I bought the new U2 and Green Day’s American Idiot today. I’m still trying to parse the U2, but I can tell you right now that this Green Day record is nothing short of brilliant. Has there ever been a punk rock opera before? This AMG review is dead on, and in some ways I’m not sure they even do the record full justice.

I think it’s high time we all acknowledged that Green Day is one of the greatest bands in the world today, and among punk bands only the Ramones and Clash can claim to be legitimately superior….