American Idiot by Green Day

American Idiot is the seventh studio album by American rock band Green Day, released on September 20, 2004 by Reprise Records. Following the disappointing sales of their previous album Warning (2000), the band took a break before beginning their next album, Cigarettes and Valentines. The recording was cut short when the master tapes were stolen, and the band decided to start from scratch. A concept album dubbed a "punk rock opera" by the band members, American Idiot follows the story of Jesus of Suburbia, a lower-middle-class American adolescent anti-hero. The album expresses the disillusionment and dissent of a generation that came of age in a period shaped by tumultuous events such as the Iraq War. Recording sessions were split between two California studios between 2003 and 2004. American Idiot marked a career comeback for Green Day. It charted in 27 countries, peaking at number one in 19, and eventually sold 16 million copies worldwide. The album spawned five successful singles: "American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday", "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Jesus of Suburbia". American Idiot was well received critically and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2005. Its success inspired a Broadway musical and a planned feature film adaptation. It appears in several lists of the best albums of the year and the decade.