What makes a punk rock band decide to make a concept album? This is the central question that Tim and Ollie explore in this episode on Green Day's phenomenal seventh album "American Idiot", released in 2004. Up to that point, Green Day were one of the most successful pop-punk bands to emerge from the Bay Area scene in the 1990s and became hugely popular following the release of their major label debut "Dookie" in 1994, with quirky hits such as "Basket Case". Over the course of the next few albums however, their commercial fortunes and musical relevance went into steady decline, generating tensions within the band and a crisis of confidence. In true punk fashion, the band ripped it up and started again, taking a more collaborative approach to song writing that resulted in a 9-song-rock-opera, telling the story of a disaffected American teenager on a journey of destruction and self-discovery that acts as a wider parable of American society. Commercially and critically, it represented a second coming and won over a whole new younger audience who could identify with the themes of teenage angst. Whilst commonly associated with the wider anti-Iraq War/anti-George Bush movement, the album holds up incredibly well and remains just as relevant now as it did 20 years ago. Join Tim and Ollie on their journey to discover just who is the "American Idiot".