10 Songs That Saved Rock And Roll
7. American Idiot - Green Day
Out of all the interesting bands coming out in the early '00s, nothing was really sticking out as mind-bending or anything. At a time when America was about to go off to war, a lot of the garage rock acts tended to shy away from heavy topics and just crank their amps instead. No one was willing to take on the political beast...except for a bunch of stoned out teen stars from the Bay Area.
Aside from revitalizing rock, this was also a pivotal moment for Green Day as well. Since the last few albums had not sold like gangbusters, there was a lot riding on Billie Joe Armstrong's shoulders to deliver the goods. Absolutely disgusted with what he was seeing in the American government, this was a modern mirror image of a song like London Calling, taking on the head hanchos in Washington and throwing caution to the wind.
It wasn't exactly subtle either, with Armstrong going on to proclaim that he wasn't part of anyone's redneck agenda in the second chorus. Especially considering that President Bush was gaining a reputation as a bit of a redneck, those were fighting words that Billie Joe did not take lightly. Then again, if you're going to shape the rock world around you, you better have the balls to stick your neck on the line.