This is the most recent addition to my collection. It's such a great album. Greenday released a lot of catchy songs in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I think I had Dookie on CD and I know I had the one with "Time of Your Life", and I listened to them often enough. But this CD stayed in my 5-disc changer for months and months. It was more than catchy, it was packed with great songs, one after another.
And they all hold up really, really well. I'm not sure if Greenday was trying to make their own "London Calling" here but I like to think so. Certainly, the Clash have to be one of their influences and both albums showcase such versatility. They both take the punk-pop sound and add so many elements to it, they keep you guessing. With the Clash, there are songs like "Train in Vain" where I had heard the song a hundred times but didn't even know it was a Clash song until listening to the album. American Idiot is similar, maybe not exactly the same as these are all Greenday songs at their core, but close because you hear the notes of "Holiday" or "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and just have to admire how well-crafted these songs are, how accessible and catchy and yet deep and complex at the same time.
It means something that my favourite song (/snippet) on here is almost at the start ("Dearly Beloved") but after hearing it, I want to hear what's next. And before I know it, the album's over. It's great, great music and I'm so, so glad it's now part of the collection.
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