Public Enemy - Best 1200

Unlike most albums adapted from rock Broadway musicals, American Idiot isn’t a jukebox musical, it’s a genuine rock opera based on Green Day’s modern-day 2004 classic and its 2009 sequel, 21st Century Breakdown, and that’s not the only way it differs, either. Unique among rock musicals, the original cast recording actually feels like rock & roll, no doubt because Green Day functioned as the house band for this original cast recording, lending muscle so heavy it’s disarming, particularly when it’s paired with the cast’s ready-for-the-stage vocals. Inevitably, there’s a disconnect between the stage-seasoned singers and Green Day’s persistent growl, but it actually makes for a convincing translation from album to stage, at least as far as the record goes: the drama and themes are pumped up without losing the subversive spirit…if anything, it could be argued that the subversiveness has been increased, since there’s never been a Broadway cast album that sounds as nasty as this.

This BGO-issued two-fer from legendary jazz trumpeter, drummer, and bandleader Don Ellis includes digitally remastered versions of 1969's uneven New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground, which boasted a pair of strong pieces in "Bulgarian Bulge" and "Eli's Coming," but lacked the memorable melodies of its predecessor Autumn and 1970's well-received live outing Don Ellis at Fillmore.