Morning glory, Back in Black, hell even MJ's Thriller and Dookie (probably fits in here as well) are some of those albums that are at times indescribable.

For me, Nevermind, Nimrod, Exile on Main St, 21, London Calling, Elephant & Icky Thump (Can't split them haha), West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (Kasabian) and Bat Out of Hell (So much love for this album, saw Meat Loaf preform it live this year, will admit it was bit of a dream come true) are the some of the greatest albums ever.

But really it's all opinion based and we'll never have a definitive answer on what the 'greatest album ever' really is. And to tell you the truth I like it like that, people get into arguments about it, and I like to use this as an opportunity to discover more amazing albums.

[Nobody Likes Cam]

The fact that i see Green Day, Blink 182, My Chemical Romance, and Sum 41 here is a joke.

Some people like bands like that, it's their oppinion.

[justcause]

But really it's all opinion based and we'll never have a definitive answer on what the 'greatest album ever' really is. And to tell you the truth I like it like that, people get into arguments about it, and I like to use this as an opportunity to discover more amazing albums.

Yeah, I like that too, and kudos to the thread-starter for getting this discussion going.

Music is too big for this kind of thing - it's outside of measurement. You could talk about great albums, but then you put them up against - for instance - Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, one piece that's so complete and perfect, and it becomes kind of a nonsense. Great pieces - be they one song, or a whole album - are their own infinity, they succeed on their own terms, they defy measurement.

American Idiot has a special energy - it came out of the sky like a fucking comet, it has that divinity. There are many albums which I love and have reverence for, but for the most part, I don't play them often - I more refer to them. American Idiot, I play all the time and every fucking time it's special, it's brand new - it still catches me by surprise, it's a wonder to me. This, at a point where all of the cultural references of the time of its issue have been and gone, and still it fucking smoulders and weeps and stings and reverberates. American Idiot feels like a question still waiting to be answered.

I can look at all of Green Day's albums, each of them unique and perfect, and still American Idiot stands apart. It came from somewhere else - and in Billie Joe's talk of their 'arrogance' in trying to better it, there's recognition of that. Wherever people may place it in their 'best of' lists, for me it's a piece of magic.

[GreenRanger]

Nah man, we haven't heard the greatest album of all time yet. If we'd already heard it, there'd be a lot less of a reason to keep trying to make music better.

That being said, I'd love for American Idiot to be the greatest album of all time, but there's no scale for that sort of thing. What makes something the greatest? What's the criteria? Who gets the say? I mean, I'd be afraid if it were people, yknow, everyone, who got to choose the greatest album of all time...I'd worry they'd pick something from a long long time ago. Time is a long time. Like I said, I really really hope we haven't heard the greatest album of all time yet. If we have, I'd be fine with it being American Idiot.

[Velocity]

Definitely not the greatest album of all time. But, I do think it's probably one of the greatest albums of this era. It's had a big impact on pop culture I think, but it's too soon to tell if it will have the longevity of albums like the Dark Side of the Moon, the White Album, or Highway 61. I'm not sure if it's my favorite Green Day album (Insomniac and Kerplunk! ) but when you look at Green Day's work as a whole, it's definitely their greatest.

For me personally, the greatest albums have got to be Born to Run, Who's Next, London Calling, American Idiot, and Exile on Main St.

[gdpony]

Not the best, but one of the best.

I really don't think there's a way to determine such thing. I mean everyone has different tastes. For example, the beatles are one of the best bands of all time, but not everyone loves them.

So even though American Idiot is a masterpiece, we can't say it's the best album of all time.

[Guest]

It's a great album, but I don't feel it's anywhere near the greatest album of all time, nor do I feel it's Green Day's greatest album as a band. There are albums that can be called the greatest because they changed the face of music forever, but our own personal greatest albums are the ones that changed our lives forever.

[ConfirmPassword]

It's really hard to say what album it's the greatest. But I think I agree with that it's Green Day bestes album. Probably the best album I've heard too, right before Nimrod I say Nimrod, because the album got it all. It's full if you can say it like that

[Zelda]

For me, it is. But it's (very) closely followed by Nightmare by Avenged Sevenfold. Both of those albums mean a lot to me personally.

[Kid A]

Sgt pepper Lonely hearts club is the greatest album of all time.

American Idiot is the greatest Album of the 2000's.

[StuckWithRob]

David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust album is the greatest album of all time, in my opinion. Suprised it hasn't been mentioned before.

But American Idiot is really good.

[Hermione]

Sorry, Chairman Mao, I didn't know people were no longer allowed to have their own opinions.

Well he was really only expressing his opinion too, to be fair. You can't disagree if someone says an album is their favourite but you can if someone says it's the greatest.

[Mommy's Little Nightmare]

As far as comparing it to past albums that have had an impact, there's others that have been around for far longer and are just as far-reaching as American Idiot was. But I do think that as more time passes, it's going to go down in history with the rest of those greats.

As far as personal meaning to me, yes, it's absolutely the best album of all time. The thing with American Idiot was that, for years, I absolutely didn't like music anymore. There was nothing I could relate to, nothing I liked the sound of, and nothing that really spoke to me. And then I heard this song talking about not being part of a redneck agenda, and it just echoed all the things I was feeling. One day, I was watching TV with my father, and the music video for it was on after a show on MTV. I was like "THAT'S IT! That's the song I've been talking about!" and he told me it was Green Day. He had their Dookie album. He gave it to me. And then bought me American Idiot for my birthday in November.

I listened to that album all the time. Every song had something I could relate to. Every song was passionate, provocative, and had it's own distinct meaning while flowing together perfectly.

But more than just meaning that to me, it was the voice of a lot of this generation. It was something that nobody ever saw coming from that band. Now it's got a musical, and it's still making lists of Top Albums everywhere. To say that it won't go down as one of the best albums of all time sounds insane to me. I fully believe it will. It was the voice of an era. It already is that to so many people around the world, and continues to be relevant today.

[. n i m r o d]

I think American Idiot is one of the best albums I have ever heard. From top to bottom, every song had a point and reeked of musical genius. One of my all-time favorite songs is "Homecoming" off of the album. A lot of people prefer "Jesus of Suburbia" over "Homecoming" in the battle of the nine minute epics, but there is something about "Homecoming" that just gives me goosebumps. As for best album of all time? That's all opinions. I mean, we can't really agree on which album is the best of all-time, since we all have differing opinions on the subject.

If my opinion means anything, here is my list for the best albums of all-time (that I have listened to).

"The Eminem Show" - Eminem

"American Idiot" - Green Day

"Neighborhoods" - Blink-182 (yes, made my list already).

"Raw" - Hopsin

"Death Certificate" - Ice Cube

"Nimrod" - Green Day

"Kerplunk" - Green Day

"Led Zeppelin II" - Led Zeppelin

"L.A Woman" - The Doors

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - The Beatles

Again, all opinions broski's

[Dylan.]

My favorite albums of all time:

"American Idiot"--Green Day

"Danger Days"--My Chemical Romance

"Nightmare"--Avenged Sevenfold

"Recovery"--Eminem

"Warning"--Green Day

"The Black Parade"--My Chemical Romance

"Screaming Bloody Murder"--Sum 41

"The Bright Lights of America"--Anti-Flag

"Led Zeppelin II" Take a guess......

Sgt. Peppers

"Race You to the Bottom" New Medicine

There are so many that I can name it's not even funny. I think that calling "American Idiot" the greatest album of all time is highly subjective. It is has always bugged me when anybody claims things to be the greatest because there is really no decent qualification on what is great. Some people hate Green Day, and some Green Day fans despise American Idiot. Calling it great because it was innovative? Okay. Definitely. But it isn't the most innovative album of all time. Call it great because it was politically charged? Okay, but it's not the greatest political album of all time.

You can't rate anything the greatest in something like music. It is far too opinion-oriented to be taken seriously.

[Brigister]

If with "era" you mean the decade from 2000 to 2009, well I guess you're right then. But there was shitload of better albums even just in the late 80s and 90s, even just from Green Day themselves.

[Tre_Gina]

I think to truly see how 'great' American Idiot is we will need to wait another 20years and see if it is still looked back on as an iconic album. The albums that are the greatest in my opinion are ones that shook the world when they came out and continue to be mentioned today like The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Queen, Led Zep etc.

I think in years to come American Idiot will be looked back on as one of the greatest albums.

[Gwen Stacy]

Sgt pepper Lonely hearts club is the greatest album of all time.

American Idiot is the greatest Album of the 2000's.

True Story.

When Rolling Stone made their best albums of the 2000's, it was a travesty how far down on the list it was. They completely forgot about the cultural pervasiveness of it. EVERYBODY was listening to it (I had never even heard of Kid A until the end of decade talk). Not to mention it sold like hotcakes. But best of all time? rmmmm... not really. It will certainly be on the list somewhere high, along with Dookie, but not of all time.

In no particular order, as when you reach this level, it doesn't really matter

-Sgt. Pepper

-Abbey Road

-London Calling

-American Idiot

-Ziggy Stardust

-Nevermind

-Dark Side of the Moon

[Amanda]

Eh, answers to this kind of question will always be subjective. I love AI, but it's not my favourite album of all time.

Contenders for that are:

The Wall - Pink Floyd

Quadrophenia - The Who

Foxtrot - Genesis

The Final Cut - Pink Floyd

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - Genesis

Revolver - The Beatles

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme - Simon & Garfunkel

Rumours - Fleetwood Mac

[Robin105]

I actually don't believe there is a greatest album of all time. Bands work hard on there albums and you can't really say "oh this album beats every other album out there" Plus people have different opinions about albums they like. But I think American Idiot is in the list of some of the best albums