The title track is definitely a sound that returns back to their more punk sounding days of “Dookie”, and kicks the album off in a fast paced manner. This single is very popular on not only the radio, but the video is getting pretty good play on MTV as well. However, if you like this song, and are looking forward to an album full of this sound, don’t rush out and get this CD. The next song, “Jesus of Suburbia” (which is the main theme of the whole album), is the most unusual song from this band. Coming in at just over 9 minutes long, this track is a huge contrast from the short opener, which is just under 3 minutes. If you are at all confused as to why this album has been called a “Punk Rock Opera”, one listen to this track will explain it. The song has roughly five different sections that are staged in various steps, similar to an essay, or an opera. The nine minutes of music take the lyrics everywhere from problems with drugs and alcohol to religion to not feeling sorry for his offenses.

If this long track isn’t quite what you have a taste for, the majority of the album falls around the 2 to 3 minute mark. The album is structured in such a way that the third song “Holiday” heads to a direction similar to the opening song, but the following track heads into a totally new path. The “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is the slow paced journey of a man who “walks alone” in his life. He is divided in his mind, and not sure what is right and why he is still walking in this life. This track has parts with the acoustic guitar, but even in the sections with the entire band, it still has a very gloomy aura about it. Personally, this is my favorite track on the album, as it provides a platform for Armstrong to demonstrate his great talent as a lyricist and a vocalist, and the song just kind of hits a personal note for me, so I may be a bit partial. Taking the album to an even darker place, the fifth song opens with booming bass drums, and has a chorus that ends up becoming a chant of sorts.

“St. Jimmy”, however, is a very fast song that picks the album up very quickly, and has an unexpected hit to it. I am not really sure who or what this song is referring to, but it makes several references to drugs and alcohol, so I would assume it is from the past of one of the guys, or a friend they once knew. Regardless of the subject, this song is the perfect pace to carry the album back up to the punk rock part of the opera. Throwing another change into the mix, “Give Me Novocain” takes on another tone of suffering and a slower pace. There was definitely a feeling of loss and pain throughout the writing of this album, as almost every other song mentions something about it. This track actually refers back to the previous, as it mentions “Jimmy” once again. Not being content with the loops thrown into this album already, the next song diverges to the topic of a “Rebel Girl”, once again adding the punk rock rhythm to the sound. What you might assume would be a similar sounding song; “Extraordinary Girl” once again slows down the pace of the record and explores the pain of this girl as a relationship hits rough road.

The remaining few tracks simply continue the trend of completing an album full of unexpected turns and tying the whole thing together. “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is another example of how the band has matured and is looking back on the experiences of their lives, and is the predecessor to the second 9 minute track, “Homecoming”. The only complaint I have with this album is that this song feels like it should be the final track, instead of the second to last song. Having the same structure of being divided into parts like “Jesus of Suburbia”, this track alone changes paces more times than some albums do. “Whatsername” is the final piece to this puzzle of a CD, and actually leaves on a fairly upbeat note (musically speaking). The final words of this masterpiece seem to echo through the silence that remains after the note trails off, “I’ll never turn back time. Forgetting you, but not the time”.

There is not much to say about this album other than it is the best thing I have heard all year, if not longer than that. I rarely give an album a 5 rating, and feel it is given out too often sometimes, as it is a perfect score, and reflects a perfect album. While there is no way to judge whether an album is truly perfect or not, I do my best to find mistakes in everything I listen to and judge it from there. I have not stopped listening to this CD since I got it, and I don’t think it will be leaving my player for a very long time. I have never heard a CD of this genre tie the entire album into a story, so that each song reflects back to the ones before it, and it has a rising development and a conclusion. To say this is a “Punk Rock Opera” is dead on, Green Day has done something incredible here, and I hope their album sales show it. This is not just one of those CD’s filled with hits like “Dookie”, but just a truly magnificent album as a whole. I think everyone should hear it at least once, whether they are a fan of Green Day or not, and just listen to the words and how much was put behind every single syllable to ensure this album was as close to flawless as possible. Bored teens, multi-platinum artists, frustrated adults, mature parents, political commentators….what is next for these Oakland punk rockers? They have achieved the world and more.