Cigarettes and Valentines

   A year after Shenanigans came out, Green Day fans were getting itchy. Various rumors of the band splitting up or dying in car crashes was all anyone knew of their whereabouts. As summer arrived in 2003, Green Day slowly worked their way back in to the studio to record their next upcoming album titled Cigarettes and Valentines. The album was to be harder than Warning's folkier aspects, in spite to bring back an older and maturer Kerplunk! spell. "We've had a nice break from making hard and fast music and it's made us want to do it again," Dirnt said at the time. As the date of release came closer, an unexpected twist of fate that would later be recognized as a "blessing in disguise," happened. The mastertapes of the new album went missing. Just gone. Vanished. Most suspect that they were stolen. But how could they? The tapes were locked in safes, watched by surveillance cameras, and extremely guarded. As a kept-quiet ignored secret, talk of the event was Taboo. Ask anybody and you'll get a strange sniff in the air. The secret to Cigarettes and Valentines' dissappearence may be never be revealed.

All Systems Down

   Then in the fall of 2003, a rather suspicious and robot-esque spark caught eye. A band of six, dressed in multicolor latex with masked faces, had landed, bringing along their record Money Money 20/20. They called themselves The Network. Their sound, combining cheap new wave with 80's pop vocals, had certainly raised eyebrows. Not only was it their songs of computer sex and half-robot-half-human beings, but also the confusion of who these guys were. Fans took it in with a confused "WTF" manner, and the critics found it to be a failed publicity stunt by the Green Day boys after nearly a decade of low fame. Whatever the case may be, it is certain that Green Day, their managment, nor their record labels have never officially confirmed that Green Day is The Network along with some cohearts. Despite the denial, any Green Day fan can see through the zebra-patterened ski mask.

Welcome to Idiot America

   As far back as the Nimrod days, there was talk of experimenting with a rock opera. According to Billie Joe, the band played around with 'all kinds of wild ideas' maybe the possibility a two-CD concept album. After the loss of Cigarettes and Valentines and the journey from Mars as The Network (oh wait, they're not Green Day), the band had to yet again come back in to the studio and figure out their next plan of action.

   Their inspiration for a new idea started during a long, endless day of in-studio alone time. Billie Joe went downtown to sign up for his community service- the consequence from his DUI conviction back in 2003, and Tre met up with some lawyers for the divorcing of his second wife, Claudia. So that left Mike to sit alone in the studio, goofing around with instruments. He ended up writing a little thirty second song of being alone and bored. Later that day when Billie arrived back, he loved the little piece that Dirnt had written. He decided to do one too, which included what his day was like downtown ("Jesus, filling out paperwork now, at the facility on East 12th Street..."). And then Tre finally added a bit of his concerns of divorce to the melting pot. By the end of the week, they had put together a ten minute slew of different melodies and stories.

   Something was about to blow. Throughout the next couple of weeks they continued to experiment and dig deeper, but they still were unsure of what they were getting into. It was a new sense of freedom- to break from the megastardom barrier.

   "It's almost like what it was like to be alone in my room when I was rocking out in front of the mirror when I was younger," Armstrong said at the time. "I had a sense of freedom and abandon to take the record wherever it wanted to go."

   With that said, Green Day talked with their longtime producer Rob Cavallo, who immediatly loved their fun and long song, and began discussing the idea of creating a rock opera. Armstrong already had written the song 'American Idiot', in which he responses to the corrupted state of America and the tricks Bush and the media play on people. They decided to keep the soon-to-be album in a political atmosphere.

   Inspired by the band and Cavallo's love for 'Homecoming,' Billie Joe completed the second half to the rock opera's outstanding pieces. Titled "Jesus of Suburbia," the song tells of a disenfranchised character who struggles to find himself and the meaning of true rebellion. Striving to find truth in the world, could have been an aspect of Billie Joe himself brought to life through this character. The band soon recorded ten more demos while adding two new personalities, St. Jimmy and Whatsername, to the story. The band then traveled down to L.A to record their tracks and string together an album they knew was going to be the best of their career.

   Along with the original trio, Green Day added two more men to the team- Jason White, filling in as second guitarist and backup vocalist, and Jason Freese, supporting the horns and piano.

   Once the band wrapped up the album, it was time to package it all together. They decided to have an entire visual concept that was similiar to a political campaign. And it's not just the ever-familiar hand/heart grenade plastered on every poster and t-shirt, the band had to personally promote as well. Dieting and fitting into slim, sophisticated, apocalyptic, black suits and red ties was the way to go. And let's not forget the eyeliner.

   Last but not least, Green Day met up with director Sam Bayer to put together a video definition to their first single and title track, 'American Idiot.' They played the album to Sam Bayer, who instantly jumped on board. With the language and message 'American Idiot' was sending, it's music video consisted of an upside down green and white flag backdrop with the boys playing at different speeds throughout the duration and at one point covered in green slime. The video is a brilliant masterpiece showing a slightly demented twist of media control and fear. It's fast, hard, and in your face- much like the song right?

   American Idiot was released on September 21, 2004. The video was released a month previous, so already it was storming up excitement. The album immediatly hit the top of the charts. Selling thousands of copies a week and eventually reaching quad-platinum status, American Idiot woke up the world and grabbed attention.

   That November, the band's second single (and probably the biggest hit since 'Good Riddance'), 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' and it's video were released. Although 'BOBD' was part 2 of the 'Holiday/BOBD' transitional combination, it came out first. The video, directed by Sam Bayer (all of American Idiot's videos including the dvd Bullet in a Bible were directed by him), was set in a desolate, desert road having Green Day walk slowly around town feeling sort of lost, scared, and lonely. The video, like the song, sends out a strong, dimented eerie vibe. Throughout the video, Sam Bayer used "special techniques" to make the film seem scratchy, vintage, and dream-like.

   Not even two months after the album's release, Green Day were already attending award ceremonies for it's success. This was the start to an incredibly busy and successful year for the guys. The band headed out on tour immediatly (eventually doing three North American tours and three International tours) stopping at places all over the world that would continue until the end of 2005. It was during their third international tour that Green Day would play for the biggest audience in Green Day history.

   The Milton Keynes Bowl, located just outside of London, England is a large field of grass with a fifty-foot stage. The place holds 65,000 people, and within just a few hours, the one day show sold out. This surprised Green Day, so as a thank you they added one more day to the show to make it a two-day Green Day festival. Green Day and only Green Day. 130,000 of their fans poured into the lawn on the hot, summer days. It was there that Sam Bayer came back and filmed the show to produce Green Day's first live concert DVD entitled Bullet in a Bible.

   The DVD, which premiered in select theatres November 1st and later released on November 15th, captures what a Green Day concert is. It also features backstage clips and behind-the-scene interviews between each song on the setlist. Another goodie to the package was an included audio cd of the live songs. Today, the band uses it to get pumped up for any show.

   Also around June, was the release of the fourth single 'Wake me up when September ends.' It's one of the most personal and emotional songs on the album. The song in its core meaning was sort of a theurapeutic release for Billie Joe with the death of his father when Billie was only 10 years old. However, the touching lyrics and soothing guitar also was relief for the 9/11 victims. And because of that, the video was set to a more political and personal level. The video is set in anywhere, USA. The main characters are a boy and girl couple who love each other and spend every minute with eachother. On the boy's 18th birthday he enlists in the army and the whole relationship collapses. The rest of the video shows both sides- what the boy goes through as he endures boot camp, and the girl's view of living without him and living in fear that he won't return. The video strikes up tears and relates to many families suffering from loved ones in the war.

   2005 was the year of Green Day. In August, during their last North American Tour, the band headed down to Miami for the MTV Video Music Awards. With 8 nominations, they dominated the awards winning seven out of their eight nods. The biggest one of all was the Video of the Year award in which Boulevard of Broken Dreams proudly accepted. It didn't stop from there, Green Day were hitting every award show possible like Kerrang!, Brits, EMA, People's Choice, and the Billboards (one in which Billie Joe awards the Century Award to Tom Petty). The biggest achievement in music however, is the Grammy. In 2005 they won Best Rock Album in which Billie says on of his most famous quotes, "Rock n' roll can be dangerous and fun at the same time." Later in 2006 they won Record of the Year for 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'

   As the year ended, Green Day wrapped up the American Idiot tour with a couple shows in Austrailia. During their last show in Melbourne, Billie Joe got a little teary eyed as they ended the second song on the setlist- 'Jesus of Suburbia'. It was a touching moment, reflecting the past two years and all the extraordinary feats they had reached as a band and as friends. And possibly it could have been the last time 'Jesus of Suburbia' would ever be performed live.

   American Idiot is a monumental album, one that will go down in history. It's the epitome of Green Day. The defintion of Green Day. Question everything. In all it's aspects it has been nothing less than incredible. It's a masterpiece, a lift, an adventure. It's opened new doors and more eyes. It's just one of those things that changes the world.