By Judy Chia Hui Hsu . Found at Seattle
Times staff reporter
"American Idiot," a 57-minute self-proclaimed "punk-rock
opera" was nominated for six Grammy Awards and the California band won Best
Rock Album in February, later taking home seven MTV Video Music Awards,
including the Viewer's Choice Award last month.
Honors aside, "American Idiot" also turned out to be one of the
most popular CDs of the past year. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200
album chart and sold more than 4 million copies in the U.S. since its release
last September. Three singles have also hit No. 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock
Tracks chart. The band's biopic has just screened on VH-1's "Driven."
And there are even reports that "American Idiot" may become a movie.
It was just a decade ago that Green Day sang about masturbating while watching
TV and "not growing up" in their breakthrough album, 1994's "Dookie."
But in their recent work, there's evidence that these thirtysomething punksters
are all grown up.
Armstrong, Dirnt and Cool, all fathers now, have collaborated to write
forceful political indictments of President Bush and the Iraq war, along with
critical commentaries about individual alienation and societal complacency. The
impassioned "American Idiot" even contains nine-minute suites with
lyrics like, "We are the kids of war and peace, from Anaheim to the Middle
East."
Jimmy Eats World opens Monday's show.
Judy Chia Hui Hsu: 206-464-3315 or jhsu @seattletimes.com Copyright © 2005
The Seattle Times Company
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