Even more Green Day news!

Okay, I've seen The Who's Tommy, but what's a "mini" rock opera?

i guess like a tiny concept album within their album

*SQUEE!*

YAY!!!! I can't wait! Is it out yet? Laughing

lol not til Sept

I know that Myles, it was sarcasm. Razz

I guess I'll just have to watch my Buffy DVDs while waiting. Twisted Evil

rollin'
sooo sorry. lol i knew it was sarcasm, tardo

Tardo? What kind of insult is that? Laughing

I think it's retard, only without the re and with an o at the end... Rolling Eyes Laughing

That mini Rock Opera sounds really cool...I just might be forced to buy this...which is good, cause I haven't bought an album since the Outkast double...

Everyone must buy the Green Day album. Hell, buy two!

Myles, you don't have to tell me to buy it... but you may want to wait for... say... September... Laughing

I'm just excited. There has been little to no news for the past 6 months other than they've been recording.

Trust me, I know you're excited, I am too! But I'm still patient... Rolling Eyes

Green Day Craft Punk Opera

Punks dream of taking "American Idiot" to Broadway

"It's our most ambitious album to date," says Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day's forthcoming American Idiot, a concept record the trio has dubbed a "punk rock opera." The sprawling thirteen-song album, due in September, tells the tales of such characters as "Saint Jimmy" and an unnamed female protagonist "Whatzhername" living in a heated political climate.
"I wanted to try to find some human relationship throughout it," Armstrong says. "A lot of it is coming from trying to have a relationship between different people and yourself, but being surrounded by total chaos . . . I didn't want to make people feel like I'm telling them what to do or come across as a shitty politician."

The opening title track is a blistering commentary on today's media propelled by a trademark Green Day infectious hook. The album then breaks into chapters, starting with "Jesus of Suburbia," an epic nine-minute song broken up into five parts, each getting its own title, like "City of the Damned" and "Dearly Beloved." After wrapping its way through a series of styles -- from up-tempo punk to Sixties-flavored pop -- the tracks wrap up in "Tales of Another Broken Home," which explodes into the big finale.

"A band that's known for the perfect two-minute song is now writing nine-minute epics," Armstrong says. "It's scary to think about."

Though the band members admit they had doubts about the album's direction during the sessions, they were reassured by longtime producer Rob Cavallo and ended up having a blast.

"It's ridiculous how fun it is to be able to do a nine-minute song with all these changes and different time signatures," drummer Tre Cool says. "It's almost like putting on different clothes for a day."

"As a musician, it's really enjoyable," bassist Mike Dirnt agrees.

Green Day have equally ambitious plans for their live shows in support of American Idiot. "We want to be able to play the whole thing front to back," Armstrong says, "and get some theater gigs where we do the whole thing in one piece."

The plans don't end there though. Given the narrative nature of the album, Armstrong says he'd love to see American Idiot brought to life through another medium, be it in films or on Broadway. "There's a little bit of talk," he says. "If it happens, if it happens. The whole thing was written from that point of view. I think this record has more in common with Rocky Horror than it does with London Calling."

Other medium!?!?! HELL YEAH! Very Happy

Thanks for that, Myles!

you're very welcome. NOW you see why I report? Very Happy

MTV Headline: Green Day Album Preview: Politics, Dynamics And A Rock Opera

They may have taken the world by storm in 1994, revitalizing punk rock for the mainstream, but Green Day long ago passed the torch to younger bands like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte.

So while their old pals in the Offspring continue to score simple radio hits, Green Day have chosen to write eclectic songs for themselves and not necessarily the masses. The handful of tracks from their upcoming American Idiot that they've screened for the press show a band exploring form and function as it toys with song structures and recording techniques. Yet no matter how hard Green Day strive to escape their past, they're so in love with melody that even their nine-minute rock opera, "Jesus of Suburbia," can't help but be catchy.

The epic track encompasses a seemingly discordant range of styles including '50s rock and roll, '70s glam, '80s power pop and '90s punk. Easily the most ambitious piece Green Day have ever created, the song is broken into four sections: "I Don't Care," "City of the Damned," "Dearly Beloved" and "Tales From Another Broken Home." It begins with a rhythm and vocal structure that sounds like the Who covering Roy Orbison, and it gradually shifts into a piano-based melody augmented by guitars that slash through the mix. The pace picks up and the tune turns snotty as Billie Joe Armstrong snarls, "I don't care if you don't care" along with a soaring vocal harmony.

The next section is more riff-based with three-chord guitar punk savagery and typically bratty vocals. Then, just when you think Green Day are revisiting the glory days of Dookie, the guitars start to jangle and drummer Tre Cool plays a clanking glam beat over soaring "ooh-ahh-ooh" vocals and xylophone plinks. The opera starts to wrap up with a ripping rhythm, a flailing solo and a harmonized vocal that sounds almost exactly like Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." Then it drops down with some delicate Elton John-style piano before building back to a colossal roar.

Other songs on American Idiot are also pretty unconventional even if they're under four minutes in length. The title track sounds like a hybrid of Social Distortion and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, as semi-distorted guitars saw in and out of tumbling drums, a sing-songy verse and another harmonized chorus, the lyrics of which criticize the average complacent American.

"On Holiday" starts out like an exultant and upbeat outtake from Warning, with shuffling drums, strummy guitars and "Hey! Hey!" vocals. Then it turns mean and political. "Don't criticize your government/ ... Kill all the f--s that don't agree," Armstrong spouts sarcastically through a megaphone.

"Are We the Waiting" is the closest Green Day will ever get to Guns N' Roses' "November Rain" without being satirical. And "St. Jimmy" is a fast and tuneful homage to the Ramones that makes up in exuberance what it lacks in originality.

Finally, for those who long for the sentimentality of the band's hit "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," Green Day offer "Wake Me Up When September Ends," which might be sappy if it weren't for the guitar dynamics that make the band sound like a cross between the Who and Teenage Fanclub.

American Idiot is due in September.

Thanks for that Myles! Very Happy

anytime

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