In order to accomplish this, the band used unconventional techniques for themselves, including transitions between connected songs and some long, chaptered, creative compositions presenting the album themes.

The result was a more societally critical, politically charged record which returned to the band's punk rock sound following the more folk and power pop-inspired Warning, with additional influences that were not explored on their older albums.

Additionally, the band underwent an "image change", wearing red-and-black uniforms onstage, to add more theatrical presence to the album during performances and press events.

The album spawned five successful singles: the titular track, "American Idiot", "Holiday", "Wake Me Up When September Ends", "Jesus of Suburbia" and the Grammy Award for Record of the Year winner "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

[9] Green Day had spent much of 2002 recording new material at Studio 880 in Oakland, California for an album titled Cigarettes and Valentines,[12] creating "polka songs, filthy versions of Christmas tunes, [and] salsa numbers" for the project, hoping to establish something new within their music.

Cavallo encouraged the idea of a concept album, recalling a conversation the two had a decade prior, in which Armstrong expressed his desire for their career to have a "Beatles-like arc to their creativity.

[19] Hoping to clear his head and develop new ideas for songs, Armstrong traveled to New York City alone for a few weeks, renting a small loft in the East Village of Manhattan.

[25] Drum tracks were recorded on two-inch tape to produce a compressed sound and were transferred to Pro Tools to be digitally mixed with the other instruments.

"[31] Speaking on the album's musical content, Armstrong remarked, "For us, American Idiot is about taking those classic rock and roll elements, kicking out the rules, putting more ambition in, and making it current.

"[32] Part of recording the album was attempting to expand their familiar punk rock sound by experimenting with different styles such as new wave, Latin, and polka music.

[33] The band listened to various rock operas, including the Who's Tommy (1969) and David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972).

[5] Armstrong was particularly inspired by the Who's Quadrophenia, finding more in common with its "power chord mod-pop aesthetic" than other concept records, such as The Wall by Pink Floyd.

[28] These instruments are especially evident on "Homecoming" and on "Wake Me Up When September Ends", the latter of which includes an African bead gourd that was welded to a remote hi-hat pedal for future live performances.

"[45] Armstrong felt a duty to keep his sons away from violent images, including video games and news coverage of the war in Iraq and the 9/11 attacks.

"[19] American Idiot is a concept album that describes the story of a central character named Jesus of Suburbia, an anti-hero created by Billie Joe Armstrong.

[24] The two secondary characters exemplify the record's main theme—"rage versus love"—in that while St. Jimmy is driven by "rebellion and self-destruction," Whatsername is focused on "following your beliefs and ethics.

[45] He had felt the desire to increase the amount of political content in his lyricism as he grew into adulthood, noting that the "climate" surrounding his aging produced feelings of responsibility in the songs he wrote.

"[19] "American Idiot" contends that mass media has orchestrated paranoia and idiocy among the public, particularly cable news, which Armstrong felt had crossed the line from journalism to reality television, only showcasing violent footage intercut with advertisements.

[49] After finishing the music for the album, the band decided that the artwork needed to reflect the themes on the record, likening the change of image to a political campaign.

"[1] The website's editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the album as either "a collection of great songs" or as a whole, writing that, "in its musical muscle and sweeping, politically charged narrative, it's something of a masterpiece".

[66] In a negative review, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called the album a "dud" and asserted that Armstrong's lyrics eschew "sociopolitical content" for "the emotional travails of two clueless punks—one passive, one aggressive, both projections of the auteur", adding that "there's no economics, no race, hardly any compassion.

[107] The album has received certification awards in many territories; among them being certified six times platinum status in the United States and Australia,[108][109] and diamond in Canada.

[111][112] The album spawned five singles: "American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday", "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and "Jesus of Suburbia".

[124][125] The band underwent "a significant image change" surrounding the album's promotion, and they began to wear black and red uniforms onstage.

John Colapinto of Rolling Stone summarized its immediate impact in a 2005 story:[127] American Idiot [...] gives voice to the disenfranchised suburban underclass of Americans who feel wholly unrepresented by the current leadership of oilmen and Ivy Leaguers, and who are too smart to accept the "reality" presented by news media who sell the government's line of fear and warmongering.Jon Pareles of The New York Times deemed it "both a harbinger and a beneficiary of the Bush administration's plummeting approval, selling steadily through 2005 as the response to Hurricane Katrina and the protracted war in Iraq turned much of the country against the government.

"[128] "Wake Me Up When September Ends" became symbolic during various events such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; one online blogger paired the song with television coverage of the disaster, creating a viral video.

[130] In late 2005, DJ Party Ben and producer Team9, under the shared alias Dean Gray (a spoonerism of "Green Day"), released an online-only mash-up version of the album—called American Edit.

"[142] On June 1, 2006, Armstrong announced in an interview with MTV that the movie was "definitely unfolding" and that "every single week there's more ideas about doing a film for American Idiot, and it's definitely going to happen".

[143] In April 2011, production company Playtone optioned the musical to develop a film version, and Universal Pictures began initial negotiations to distribute it.

"[155] Heart Like a Hand Grenade made its world premiere on October 8, 2015, at the 38th Mill Valley Film Festival, and it was released to theaters in the US the following week.