10 Day Album Thingee #6: Green Day's "American Idiot."

Although today I definitely listen to more Green Day than almost any other single band, I wasn't a Green Day fan before this album came out. A co-worker at the time loaned me the CD, and then I lost my ever-loving mind over the storytelling, the power of the guitars, and the incredible songwriting.

Since then, I've seen every tour except for 99 Revolutions, plus "American Idiot" on Broadway. My setting of "Shalom Rav" was ripped from the GD playbook. And of course, Green Day inspired in me a new understanding of prayer.