American Idiot
by Green Day
  • Record Label: Reprise
  • Release Date: Sep 21, 2004
User Score
8.9

Universal acclaim- based on 841 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 769 out of 841
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 841
  3. Negative: 50 out of 841

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  1. ChiIIaoi
    Jul 19, 2023
    7
    Review só pra lembrar a nota que eu dei pro album:
    bom album, agora só escrever pra passar dos 75 caracteres.
  2. janepatrick
    Mar 30, 2023
    10
    Are We the Waiting is a truly underrated song that I never hear anyone talking about, and I wish I did.
  3. Quadmusictaste
    Mar 16, 2023
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the best story driven album a lost boy st jimmy on his quest for his love whatsername and AMERICAN POLITICS on songs like "holiday" and "American idiot" THE SONG! And the story telling songs like "Jesus Of Suburbia" And "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" Which is my 3rd Favorite Song OF ALL TIME!! and the parts in the album that are good but best for adding the story like "are we waiting?" And "st Jimmy" "give me nova cane" and "shes a rebel" FAVORITE SONG : BLVD OF BROKEN DREAMS LEAST FAVORITE SONG : ST JIMMY RATING 9/10… Expand
  4. leogarcia132002
    Mar 15, 2023
    9
    Even from the first listening it is a perfect album, over time it is a rock album that has kept respect.
  5. itcouldbejake
    Sep 4, 2022
    10
    First things first: there's a reason there's a Broadway musical of this album.

    In this album, Billie Joe Armstrong belts out his views of the country while telling the story of the Jesus of Suburbia. Every single song is powerful and meaningful, whether it's a slow ballad like Are We The Waiting, Give Me Novocaine, and Wake Me Up When September Ends, or a fast-paced song like American    First things first: there's a reason there's a Broadway musical of this album.

    In this album, Billie Joe Armstrong belts out his views of the country while telling the story of the Jesus of Suburbia. Every single song is powerful and meaningful, whether it's a slow ballad like Are We The Waiting, Give Me Novocaine, and Wake Me Up When September Ends, or a fast-paced song like American Idiot, St Jimmy, or Letterbomb, or a full-on rock opera like Jesus of Suburbia or Homecoming.

    Lyrically, this album is perfect, Billie Joe Armstrong's vocals always deliver, and the band sounds incredible behind him. The story and meaning behind this album is second to none, and it's full of songs you can replay over and over again. It's very easily a perfect 10.

    SONG TIERS

    FLAWLESS: Wake Me Up When September Ends
    PERFECT: Jesus Of Suburbia, Homecoming, Boulevard of Broken Dreams
    AMAZING: Holiday, Extraordinary Girl, St Jimmy, Whatsername
    GREAT: American Idiot, She's A Rebel, Letterbomb, Give Me Novocaine, Are We The Waiting
    GOOD: n/a
    OKAY: n/a
    BAD: n/a
    TERRIBLE: n/a    … Expand
  6. Xbluannax
    Nov 21, 2021
    1
    Complete waste of time to listen to everything is bland and boring and has no feeling to it.
  7. jmasen
    Sep 23, 2021
    10
    Great album, had it all. Best album on Earth. Green Day have gone to another level with this.
  8. Codeling
    Aug 7, 2021
    10
    This is a masterpiece.
    Best songs: Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Jesus of Suburbia, American Idiot, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Holiday, Give Me Novacaine
    Worst songs: -
  9. balloonsnake
    Jul 10, 2021
    2
    nope nope nope nope nope nope boulevard of broken dreams: nope, pretty overrated. Jesus of suburbia is just meh. A song like that shouldn't be 9 minutes long. whenever I hear music from this album, it just makes me want to listen to the vastly superior Dookie, or the raw, aggressive punk style of Insomniac. Remember when green day were punk? (Pre-Warning)
  10. LaPetiteHobbit
    Mar 30, 2021
    10
    One of the best albums ever made!ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
  11. andsxn
    Mar 2, 2021
    10
    Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before.
  12. third
    Jan 13, 2021
    10
    Great album. The greatest Green Day album in my opinion. Ever since this album, Green Day has not been able to capture the same spark this album had.
  13. Justanotherfake
    Oct 5, 2020
    10
    There won't be an album like American Idiot, this good and this passionate, with awesome multi-part songs like jesus of suburbia and homecoming, slow and emotional moments like Give me novocaine and Are we the waiting and uplifting songs like Holiday and St. Jimmy (not to mention letterbomb, what a song, guys). A roller coaster of emotions, incredible concept...
  14. lucas_alves24
    Aug 27, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Um dos 3 melhores álbuns do Green Day de toda a história da banda.
    Incrivelmente bem escrito, arranjo dos acordes sequencialmente bem colocados, a história por trás de Jimmy muito bem feita e extremamente criativa. Uma dádiva do século 21 vindo de uma banda pouco valorizada atualmente, mas que realmente possui seu devido reconhecimento pelo mundo dada a trajetória da banda ao longo do final dos anos 80 e início dos anos 90.    … Expand
  15. NolanLundgaard
    Mar 25, 2020
    8
    American Idiot by Green Day: 7.66

    American Idiot: 1 :) Jesus of Suburbia: 0.75 Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams: 1 :) Are We the Waiting (0.75)/St Jimmy (1): 0.75 Give Me Novacaine (0.75)/She’s a Rebel (1): 0.75 Extraordinary Girl (0.75)/Letterbomb (1 :)): 1 Wake Me Up When September Ends: 1 :) Homecoming: 0.75 Whatsername: 1 Too Much Too Soon: 1 :) Shoplifter: 1    American Idiot by Green Day: 7.66

    American Idiot: 1 :)
    Jesus of Suburbia: 0.75
    Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams: 1 :)
    Are We the Waiting (0.75)/St Jimmy (1): 0.75
    Give Me Novacaine (0.75)/She’s a Rebel (1): 0.75
    Extraordinary Girl (0.75)/Letterbomb (1 :)): 1
    Wake Me Up When September Ends: 1 :)
    Homecoming: 0.75
    Whatsername: 1
    Too Much Too Soon: 1 :)
    Shoplifter: 1
    Governator: 0.5

    10.5/12 = .875 -> 7.66

    Green Day’s American Idiot is one heck of an album! There are so many amazing songs on it, from American Idiot and Holiday to Letterbomb and Too Much Too Soon. Boulevard of Broken Dreams is my absolute favorite song. The only song I wasn’t crazy about was Governator, but even that misfire wasn’t terrible, making this album near perfect. If the album were up to me, I’d take away the drug content, but I suppose that’s Green Day. All in all, a spectacular album! Highlights from this album are American Idiot, Holiday/Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Extraordinary Girl/Letterbomb, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Whatsername, Too Much Too Soon, and Shoplifter.    … Expand
  16. drongodan
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    Truly magnificent album. Arguably the best they've done. Combination of great singles and album tracks. Fave tracks : Jesus of Suburbia, Homecoming, Whatsername
  17. MeeranQureshi
    Nov 23, 2019
    0
    Everything sounds the same.Billie's is terrible as always.He cannot sing and boring political rants.
  18. Kaytorahk
    Nov 10, 2019
    9
    This album is amazing and iconic, but can we please get an F in the chat for Saint Jimmy.
  19. DerekSCritic
    Jan 14, 2019
    10
    This album has to be one of Green Day's best along with Dookie. Every song on this album, besides the title track, is great to amazing. There are definitely several favorites from this album with my personal favorites being Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, St. Jimmy, Letterbomb, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Homecoming. Fortunately, the rest of the album is fullThis album has to be one of Green Day's best along with Dookie. Every song on this album, besides the title track, is great to amazing. There are definitely several favorites from this album with my personal favorites being Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, St. Jimmy, Letterbomb, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Homecoming. Fortunately, the rest of the album is full of great songs. American Idiot is an amazing album and one of Green Day's best albums!… Expand
  20. kman5473
    Nov 1, 2018
    4
    Retro album review! Going back to favs from middle school and seeing what I find and what I think about it now. American Idiot is a solid pop punk album, but the intended goal for it and what it was originally marketed as was a concept rock opera. For that reason, I have to critique it from this lens. On the surface, this is an album that is well-polished in terms of its production value.Retro album review! Going back to favs from middle school and seeing what I find and what I think about it now. American Idiot is a solid pop punk album, but the intended goal for it and what it was originally marketed as was a concept rock opera. For that reason, I have to critique it from this lens. On the surface, this is an album that is well-polished in terms of its production value. Nearly every song on this album is easy to get into and sounds good, I would guess, to nearly anyone with ears. The hooks are really well done, and the hits especially from this album still stand out with how polished they are.

    As we get more into the nitty-gritty, that's where this album begins to show its weaknesses. And trust me, there are several. As a storytelling medium, American Idiot really fails on all accounts. It establishes a character, but only in "Jesus of Suburbia". What happens to this character exactly? What conflicts and resolutions does he come to throughout the album? It's really not clearly laid out. Who are the other characters? There's the Rebel from, "She's a Rebel," sure; but she doesn't really say or do anything except win over the main character's affection. Period. That's it. She's a suicidal punk with regrets(?).

    The next weakness I see is the flow from one song to the next. As a standalone song, "American Idiot" is a solid pop punk song. But in terms of where it fits on this album? It doesn't really make any sense. It's a politically-charged song with no relation to this album's main character. Then to add, some of the songs that are put together--especially on the longer "Jesus" and "Homecoming,"--there doesn't seem to be any true logic or reasoning behind forcing these pieces together other than from a technical/logistical standpoint of, "We wrote this hook! I wrote 9 variations of the same hook in different tempos! Let's use all of them and abruptly cut from one to the next and call it an "operatic"."

    Having said that, I can't at all deny some of the best songs on this album: "Letterbomb," probably being the most standout track by far. However, I wish that some of the other tracks, especially, "Extraordinary Girl," and "Are we the Waiting," would have been pushed to the same tier as this song. The more I have listened to this album over the years and the more I have let myself be really objective with what this album does and the decisions that were made in it, it becomes undeniable that this is a pop punk album with 7 polished hits and 6 filler tracks that weren't fully flushed-out before it was released.    … Expand
  21. weskergamer
    Mar 12, 2018
    10
    Lo mejor q ha hecho Green Day nunca, en mi opinion, totalmente perfecto, musical y liricamente
  22. MysticManiac
    Mar 10, 2018
    10
    This along with 21st Century Breakdown show the peak of Green Day's career. Both are classic albums
  23. BouchetSmith
    Feb 25, 2018
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I used to adore this record when i was 14, but listening to it today, i realized it's actually very boring. Even though there's a lot going on, it just feels so bland. The sound is so commercially tweaked and is the opposite of what real ounk should be. Okay there are some memorable hooks, melodies, riffs but it's just bland, insipid, boring. I don't think i will ever listen to it again ever, because it just doesn't have anything substantial to offer.… Expand
  24. TheJaggedOnes
    Jan 3, 2018
    9
    This album is another great one by Green Day. While not my favorite i really do enjoy this one a lot. The guitar riffs are stuff that you can recognize when you hear them and are also very interesting. The lyrics are can get very deep in points, talking about politics, society issues, and some times even talking about death. this album is really enjoyable to listen to and it gets a 9.5/10
  25. raciocinio
    Dec 16, 2017
    10
    An Landmark album for Green Day Career and for music, Maybe the best album ever by Green Day, and simply one of 5 best album of 2000's Decade, also one of best albums ever made.

    The Album is too Masterpiece that even seem Underrated an rating of 79% of 100, by the critics this album could pass easily the 80%, and even the 90%.
  26. golferbml
    Nov 30, 2017
    10
    Best album of all time. I wouldn't skip a single song. Every single song on this album is an absolute masterpiece. Boulevard of Broken Dreams is the best song of all time and Jesus of Suburbia is an underrated classic.
  27. NickTheToaster
    Sep 30, 2017
    9
    American Idiot hits the ground running with the title track's loud, political punk, but quickly becomes something else - an epic concept album that mostly hits the mark. The first four tracks cannot be faulted, with the agressive ranting of Holiday, the bleak angst of Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and the five-part, nine-minute Jesus of Suburbia, a feat of songwriting so ambitious that itAmerican Idiot hits the ground running with the title track's loud, political punk, but quickly becomes something else - an epic concept album that mostly hits the mark. The first four tracks cannot be faulted, with the agressive ranting of Holiday, the bleak angst of Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and the five-part, nine-minute Jesus of Suburbia, a feat of songwriting so ambitious that it practically gives the album an extra star on its own. Apart from a few weak tracks (She's a Rebel, Extraordinary Girl), the album is a masterpiece of rock that cements Green Day as one of the biggest bands of our time. Favourite track: Holiday.… Expand
  28. DarwinMC99
    Jul 5, 2017
    10
    Green day alcanzo la cuspide con esta obra, que hasta la fecha sigue siendo en mi opinión su mejor trabajo discográfico que se vuelve un himno juvenil contra la estupidez de la política y gobiernos del mundo, te da un mensaje radical de rebeldía para defender tu opinión y no hacer callar tu voz
  29. maiyagygery
    Mar 9, 2017
    10
    American Idiot are the best album from Green Day to me, Dookie second.
    It all contain a very serious written song, emotional singing, power beat, and a nice change of pace.
    Maybe it is one of the best album ever made of all time.
  30. MasterRiley
    Feb 21, 2017
    10
    American Idiot is a great album with catchy songs, some upbeat and fun, while others are more thoughtful and dark like Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Overall it has a nice variety of songs that keep you wanting to listen to them over and over again.
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Awards & Rankings

98
#98 Best Album of 2004
2
#2 Most Discussed Album of 2004
4
#4 Most Shared Album of 2004

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Billboard
    80
    It is exactly what the band needs to boost itself to the next level of pop-punk prowess.
    Read full review
  2. E! Online
    83
    There's still plenty of spunk in to be found in this Sgt. Pepper-lite.
    Read full review
  3. Dot Music
    80
    Not only does it contain Green Day’s finest songs (and choruses) to date... but it also scratches at the surface of political dissatisfaction with nails sharp enough to leave a nasty scar.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »