I adore this album, everything about it is such an enjoyable experience. It takes American Idiot it makes an album just as good, I don't understand how someone could not like this.
This is a very good record by a very good band. I wouldn't say this was their best even at the time but it has some very good songs and is worth a listen even despite it's length.
How do you combat being accused of selling out? Make your next record your heaviest ever obviously. This isn't as good as Dookie but I completely respect the bands choice here to make this album.
The instrumentation here is actually really good and raw, this pales in comparison to their later works but as a debut made by 17 year olds it's really good.