Someone paid attention during School of Rock

What did Jack Black teach/remind all of us in School of Rock? That the point of Rock and Roll is to stick it to the man. I just finished listening to Green Day's American Idiot and I'm convinced Billy Joe Armstrong is at the head of the class. While he has always written first-rate rock songs, Armstrong outdoes himself on this set. This album is a full frontal assault on the hypocrisy of this moment in time, yet is savvy enough lyrically that it should not sound dated in ten, twenty, or even fifty years. If there is such a thing as unified alienation, this is what it sounds like. This is the work of a grown artist comforting the troubled teenager he used to be.

Coming tomorrow: My review of I Heart Huckabees.