Music Blog

Green Day had come to a crossroads. The pop punk trio from Berkeley, Calif., were not getting along, they hadn't released a studio album since 2000's Warning, and the music they had almost singlehandedly brought into the mainstream had become irrelevant.

So what did they do? Instead of packing it in, they went ahead and put out what was arguably the most important rock album of 2004, and one that will probably be the defining release of their career. Not only is the Grammy-winning American Idiot genre bending, cathartic, and fun, it also dares to be what most other U.S. releases have not--a criticism of U.S. President George W. Bush, the war on Iraq, and a media that so willingly went along with it.

Many artists have tackled the issue of post-9/11 America, but few have done so in such an honest and outspoken manner.