OK kids. Let's have a little fun, shall we?
Lately... OK wait... maybe over the last 5 years or so, I have been reading a whole lot of crap about people saying how much they hate "new" Green Day, and how much they love "old" Green Day.
Here's what I have to say about that: Grow up. Bands evolve over time. Seriously. Green Day is one of those bands. Sure, their sound has changed over time, and that is to be expected. If every single Green Day album since '94's Dookie.
I'll be fair. I found Dookie to be quite the album. All 14 tracks (15 if you can't the hidden bonus track) are pretty cool and astoundingly catchy.
That record produced 4 singles, and ended up going 10x Platinum. That's quite an amount from one album. Mind you, it took a few years before it went 10x Platinum.
Point being, (so far) it's Green Day's top selling album.
As far as the music goes, it's pretty punk, you might say. It's straightforward and to the point. Averaging at three power chords per song, Dookie doesn't really show off Billie Joe's guitar skills.
If you really want to hear how good he is, I suggest 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours.
And if you haven't even heard of that album, get out.
No, seriously...leave
The trend in Green Day's earlier songs were typically about masturbation and smoking pot all day. But when you're in your late teens/early 20s, what else is there to do, right? So it's appropriate for them to write about that kind of stuff.
Here's my argument: Why do people want Green Day to stay that way? Just keep writing songs about masturbating and smoking? It would get old pretty fast, so that trend ended after that album.
A year later, Green Day brought out Insomniac.
Now I have to say, I think this is Green Day's more "punk" album.
Billie Joe's lyrics are pretty incomprehensible when he sings them, and the songs are all 3 minutes or less (more less than anything). Every song uses only about 3 power chords. You can't really get more punk than that. Cool. Love it. Next.
Nimrod.
Amazing album. It's when Green Day said, "let's try some new stuff with our sound."
So they did.
Still the same 3 chord formula, but the lyrics changed. They started to sound a little more... mature. Good Riddance came off of this album. It became one of the most cliche songs for graduations all over the country. Here's a fun fact: That song was written back while Dookie was being recorded. I know, right? Weird.
Warning.
So... hmmm. I have to say, I actually really like this album. Most people don't like it because it didn't "sound like Green Day."
So what? Green Day started to experiment a little more with their music. Is that a bad thing? Name a band and tell me they've never tried a newer sound or experiment with other instruments. You can't. Plain and simple.
Green Day took a 4 year hiatus after Warning didn't even go Platinum.
Then they started to get back into it. They would all meet in Billie Joe's basement for band practice, and it sucked. It came to the point where Billie Joe asked bassist Mike Dirnt, "do you even wanna do this anymore?"
They almost quit.
They finally decided to just throw caution to the wind and write a whole new album and just go for it. They didn't care if people really liked it; they just wanted to write new music and put it out there. So they did.
American Idiot was born.
Green Day's 2005 album American Idiot was their first album to debut @ number 1 on Billboard charts.
It was pieced together in 13 songs, 2 of which were composed of 5 mini-songs.
It was a punkrock opera.
People started saying, "I hate new Green Day; old Green Day is better."
Here's my other argument: If you don't like "new" Green Day, then don't bother listening to it. And just because they stopped writing about masturbation and getting high, doesn't mean they don't know how to rock.
With the release of American Idiot, Green Day embarked on a world tour, and actually played at one of the largest venue's they have ever played: the Milton Keyens bowl in the UK.
65,000 a night for 2 nights.
They played for 130,000 of their fans.
And mind you, this was the American Idiot tour.
Another fun fact: The producer for American Idiot is the same one that produced Dookie, Insomniac, and Nimrod. So what does that say? Even their producer thought that they should grow up.
So what's wrong now?
21st Century Breakdown is Green Day's latest release, and it's getting even higher marks than American Idiot. And American Idiot got a lot of praise for how bold it was.
People who have actually listened to 21st Century Breakdown are saying it's pretty solid.
In this blogger's humble opinion: 21st Century Breakdown is better than American Idiot. There. I said it. It takes the best parts of American Idiot, and just keeps adding to it.
So what if they don't necessarily "sound" punk anymore. Fact is, they are rock and roll.
And the fact that they had the guts to grow up and put themselves out there is more than anyone on a forum can say about what they've done with their life.
If you don't like "new" Green Day, don't listen to it. And you sure as hell better not be on a forum saying it sucks without any sort of justification.
If you like "new" Green Day, and can appreciate what they have created as artists, then you get it.
Green Day is punk.
Lately... OK wait... maybe over the last 5 years or so, I have been reading a whole lot of crap about people saying how much they hate "new" Green Day, and how much they love "old" Green Day.
Here's what I have to say about that: Grow up. Bands evolve over time. Seriously. Green Day is one of those bands. Sure, their sound has changed over time, and that is to be expected. If every single Green Day album since '94's Dookie.
I'll be fair. I found Dookie to be quite the album. All 14 tracks (15 if you can't the hidden bonus track) are pretty cool and astoundingly catchy.
That record produced 4 singles, and ended up going 10x Platinum. That's quite an amount from one album. Mind you, it took a few years before it went 10x Platinum.
Point being, (so far) it's Green Day's top selling album.
As far as the music goes, it's pretty punk, you might say. It's straightforward and to the point. Averaging at three power chords per song, Dookie doesn't really show off Billie Joe's guitar skills.
If you really want to hear how good he is, I suggest 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours.
And if you haven't even heard of that album, get out.
No, seriously...leave
The trend in Green Day's earlier songs were typically about masturbation and smoking pot all day. But when you're in your late teens/early 20s, what else is there to do, right? So it's appropriate for them to write about that kind of stuff.
Here's my argument: Why do people want Green Day to stay that way? Just keep writing songs about masturbating and smoking? It would get old pretty fast, so that trend ended after that album.
A year later, Green Day brought out Insomniac.
Now I have to say, I think this is Green Day's more "punk" album.
Billie Joe's lyrics are pretty incomprehensible when he sings them, and the songs are all 3 minutes or less (more less than anything). Every song uses only about 3 power chords. You can't really get more punk than that. Cool. Love it. Next.
Nimrod.
Amazing album. It's when Green Day said, "let's try some new stuff with our sound."
So they did.
Still the same 3 chord formula, but the lyrics changed. They started to sound a little more... mature. Good Riddance came off of this album. It became one of the most cliche songs for graduations all over the country. Here's a fun fact: That song was written back while Dookie was being recorded. I know, right? Weird.
Warning.
So... hmmm. I have to say, I actually really like this album. Most people don't like it because it didn't "sound like Green Day."
So what? Green Day started to experiment a little more with their music. Is that a bad thing? Name a band and tell me they've never tried a newer sound or experiment with other instruments. You can't. Plain and simple.
Green Day took a 4 year hiatus after Warning didn't even go Platinum.
Then they started to get back into it. They would all meet in Billie Joe's basement for band practice, and it sucked. It came to the point where Billie Joe asked bassist Mike Dirnt, "do you even wanna do this anymore?"
They almost quit.
They finally decided to just throw caution to the wind and write a whole new album and just go for it. They didn't care if people really liked it; they just wanted to write new music and put it out there. So they did.
American Idiot was born.
Green Day's 2005 album American Idiot was their first album to debut @ number 1 on Billboard charts.
It was pieced together in 13 songs, 2 of which were composed of 5 mini-songs.
It was a punkrock opera.
People started saying, "I hate new Green Day; old Green Day is better."
Here's my other argument: If you don't like "new" Green Day, then don't bother listening to it. And just because they stopped writing about masturbation and getting high, doesn't mean they don't know how to rock.
With the release of American Idiot, Green Day embarked on a world tour, and actually played at one of the largest venue's they have ever played: the Milton Keyens bowl in the UK.
65,000 a night for 2 nights.
They played for 130,000 of their fans.
And mind you, this was the American Idiot tour.
Another fun fact: The producer for American Idiot is the same one that produced Dookie, Insomniac, and Nimrod. So what does that say? Even their producer thought that they should grow up.
So what's wrong now?
21st Century Breakdown is Green Day's latest release, and it's getting even higher marks than American Idiot. And American Idiot got a lot of praise for how bold it was.
People who have actually listened to 21st Century Breakdown are saying it's pretty solid.
In this blogger's humble opinion: 21st Century Breakdown is better than American Idiot. There. I said it. It takes the best parts of American Idiot, and just keeps adding to it.
So what if they don't necessarily "sound" punk anymore. Fact is, they are rock and roll.
And the fact that they had the guts to grow up and put themselves out there is more than anyone on a forum can say about what they've done with their life.
If you don't like "new" Green Day, don't listen to it. And you sure as hell better not be on a forum saying it sucks without any sort of justification.
If you like "new" Green Day, and can appreciate what they have created as artists, then you get it.
Green Day is punk.
