Green Day Releases Massive 'American Idiot 20th Anniversary Edition'

Exactly two decades ago, five-time GRAMMY® Award-winning band Green Day forever changed punk rock and popular culture with their conceptual magnum opus, American Idiot. Commemorating the GRAMMY® Award-winning record’s 20TH birthday this year, the California trio proudly unveils the definitive American Idiot 20TH Anniversary Deluxe Edition, available everywhere now.

They have assembled massive Limited Edition Super Deluxe Box Sets available in 8-LP Vinyl and 4-CD configurations. Each box set also contains two Blu-ray discs. Also available now is a limited edition color vinyl of the original 2-LP album, plus an audiophile "One-Step" release of American Idiot. Additionally, the official music videos from the album – including “American Idiot,” “Jesus of Suburbia,” “Holiday” “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams,” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” have all been upgraded to 4k quality.

Both of these limited-edition Super Deluxe Box Sets feature the Original Album and a plethora of essential extras. Among many highlights, this treasure trove consists of 15 unreleased American Idiot demos, a rapturous 15-track 2004 concert recorded at Irving Plaza in New York City capped off by 9 previously unreleased live recordings (including a cover of Queen’s “We Are The Champions”), and 14 songs previously available only as B-Sides and bonus tracks. Plus, it showcases two Blu-Ray Discs, comprising the film Heart Like A Hand Grenade, BBC: Top of the Pops “Mini Gig” and Later with Jools Holland, and finally the brand new, 110-minute, documentary, 20 Years of American Idiot. New liner notes penned by Rob Cavallo and Rolling Stone’s David Fricke complete the package.

In the Vinyl Box Set, each LP has been pressed on its own unique color vinyl. The collection also houses a 36-page book, a large Green Day flag, and the iconic American Idiot red tie. Each D2C purchase comes with a poster. Meanwhile, the CD Box Set boasts a 48-page book, enamel pin set, sticker sheet, and cloth patch.

Produced by Rob Cavallo and the band, American Idiot represented a turning point for not only Green Day, but rock music in the 21st century. Following its release on September 21, 2004, it crash landed at #1 on the Billboard 200 and eventually moved north of 23 million copies globally—with 9 million in the United States alone. It garnered a 2005 GRAMMY® Award in the category of “Best Rock Album.” It even inspired a Broadway musical of the same name, receiving two Tony® Awards and a GRAMMY® Award.

Powered by smashes “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Holiday,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” “Jesus of Suburbia,” and “American Idiot,” it has emerged as a commercial and critical high watermark for the group. It has graced dozens of “Best-Of” lists, including Rolling Stone’s coveted “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” and “The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade,” NPR’s “The Decade’s 50 Most Important Recordings,” Entertainment Weekly’s “New Classics: The 100 Best Albums from 1983 to 2008,” and NME’s “The Top 100 Albums of the Decade.” Not to mention, Pitchfork hailed it as “the band’s most ambitious record to date,” going on to attest, “there’s something to be said for having the balls.”

Nothing was the same after American Idiot. The revolutionary implications of this punk rock opera masterpiece continue to reverberate from one generation to the next—and that influence shows no signs of diminishing. If anything, Green Day’s sold-out global summer stadium tour — The Saviors Tour — proved just that. The band never missed a beat as they played American Idiot in its entirety every night, alongside Dookie, and cuts off their latest studio album Saviors. The Saviors Tour came to a triumphant close as it serves as Green Day’s biggest tour of their illustrious 30+ year career. 

Photo credit: Eva Mueller

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