10 Bands That Saved Their Career With One Album

When Green Day first emerged on the scene, they were a breath of fresh air for rock fans after the death of the grunge scene. With songs from Seattle going by the wayside, these brats gave rock a snot-nosed energy on Dookie, where they brought punk to the masses. Then the band had to commit the one cardinal sin of any pop punk band: grow up.

Though the band did have some fairly strong albums amid the course of the late '90s and '00s, albums like Warning and Nimrod left many pining for the tight 3-minute anthems from Dookie. A return to form seemed like the logical next step, but these guys shattered our expectations with American Idiot. Instead of going back to the tuneful punk rock in full, this album was a full-fledged concept album in the vein of The Who or Pink Floyd, following the trek of a young punk kid through the big city.

Any self-respecting punk wouldn't stand for this kind of lavish production, but Green Day managed to reach every corner of the rock sphere with this album, from the episodic tune "Jesus of Suburbia" to ballads like "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." Punk was all about simplicity, but it was also about staying true to yourself, and with American Idiot, Green Day took the gamble and made it to the other side unscathed.