Analysing Popular Music - Essay Example

‘American Idiot’ i iis designed as a Rock Opera, a musical format that first emerged in the popular music scene with Pete Townsend’s highly successful production of Tommy in the early 1970s. In keeping with the genre, Green Day’s album addresses many of the postmodern concerns adolecents are faced with today, including the irony of existence, the decline of organized religion, the dysfunctional nature of the American family and the feelings of isolation and alienation that this incurs in the heart of the American teen.

One of the longest tracks on the album, ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ encapsulates these themes as well as provides a turning point for the action of the album. With an understanding of Green Day’s musical genre and the underlying structures of Rock Opera, an analysis of ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ presents the willing participant with an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the postmodern social concerns indemic to the majority of Green Day listeners. The music of Green Day is typically considered to be punk-pop3; therefore, to understand the music, one must understand the characteristics of punk and pop and how this begins to define their audience in more specific terms.

“Punk came into its own in England in the late ‘70s as a savage reaction to polished, tired mainstream rock and pop. More than a musical revolution, punk was a full-blown assault on the soured, restrictive social and political conventions that lingered in England following World War II” (Muze, 2001).4 Early punk rock bands included the Stooges, the MC5 and the Velvet Underground, all characterized by loud, pounding beats; harsh sounds and often extended improvisations. Although it was seen to gain its popularity primarily in England, many of these musical pioneers originated from the Lower East Side in New York.

“Meanwhile, faster, rawer, and bitterly radio-hostile acts like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys were