For a change of pace from all the chewing-on-our-fingernails anticipation of the new album, here’s a review, and previews, of the recently released CD of string quartet renditions of all the songs on American Idiot: Vitamin String Quartet performs Green Day’s American Idiot.

I know that some fans are not fond of Green Day covers — after all, who does Green Day’s songs better than Green Day themselves? — but this is so different from the original that it’s a work of art in its own right, and it’s a real tribute to the beauty and power of American Idiot: an album with so much depth and emotion holds up exceptionally well when translated into the moody strains of violins, viola and cello. I found myself listening to this again and again.

If I have any quibble, and it’s only a very small one, it’s that this album is almost too faithful to the original. The driving beat of the electric guitars and drums is rendered with a staccato quality that’s true to the album, but I kind of wish that the grand lyricism that string instruments are so good at would be allowed to assert itself in all its emotional, dramatic, sweeping glory. I guess I wanted the classical musicians to get carried away….

You can hear “American Idiot,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” on YouTube. (There’s also “Good Riddance” from another album.) See what you think. My favorite is “Jesus of Suburbia” but I’m afraid you’ll have to pick up the album for that one.

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