American Idiot turns 20 this year, and Green Day have celebrated by dropping a treasure trove for their fans.
Now, the punk rock legend has released a 20th anniversary deluxe edition of this iconic album, including a never-before-heard ‘alt’ version of the never-before-heard title track, which reached number three in the UK charts in 2004.
At new The old version of the song sounds familiar when the memorable riff kicks in, but this remix has completely different lyrics, as well as ditching the guitar solo for the alternate outro.
‘Don’t be an American fool / Don’t be an inside affiliate / The information age is full of static / And everybody’s panicking,’ Billie Joe Armstrong sings at the beginning of a new song. demo opened.
The chorus is also jarring, with the frontman belting out: ‘Don’t want to join the crowd / I’ll always be the outcast / Legion of fools.
‘Don’t be a pretender / Every story has a happy ending / Because there’s enough to argue.’
The last few words are the only ones that remain for the finished song, with a real chorus: ‘Welcome to a new tension / All over a foreign land / Where everything is not okay.
‘In the televised dream of tomorrow / We are not the ones to follow / Because it’s enough to argue.’
Potential Glastonbury headliners – completed by drummer Tre Cool and bassist Mike Dirnt – have given fans a look at how one of the biggest tracks was formed.
Many other demos in the new collection sound very similar to the version fans know from the finished album, although there are still some real treats.
One hidden pearl from the entire collection – which also includes B-sides, bonus tracks, and some live versions of the album – Lowlife, an early version of Dearly Beloved.
It only appears on the real album in an unrecognizable form as part of Jesus of Suburbia, but fans count it as one of the band’s best tracks here.
‘Lowlife is the best song,’ wrote @Foque__ on X, while @Colton_0816 added: ‘After listening to the demo I have to say that lowlife is an amazing song.’
And @nxthyb pointed out: ‘The piano in the Lowlife demo is very similar to Viva La Gloria… saw it live.’
There’s more – the Cluster Bomb, which later became the Letterbomb, looks like it’s straight out of Warning 2000! with more stripped back production.
The demo from Homecoming felt like all different songs at first, because the group was really into it.
There are still hints of what’s to come on the 10-minute track, with No One Likes You appearing in heavier form before the more familiar reprise.
The second half of the song, with East 12th Street, Rock and Roll Girlfriend and the We’re Coming Home Again ‘movement’, appears almost unchanged in the full demo.
However, several small sections have their own full demo songs, including Everyone’s Breaking Down (which was cut and changed to We’re Coming Home Again), and Just Another Year (Homecoming).
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