My vote for album of the decade

Given the volatile state the world has existed in these last 10 years, it comes as no surprise that the 00's were an amazing time for politically charged rock n' roll. Artists like Bruce Springsteen and the Dixie Chicks lived and died by their thoughts and songs on the state of the union over the last decade, and the world saw some of the best politically themed music since the Vietnam war. There was one band who did it better than the rest, and after the tragedies of September 11, 2001 and the ill-fated Iraqi conflict, there are few among us who could have guessed that band would be California's pop punk pioneers, Green Day.

Prior to 2004, Tre Cool, Mike Dirnt and Billie Joe Armstrong, more commonly referred to as Green Day, were famous for their snotty songs about masturbation, pot and having the "time of your life" than for their thoughts on world news. The band burst onto the scene in 1994 after doing their time in the punk rock underground and surfaced with the landmark album "Dookie", which spawned hits like "Basket Case" and "When I Come Around." The band enjoyed several years among rock's elite, churning out fun punk n' roll with the occasional ballad tossed in, serving as the soundtrack to many a teen's angsty adolescent years.

In 2000, the band made the ill-advised jump to a more "mature" sound on their album "Warning" which, despite being certified platinum, was largely considered a flop. The band retreated from the limelight and saw its popularity decrease greatly. On the verge of breaking up, Green Day reconvened in 2003 and recorded an album entitled "Cigarettes and Valentines." The master tapes for this album mysteriously disappeared, and the band were forced to start from scratch. The loss of "Cigarettes & Valentines" turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because Green Day went on to concoct a rock opera they called "American Idiot," which was released on Sept. 21, 2004.

What followed was a textbook example of "right place, right time." The band's concept album, loosely based on a character called the Jesus of Suburbia, who tries to make the best of living in George Bush's America, found itself an audience in the disenfranchised youth of America. Everyone was sick of the war, sick of Bush, and no one in the entertainment industry was really coming out and saying it. High school dropout Armstrong sang about the "redneck agenda" of the Bush administration with a venom and fervor not heard since their 1996 album "Insomniac," only this time the anger had a tangible direction.

The album and the tour that followed it saw massive success around the world (the album has sold 14 million copies worldwide to date) and Armstrong found himself a pied piper of America's pissed-off youth; his likeness plastered all over magazine covers and lyrics quoted at protests nationwide. "American Idiot" produced six singles and won Green Day Grammys and VMAs galore, cementing Green Day once and for all as true, bona fide rock stars.

Is it my favorite album of the decade? No. Is it my favorite Green Day album? No. But no body of music released in the last 10 years better encapsulates what it was like to grow up under the Bush regime amongst the paranoid ranks of our fellow Americans. Green Day hit the nail on the head in so many ways, and that's why this record was as big as it was. Of course, the songs themselves are breathtaking as well, from the snotty opening title track to the haunting "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" to the album's two nine minute epics, "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming." It's a true rock n' roll landmark, front to back. Whether you like it or not, "American Idiot" is the last 10 years of our lives in 57 minutes and 16 seconds, and if you disagree, then the terrorists have already won.