Green Day savors album topping lists worldwide

A month ago, Green Day's "American Idiot" debuted on the Billboard Top 200 albums in the No. 1 position — a first for the band, and, according to Billboard Magazine, only the second time a "rock" band has hit the Top slot this year. (Velvet Revolver hit No. 1 in July.)

But the Top 200 isn't the only place "American Idiot" shot to the top. The United Kingdom, Australia and Canadian charts all registered the album in No. 1 positions. And Japan, Italy and Switzerland reported the album had firmly placed itself in their respective Top 10 album charts.

The band wasn't prepared for this level of success, according to drummer Tre Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III). "We knew we were recording a different type of album than we had in the past," Cool said by phone from a stop in Milwaukee. "But we didn't think that the album would hit No.1 all over the world."

Still, Green Day — Cool, bassist Mike Dirnt and guitarist/vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong — had been working for 18 months on this recording. "We wanted to make a big an important album," Cool said. "A lot of audiences are sold short when it comes to smart music. We wanted to make a smart album because the audiences are smarter than a lot of music people think.

"Audiences are smarter than what Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson think. And we took some chances and stood by this album, and it was a success."

During those 18 months, the band wrote, practiced and made a demo copy of the album, so it knew what it was going to sound like when it was time to record. "We had 90 percent of the album the way we wanted it to sound on the final record. When we got the demo done, we re-recorded it in order and tightened it up," said Cool, who cited everyone from Buddy Rich to Alex Van Halen to the Dead Kennedys and No Means No as his musical influences.

"American Idiot" could be considered the pop-punk band's progressive rock-opera album. There are 13 tracks, but two — "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Homecoming" — are epics in themselves, each clocking in at a little more than nine minutes. "That's something that was a little daunting at first," said Cool. "We had to learn to play a nine-minute song in concert and still keep up the energy. But with the song list we're playing, it works."

Cool said Armstrong chooses the concert song list. And it's no small task. With more than eight albums and a greatest-hits compilation under its belt, the song list, along with an array of covers, can be daunting. "However, we are playing more new songs this year than we've play in the past. We basically play our regular Green Day set and then the new songs."