GreenDay has been one of those bands where I almost buy their albums. You know…you pick it up, you see a song or two that you’ve heard, but you’re thinking, “I’ll wait for The Greatest Hits.” And ya know…I was hitting punk clubs before Blondie and The Ramones went huge…so I’ve always sort of shrugged them off as wanna-bes, good wanna-bes but, I was in the third row when Blondie played The Aragon Ballroom in ’79 or ’80 so please…Dookie this mmm’k?

I know they’re not going to read this…but guys, I’m sorry. I haven’t been this glued to an album in a long time. You’re killin’ me here. Thank you for this album.

I owe Michele over at ASV and our own Styker huge for simply insisting that this album was worth some time because it’s not getting any airplay here in Nebraska…go figure…two of the best tracks are over nine minutes long.

Okay…I’ll stop with the gushing and try to tell you why this album is worth your money.

Think the first time you heard The Clash…or the first time you heard “HEY HO, LET’S GO” threatening to tear your speakers apart. No…not shitting you…the hair on my neck keeps standing up. Three guys….waitaminute…THREE GUYS ARE DOING THIS? And then it really hits you, yeah, three guys are making that sound and they’re not doing a lot…if any…overdubbing. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not as raw as The Clash or The Ramones were at the beginning…it’s produced, but not produced so much that anything is being hidden.

What gets me the most…is just when you think you know where the music is going next, there’s a break…sometimes it’s a smooth curve through the transition and other times…they do a complete 90 degree and I’m thinking “How the fuck did they do that?”

And there’s nothing really brand new here…it’s almost all derivitive…but no one else is doing this right now…and certainly no one has done it this well in YEARS. A punk rock concept album? Who do they think they are, The Tubes? Ummm, no, all apologies to Fee Waybill and the gang…this is better than just about anything The Tubes ever did.

I think I’m going to spend quite some time listening to this in pieces…one listen for the vocals…one listen just for Billie Joe Armstrong’s guitar…another for Tre Cool’s drums and his drums make me grin WIDE…another for Mike Dirnt’s bass…and then multiple listens to just grin about how they all blended in and worked together…except when they didn’t and those moments are worth it just for the intentional discordance.

How the hell does Billie Joe Armstrong sing and play the guitar at the same time when they perform live? His voice is going one way and his guitar is going the other. I’m talking completely different directions. I know musicians compartmentalize but this is just wrong.

Warning: This is punk rock in the old tradition. There’s anger, there’s raw nerves, there’s irreverance and blasphemy. They’re not happy with the state of things, and they’re in your face to tell you about it. If you want a nice comfortable album to listen to and be lightly entertained…find something else. If you want to pogo and slam dance and bang your head and do the move with the querky jerk…pick up American Idiot.

I’m in Audio East 12th Street.

Gotta find a pair of black canvas Converse High Tops…all there is to it.