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How Green Day’s new album Saviors has a similar approach to American Idiot

Billie Joe Armstrong explains how Saviors is similar to American Idiot, in the sense that both records came after albums where Green Day were “trying to further our musical knowledge”.

How Green Day’s new album Saviors has a similar approach to American Idiot
Words:
Emily Carter
Photo:
Paul Harries

Earlier this month, Green Day paid a visit to the UK, and we caught up with the band for a world-exclusive interview all about their brilliant new album Saviors.

All will be revealed tomorrow, but in our huge chat with Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool, the trio reflect on their collective mindset going into album number 14 – and how they actually felt similar to 2004’s iconic American Idiot… but not in the way you might think.

In the upcoming Kerrang! exclusive interview, the band explain that American Idiot followed 1997’s Nimrod and 2000’s Warning, which were two records that included plenty of branching out and experimenting. And next year’s Saviors follows a similar trend of taking what they’d learned and bringing it back around into a more classic Green Day sound, coming after 2020’s Father Of All…

“When I think about American Idiot, I think of where [previous albums] Nimrod and Warning were these records where we were in the studio learning, and trying to further our musical knowledge,” says Billie. “That’s sort of the way that I feel right now, too, because Father Of All… was one of those moments where we were like, ‘Let’s try something new.’ We learned so much from it, and it’s like it has a baby called Saviors!”

“I can hear bits of each album on this record, even though it sounds fresh and new,” agrees Mike. “I feel like if there’s any words that always come back to Green Day, it’s energy and melody – and this record has all those things in abundance.”

Stay tuned for the full interview with Green Day – coming your way this Thursday (November 30).

Saviors is due out on January 19, 2024 via Reprise/Warner. Watch the videos for Look Ma, No Brains! and The American Dream Is Killing Me below.

Catch Green Day on The Saviors Tour at the following dates – get your tickets now.

May 2024

30 Monte do Gozo, Spain – O Son do Camino*

June 2024

1 Madrid Spain – Road to Rio Babel*
5 Lyon Decines – LDLC Arena - with The Interrupters
7 Nurnberg Germany – Rock im Park*
8 Nurburgring Germany – Rock am Ring*
10 Berlin Germany – Waldbühne
11 Hamburg Germany – Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld
15 Interlaken Switzerland – Greenfield Festival*
16 Milan Italy – I Days - Hippodrome La Maura*
18 Paris France – Accor Arena
19 Arnhem Netherlands – GelreDome
21 Manchester UK – Emirates Old Trafford
23 Isle of Wight UK – Isle of Wight Festival*
25 Glasgow UK – Bellahouston Park
27 Dublin Ireland – Marlay Park
29 London UK – Wembley Stadium

With support from Nothing But Thieves, The Hives, Donots, The Interrupters and Maid Of Ace
* = festival date

July 2024

29 Washington, DC – Nationals Park

August 2024

1 Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre
3 Montreal, QC – Osheaga Music and Arts Festival*
5 New York, NY – Citi Field
7 Boston, MA – Fenway Park
9 Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park
10 Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
13 Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field
15 St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre !
17 Minneapolis, MN – Target Field
20 Kansas City, KS – Azura Amphitheatre !
22 Cincinnati, OH – Great American Ballpark
24 Milwaukee, WI – American Family Field
26 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion !
28 Atlanta, GA – Truist Park
30 Nashville, TN – Geodis Park

September 2024

1 Pittsburgh, PA – PNC Park
4 Detroit, MI – Comerica Park
7 Denver, CO – Coors Field
10 Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater !
11 Arlington, TX – Globe Life Field
14 Los Angeles, CA – SoFi Stadium
18 Phoenix, AZ – Chase Field
20 San Francisco, CA – Oracle Park
23 Seattle, WA – T-Mobile Park
25 Portland, OR – Providence Park
28 San Diego, CA – Petco Park

With support from The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas
* = festival date
! = with support from Rancid and The Linda Lindas only

Read this: The 20 greatest Green Day songs – ranked

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