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Green Day Hits Peak With 'American Idiot'
Feb 1, 3:23 PM EST

The Associated Press

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NEW YORK - It took just a glance backstage at MTV's New Year's Eve bash for
Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong to pinpoint the career stages of other acts
on the bill.

There's the hot young thing, on all the magazine covers. The band in a
sophomore slump. The critical darling that can't catch a break.

Then he locked eyes with a music veteran, riding a hit (he won't say who).
They exchanged knowing nods.

These are heady days for Green Day.

They knew while recording that their album, "American Idiot," was the best
thing they'd ever done. Critics and peers agreed; it has six Grammy
nominations, including best album. So did fans: the album has sold nearly
2.1 million copies in the United States and is approaching 5 million
worldwide in four months.

Rarely does everything come together like that all at once. Green Day is a
long way from the juvenile delinquents who wrote songs about masturbation
and reveled in being pelted with mud at Woodstock '94.

"When we made the record, we honestly felt as if there was no stone left
unturned," Armstrong said. "With everybody acknowledging it, that's the fun
part of everything. We appreciate it that much more now that we're 15 years
into our career."

With songs like "When I Come Around" and "Good Riddance (Time of Your
Life)," Green Day has had hits before. But this disc is reminiscent of The
Clash's "London Calling" or John Mellencamp's "Scarecrow," where an artist
with some degree of popularity suddenly and unexpectedly turns it up several
notches creatively.

At a time the format seems to be dying, Green Day made an old-fashioned
album that hangs together thematically, with recurring characters and moods.
It's a disturbing portrait of Bush-era suburbia, the generation of "soda pop
and Ritalin."

"Everything starts with punk rock with us, but at the same time we wanted to
bring it to the next level as far as being musicians," Armstrong said. "For
this record we just wanted to be as ambitious as hell."

Ambition was something of a dirty word in rock 'n' roll a decade ago, when
acts like Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden embraced apathy and irony. The
Northern California trio of Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre
Cool was no different.

"It was what was so great about that time, but it could also get you stuck
at the same time," Armstrong said. "You have to sort of break those rules."

Even some of the good reviews for "American Idiot" were accompanied by some
backhand insults along the lines of, "Who would have expected something like
this from Green Day?"

Frankly, the band even surprised itself. But its members always saw
themselves as something more than one- or two-hit wonders.

"From the start, we said let's make a concerted effort to stay around for a
long time," Cool said. "Don't make dated records, don't try to strike while
the iron is hot and all that. Do what's right for the band long-term.
Because we're not going to get sick of doing this ‹ and we knew that 10
years ago."

Green Day started recording a couple of years ago in Oakland. After several
months of work, the master copies of their songs were stolen and they had no
back-ups. Instead of trying to re-create what they had done, Armstrong did
more writing, and they soon realized they were onto something better.

The song "Jesus of Suburbia" was a turning point.

"We sort of looked at each other and said, `Now we're onto something,'"
Armstrong said. "At the same time, there was no looking back. It was scary.
You can't go, `Now I want to make a regular record.' You have to keep going.
As soon as you make the big leap, you're looking at a bigger mountain to
climb. It was really exciting and scary at the same time."

The song's first line ‹ "I'm the son of rage and love" ‹ was particularly
important to Armstrong. He had made a conscious decision to stop writing
"negative" lyrics the past few years, and found that artificial barrier kept
him from exploring worlds he knew well.

Green Day listened to albums from heroes like the Who for tips on thematic
works, and even pulled out discs like "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Grease" and
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Another word rockers tend to hold in contempt ‹ maturity ‹ also played a
part. The three members are all in their 30s and are all dads, and the time
had come to stop treating each others' ideas like they did as self-conscious
teenagers.

Dirnt said he was able to accept it when the others laughed at a
particularly bad suggestion he had made in the studio ‹ and eventually to
laugh himself. Before, he'd sulk.

The punk-pop sound Green Day had perfected dominates the disc but, again,
there was a time that a glockenspiel would have been regarded with a sneer.
Not anymore.

"It sounds pretentious when you say we wanted to create a piece of art;
people think Green Day created `Kid A,' part two," Dirnt said, alluding to
the 2000 Radiohead album. "We wanted to have everything firing on all rock
'n' roll cylinders and know where we were going with this. And we did want
to create a piece of art."

When Armstrong wrote the line "Maybe I'm the faggot America/ I'm not a part
of a redneck agenda," he went to Dirnt and Cool. I know this is a strong
statement, he said. Are you willing to make the leap with me?

He also recognized the danger in writing about politics ‹ songs can seem
merely polemic or stand frozen in time. Armstrong doesn't like the anger
that dominates much of left-wing discussion these days.

"It's important for it to come out naturally and try to remain vulnerable at
the same time ‹ to be a part of the problem and not just accuse others of
being the problem," he said. "The song `American Idiot' is about trying to
declare your individuality. It's rallying."

Green Day doesn't even shy away from a phrase that might horrify any
self-respecting punk: punk rock opera.

"I embrace it," Armstrong said. "I think it's cool. There is such a thing as
a good rock opera."

Added Dirnt: "There is now."
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