Studio
Studio 880 / Ocean Way Recording / Capitol Studios
Label
Reprise Records
Producers
Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Mixing
Chris Lorde-Alge
Engineers
Doug McKean, Chris Dugan, Reto Peter, Ted Jenson (mastering)
Musicians
Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass, vocals), Tre Cool (drums), Rob Cavallo (piano), Jason Freese (saxophone), Kathleen Hanna (vocals)
Artwork
Chris Bilheimer (cover art, photos), Marina Chavez (photos), John Roecker (photos)
Singles
American Idiot, Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Holiday, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Jesus Of Suburbia
Awards
Grammys: American Idiot (2005, Album) - Best Rock Album (Won), Album of the Year (Nominated). American Idiot (2005, Song) - Record of the Year (Nominated), Best Rock Performance (Nominated), Best Rock Song (Nominated), Best Music Video (Nominated). Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (2006) - Record of the Year (Won).
Notes: Starting over after the band deemed work on an album to be called Cigarettes And Valentines was not considered to be up to their standards, Green Day recorded a punk rock opera that would project them back to the top of the charts. Taking 10 months to record and costing $650,000, American Idiot was a massive undertaking for the band but would go on to sell over 6 million copies in the US alone. In 2024, a 20th anniversary deluxe edition of the album was released that featured previously unreleased demos and outtakes.
Tracklist
Track 14: Japan CD Bonus Track - previously released on Rock Against Bush Vol 2.
Japan Bonus Disc: Live @ Makuhari Messe [Chiba, Japan - 19 MAR 2005] American Idiot (live), Jesus Of Suburbia (live), Holiday (live), Are We The Waiting (live), St. Jimmy (live), Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (live).
Japan Bonus Disc: Live @ Makuhari Messe [Chiba, Japan - 19 MAR 2005] American Idiot (live), Jesus Of Suburbia (live), Holiday (live), Are We The Waiting (live), St. Jimmy (live), Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (live).
Digital Deluxe Edition
01
07
02
08
03
09
04
10
05
11
06
12
Tracks 10-12: Previously released as b-sides to the 'American Idiot' single.
Studio Sessions
Key
[O] Officially released
[D] Demo released
[U] Unofficially released
[X] Unreleased
Session Tracks
* While we can't positively confirm which session these songs belong to, their absence from the 20th Anniversary Edition of American Idiot suggests they may have originated during the Cigarettes & Valentines sessions.
- [X]Waste Away
- [X]Sleepyhead
- [X]Dropout
- [X]Cigarettes & Valentines
- [X]Give Me Novocaine
- [O]Too Much Too Soon
- [O]Shoplifter
- [O]Lights Out
- [O]Hearts Collide
- [D]Everyone’s Breaking Down
- [D]Just Another Year
- [D]Lowlife
- [D]Cluster Bomb
- [X]Horseshoes & Handgrenades *
- [X]The Pedestrian *
- [X]Too Young *
- [X]Lately (One More Year) *
- [X]End Of The World *
- [X]Walk Away *
- [X]Broadway *
* While we can't positively confirm which session these songs belong to, their absence from the 20th Anniversary Edition of American Idiot suggests they may have originated during the Cigarettes & Valentines sessions.
Session Notes
Billie Joe was quoted by NME as saying, "There was a lot of stuff that were full songs (on C&V), from the original version of ‘Homecoming’, that was on American Idiot. We ended up using a lot of those parts, and connected it together, which makes this sort of crazy suite, as they call it, of a song". Those songs are presumed to be 'Everyone's Breaking Down', 'Just Another Year' (used on 'Homecoming') and 'Lowlife' (used on 'Jesus Of Suburbia) which were released as full song demos on the American Idiot 20th anniversary box set.
A faster version of what became 'Give Me Novocaine' on American Idiot was recorded in the C&V sessions. The band would re-record it for Idiot cut to half-time.
'Cluster Bomb' (which eventually became 'Letterbomb') originated during the Warning sessions. It is unclear how much the song changed between those early sessions and the final 2004 recording. A demo version released on the American Idiot 20 anniversary set features several differences from the final studio track.
'The Pedestrian' and 'Broadway' were re-recorded for their 2008 side project album Stop Drop And Roll!!! under the Foxboro Hot Tubs moniker, while 'Horseshoes & Handgrenades' and 'Walk Away' were re-recorded for 21st Century Breakdown and ¡Tre! respectively.
It's also been theorized that 'End Of The World' became 'Roshambo' on the 2003 The Network album Money Money 2020. Both tracks are the exact same length, the subject matter seems to fit and the 'Roshambo' lyric "I don't believe in valentines" is a possible callback to the Cigarettes & Valentines title.
In an interview with Audacy, Billie Joe said that a lot of the parts that would later comprise ‘Homecoming’ on American Idiot were taken from songs in these sessions. He later said in the American Idiot 20th booklet that one riff from 'Homecoming' was a full song on C&V.
The songs ‘Waste Away’ and ‘Sleepyhead’ (along with the previously mentioned 'Cluster Bomb') date back to the Warning sessions. They were confirmed, along with ‘Dropout’, to be included in these sessions in an interview with Mike Dirnt.
‘Cigarettes & Valentines’ is the title track so it was obviously from this session. If there were any doubt, however, the band did confirm it in an interview with NME. The studio version has never been released but it has been performed live and is included on Green Day’s 2011 live album, Awesome As Fuck.
‘Too Much Too Soon’ was confirmed to be from this session in an interview the band did on the radio station Q104.3 on March 28, 2010. The song was released as a b-side to the ‘American Idiot’ single.
We know ‘Shoplifter’ was recorded in this time period and shares the same production credits as ‘Too Much Too Soon’ so it’s likely from these sessions as well. The song was also released as a b-side to the ‘American Idiot’ single.
While ‘Lights Out’ wouldn’t be released as a b-side until it was included on the ‘Know Your Enemy’ single in 2009, we do know it was recorded in this time period. Since the production credits don’t match those of American Idiot, we’re including it here.
As above with ‘Lights Out’, ‘Hearts Collide’ was also a b-side to the ‘Know Your Enemy’ single and the production credits don’t match those of American Idiot or 21st Century Breakdown. Unlike ‘Lights Out’ however, we do not have confirmation of what time period it was recorded. Thematically it fits an album called Cigarettes & Valentines though with lyrics such as “You’re the card in my valentine. And the candy hearts in my mind.” At this time, its inclusion here is just a best guess.
Studio Sessions
Key
[O] Officially released
[D] Demo released
[U] Unofficially released
[X] Unreleased
Session Tracks
+ These tracks were released as demos on the 20th Anniversary Edition of American Idiot.
* While we can't positively confirm which session these songs belong to, their absence from the 20th Anniversary Edition of American Idiot suggests they may have originated during the earlier Cigarettes & Valentines sessions (see session below).
- [O]American Idiot
- [O]Jesus Of Suburbia
- [O]Holiday
- [O]Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
- [O]Are We The Waiting
- [O]St. Jimmy
- [O]Give Me Novacaine
- [O]She’s A Rebel
- [O]Extraordinary Girl
- [O]Letterbomb
- [O]Wake Me Up When September Ends
- [O]Homecoming
- [O]Whatsername
- [O]Governator
- [O]Favorite Son
- [D]Everyone’s Breaking Down +
- [D]Just Another Year +
- [D]Lowlife +
- [X]Horseshoes & Handgrenades *
- [X]The Pedestrian *
- [X]Too Young *
- [X]Lately (One More Year) *
- [X]End Of The World *
- [X]Walk Away *
- [X]Broadway *
+ These tracks were released as demos on the 20th Anniversary Edition of American Idiot.
* While we can't positively confirm which session these songs belong to, their absence from the 20th Anniversary Edition of American Idiot suggests they may have originated during the earlier Cigarettes & Valentines sessions (see session below).
Session Notes
Billie Joe can be seen in the American Idiot documentary, Heart Like A Hand Grenade, playing 'When It's Time' for producer Rob Cavallo but there is no official confirmation at this time that it was studio recorded in these sessions.
'The Pedestrian' and 'Broadway' were re-recorded for their 2008 side project album Stop Drop And Roll!!! under the Foxboro Hot Tubs moniker, while 'Horseshoes & Handgrenades' and 'Walk Away' were re-recorded for 21st Century Breakdown and ¡Tre! respectively.
Several tracks underwent title changes between the sessions and the final release: 'Cluster Bomb' became 'Letterbomb', 'Novocaine' was renamed 'Give Me Novacaine', 'Radio Baghdad' became 'Extraordinary Girl', and 'Homecoming (Nobody Likes You)' was shortened to 'Homecoming'.
The 'Homecoming (Nobody Likes You)' demo featured on American Idiot 20 differs significantly from the final studio version, most notably in the opening section, which features a completely different arrangement and lyrical structure. Billie Joe has noted that he used parts of songs from the Cigarettes & Valentines sessions to complete the track.
Drum tracks were first captured on 2-inch analog tape to maintain their natural depth and impact before being migrated into Pro Tools for further tracking and editing.
MUSIC VIDEOS
American Idiot
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Holiday
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Jesus Of Suburbia