FLASHBACK: Green Day Release ‘American Idiot’ 15 Years Ago
This weekend marks 15 years since Green Day released their seventh studio LP American Idiot. The rock opera debuted on September 20th, 2004, and made the trio the biggest band in the world for the second time in their career (the first being the release of Dookie a decade prior). The album represented a maturation of not only the band, but also their fans. It echoed the disillusionment felt by many on a personal and political level in the early 2000s, a frustration woven into Billie Joe Armstrong’s coming-of-age tale that plays out in the lyrics.
This performance of the punk odyssey “Jesus of Suburbia” sums up the intensity of the album. It’s from one of the biggest shows in Green Day’s history, during the American Idiot tour at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in the UK in June of 2005. One song, five movements, 130,000 people. The song remains a staple in Green Day’s set lists.
Sara Parker is the music director of WMMR in Philadelphia. Follow her @radio_sara.
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