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HOLLYWOOD — "Welcome to the new kind of tension," Billie Joe Armstrong sings on Green Day's latest single, "American Idiot." And welcome to the new Green Day.

On the title track of the band's upcoming album, American Idiot, Armstrong goes where no Green Day song has gone before and makes a strikingly bold statement about his homeland.

"Can you hear the sound of hysteria/ The subliminal mindf--- America," he asks at the top of the track, later singing, "Maybe I am the f----t America/ I'm not a part of a redneck agenda."

" 'American Idiot' is just about the confusion in what's going on today, whether it's the non-reality of reality television or what you see on CNN," Armstrong explained recently. "It's about what kind of fears are being imposed on me as a watcher of all this stuff, and just feeling completely confused and alienated."

Green Day's signature infectious guitar hooks are still there, but the tune has more of an alarming tone, thanks to Tre Cool's rolling drums.

As the opening salvo on the album, "American Idiot" starts a story that is continued from song to song (see "Jesus Of Suburbia Is The Star Of Green Day's Punk Opera"). "It really sets the stage for the journey that our character [in the album's story] is going on," bassist Mike Dirnt said.

Although the character is not exactly modeled after Billie Joe, the singer took the title from his own past (and no, it's not a knock on "American Idol").

"It's part of my self-deprecating sense of humor," he explained. "Years ago I had this T-shirt I would wear and I wrote 'idiot' and pointed an arrow right up to my face. Idiot — it's just a great word."

Green Day recently shot a video for the song, but details are being kept under wraps. American Idiot, the band's first studio album in four years, is due September 21.

Green Day's ambitious concept album pays off live

September 20, 2004

BY BRIAN ORLOFF

It's always a risky prospect for a band to pepper its set with unreleased material, let alone perform an entirely new body of work sequentially. As such, Green Day's decision to preview its new album, "American Idiot," live in its entirety Saturday night -- before the record's release Tuesday -- seemed less about ego and more about expanding its artistic scope.

"American Idiot" weaves its concept-album narrative around a large cast of characters and complicated tunes with shifting time signatures. Live, the band's bravado paid off, and the sold-out crowd enthusiastically responded to Green Day's maturing sound.

Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong, a force decked out in all black and a skinny red tie, led his band through a breathless 90-minute set, inciting fans to pump their fists and sing along, even though most of the material was new to them.

Since the band is so identified with suburban ennui, the challenging of authority and broken hearts, "American Idiot" doesn't really deviate thematically from Green Day's catalog. But musically, the trio -- augmented live with a backup singer, keyboardist and sometimes an additional guitarist -- has embraced expansive arrangements. The nine-minute "Jesus of Suburbia" rose and fell, shifting from a kicky rave-up to a loping melody in true operatic fashion.

Armstrong was a gracious host, introducing each song and manically working the stage throughout the evening. The petite singer barreled through tunes like the jaunty "Holiday" and the anthemic "St. Jimmy" with a cocksure swagger; he would occasionally jump and break into a split, never missing a snarling guitar lick.

While fans responded well, it was difficult to make out the songs' lyrics in the loud mix. Following the album's story line became nearly impossible, save for Armstrong's occasional in-between-song cues. But fans had no problem identifying drummer Tre Cool's pummeling introductory beat on "Longview," the band's hit from 1994's "Dookie," which led a five-song encore.

After trotting out spiky gems like "Minority," a piano-led shanty that encapsulates the band's anti-authority message with a defiant kiss-off of a lyric, Armstrong donned a false mustache and led the crowd in a spot-on cover of Queen's "We Are the Champions." The cover was a deferential nod to the band whose rich legacy undoubtedly informed "American Idiot's" sprawling sound.

Brian Orloff is a Chicago-based free-lance writer.