History Music / AmericanIdiot

** Some of the HD releases of the album are a lot better, though. The [[=HDTracks=]] release has [=DR9=] compared to the CD's [=DR5=].

[[caption-width-right:300:''Nobody likes you/Everyone left you//They're all out without you/Having fun.'']]

-->--'''[[TitleTrack American Idiot]]'''

''American Idiot'' is the seventh studio album by Music/GreenDay, released in 2004. It is a RockOpera that is essentially responsible for their comeback after their previous three albums choked under the [[ToughActToFollow huge expectations]] that their 1994 smash hit ''Music/{{Dookie}}'' rose, with their most recent release (''Music/{{Warning}}'') reaching all-time lows in commercial sales. The plot is a ComingOfAgeStory, following the AntiHero protagonist, Jesus of Suburbia (JOS), as he matures from a rebellious youth to a [[JadeColoredGlasses jaded adult]].

* {{BookEnds}}:

** "Holiday" fades into "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (the music videos also follow this, since the former ends where the latter begins).
** "Are We the Waiting" --> "St. Jimmy"
*** The musical turns this into a chain: "Favorite Son" --> "Are We the Waiting" --> "St. Jimmy"
** "Give Me Novocaine" --> "She's A Rebel"

*** "She's A Rebel/Last Of The American Girls" --> "Last Night On Earth"
*** "Before The Lobotomy" --> "Extraordinary Girl" --> "Before The Lobotomy (Reprise)"
*** "21 Guns" --> "Letterbomb"

* RockOperaPlot

The album won several awards, with the most notable ones being two {{Grammy Award}}s for Best Rock Album and Record of the Year ("Boulevard of Broken Dreams"). It also received five more nominations including for Album of the Year.

* IAmSong: This album has several tracks devoted to {{Establishing Character Moment}}s. JOS has "Jesus of Suburbia" (doubles as an IWantSong), St. Jimmy has "[[CaptainObvious St. Jimmy]]", and Whatsername has "She's a Rebel", which has her being described from JOS's perspective.

%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * WanderlustSong: The last section of Jesus of Suburbia.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * ActionGirlfriend

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * AntiHero: According to WordOfGod, JOS.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample ** "Give Me Novacaine" and "[[RockstarSong IV. Rock and Roll Girlfriend]]" are self-explanatory.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample ** Everyone.
%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * WanderlustSong: The last section of Jesus of Suburbia.

** 'Rage and Love'. Originally used by JOS himself (referring to his upbringing) while introducing himself to the audience in "Jesus of Suburbia", it's also spat back in his face as part of Whatsername's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech during "Letterbomb".

* BittersweetEnding: The musical. [[spoiler: Tunny loses his leg in the war but falls in love with the Extraordinary Girl. Johnny and Will have lost the women they love but are finally getting their acts together, have their friends back, and Heather is letting Will see his baby again.]]

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample, ExamplesAreNotArguable * DoubleConsciousness: Depending on interpretation.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample, ExamplesAreNotArguable * LovesMyAlterEgo: Depending on interpretation.

[[caption-width-right:300:''I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies/This is the dawning of the rest of our lives/on holiday'']]

[[caption-width-right:300:''American Idiot''.]]

* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: "American Idiot", "St. Jimmy," "She's A Rebel," and "Letterbomb" are on par with previous Green Day songs.

** More recently, shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, "American Idiot" made it back into the charts.
** Billie Joe even replaced "Eiffel Towers" with "Donald Trump towers" during a live performance of "Holiday".

** Pardoxically [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the fourth line of the entire album.
--> Don't want to be an American Idiot
--> Don't want a nation under the new media
--> Can you hear the sound of hysteria?
--> '''The subliminal mind-fuck America'''

* LyricalDissonance: The first segment of "Homecoming" picks up the guitar riffs of "St. Jimmy", which generally still sounds pretty energetic, even when slowed down. [[spoiler:Quite ironic when the lyrics describe St. Jimmy "blowing his brains out into the bay".]]

** More recently, shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, "American Idiot" made it back into the charts.

** Part 2 bears resemblance to the 'I don't care' part of "Jesus of Suburbia", acting a bit like BookEnds as JOS returns home.

* DrivenToSuicide: St Jimmy in "Homecoming".

** "Holiday" --> "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (the music videos also follow this, since the former ends where the latter begins)

** "Extraordinary Girl" --> "Letterbomb"

*** "She's A Rebel/Last American Girl" --> "Last Night On Earth"

* NoNameGiven: The girl that JOS falls in love with; come the end of the album, JOS has repressed her name, leading him to call her "Whatsername". The album booklet has her name scribbled over or a little note saying "Whatsername" taped over her real name. [[spoiler:You can vaguely make out that her name ends with the letter "A".]]

* {{Pun}}: In "Wake Me Up When September Ends".
-->''Ring out the bells again.''

** More recently, shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, "American Idiot" made it back into the charts.

* FreudianTrio: Jimmy is the id, JOS is the ego, and "Whatsername" is the superego (considering that she's the only one who ever calls JOS out).

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: "Letterbomb" as a whole, which is directed by Whatsername towards St. Jimmy. The intro (later quoted in "Homecoming") is [[LyricalDissonance set to a cheery,]] [[IronicNurseryTune almost nursery rhyme-like tune]].

* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt sing the parts of "Homecoming" they wrote.

--> [[NotSoDifferent Made me the idiot America]]