'Green' Party...

It's 2004, do you know where your Green Day is?... I have to admit, back in 1997, I thought I had definitely heard the last from the trio of pseudo-punk pro's Green Day. I remember being in Strawberries the day their album "Nimrod" came out. The manager was talking to a friend of mine and saying that Green Day was finished, while we both agreed, we said we did kinda like the single, "Hitchin' a Ride."

Well, I stand here today pretty astonished. Anyone who counted Green Day out was wrong. On Tuesday they released quite possible their best complete album, "American Idiot." At the very least, their latest album is the first to actually be about more than just snappy, sharp below-3-minute singles.

If you have ever heard Green Day's 2000 release, "Warning," you knew they had something special in them. My interest peaked When I heard the song "Misery" about midway through that album. It was just so different then anything they had done before, and it actually seemed to work pretty well.

The album has been called "controversial." I guess anything to do with politics today falls under that category, but it's more about people that live in our government then the government itself. There is a fictional, yet touching and realistic-feeling story here. So, even if you can't dig the political stuff on the album, I would say definitely check it out for the music quality alone. There are some amazing melodies and a few 9-minute tracks. Everything seems to click right.

Finally, Green Day are actually punks.