American Idiot is a 2004 Grammy award-winning concept rock album by Green Day that delves into themes and criticisms about Bush-era America. 

The album is widely loved by fans and is still talked about to this day. Its 20th anniversary gives people a reason to listen to the album again and see the similarities in modern America. 

Seeing the criticism of America 20 years ago now allows listeners to see where the country has changed and stayed the same.

The album’s main theme is the love and rage felt by the American people at the time. The album conveys the main theme through the story of Jesus of Suburbia. It uses the character as a placement for suburban Americans and shows some of the feelings and conflicts they felt at the time. 

The album’s story follows a coming-of-age format where different songs not only move the story along but also criticize different parts of the political climate. 

The album’s title track critiques the mass media and political manipulation. Its lyrics include “One nation controlled by the media, Information age of hysteria” and “Sing along to the age of paranoia.”  

With this song, Green Day critiques the mass manipulation in our media and how, most of the time, we sing along without knowing we are being manipulated. The album encourages us to step away from this and form our voice. 

The track Holiday directly calls out war and governmental hypocrisy with lines like, “There’s a flag wrapped around a score of men, A gag, a plastic bag on a monument.” They criticize the government and show the anger of the people towards them and how they handle war. 

Even today we still see this anger and disillusionment prevalent and the imagery that Green Day uses to convey this is still prevalent and allows audiences to think deeper about these topics.