A Green Day Story, chapter 1
Long ago and far away, in a grunge-obsessed land known as America circa 1994, punk rock vaguely brought to mind the Ramones and the Sex Pistols...and then the [i]Dookie[i] hit the fan. California punk trio Green Day took the music scene by complete surprise with their major-label debut album that jump-started a new punk revolution and went on to sell over ten million copies. The bratty band and its baby-faced, blue-haired lead singer with a sneer found themselves spitting and pogoing their way to the top of the charts, dragging an entire subculture into the spotlight along with them. The pairing of catchy melodies with unrelenting power-chords and a Johnny Rotten-esque accent and attitude earned Green Day the label "pop-punk," and unwittingly fostered a veritable crop of bands in the newly created genre.
Frontman and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool had actually been writing songs, playing live, and living in punk squats since most kids their age were still trying to get out of doing their homework. The Berkeley band may have been new to the world of high-rotation MTV coverage and sold out stadiums, but they had been touring and releasing records since they were teenagers. That guitar covered in stickers, dirt, and the initials BJ in the breakthrough "Longview" video looked beat up for a reason.
Fast forward one decade. Green Day had in the interim released three more studio albums, a greatest hits collection, a rarities complication, and were known to deliver exceptional singles with equally riveting music videos. Through relentless touring around the globe, their ever-burgeoning fan base barely had time to cheer (or trade expletives with Billie Joe) between each three-minute treatment of tunes so irresistible they threatened to wipe scowl off even the most self-respecting punk rocker's face. Barely in their thirties, the three elder statesmen could have sat back on their punk laurels and no one would have blamed them.
Instead they decided to knock the music industry sideways once again, and delivered 2004's [i]American Idiot[i], a self-declared punk-rock opera that took on the government. The record debuted at no less than Number One around the world and garnered universal critical acclaim the likes of which most bands dare not dream.
Frontman and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool had actually been writing songs, playing live, and living in punk squats since most kids their age were still trying to get out of doing their homework. The Berkeley band may have been new to the world of high-rotation MTV coverage and sold out stadiums, but they had been touring and releasing records since they were teenagers. That guitar covered in stickers, dirt, and the initials BJ in the breakthrough "Longview" video looked beat up for a reason.
Fast forward one decade. Green Day had in the interim released three more studio albums, a greatest hits collection, a rarities complication, and were known to deliver exceptional singles with equally riveting music videos. Through relentless touring around the globe, their ever-burgeoning fan base barely had time to cheer (or trade expletives with Billie Joe) between each three-minute treatment of tunes so irresistible they threatened to wipe scowl off even the most self-respecting punk rocker's face. Barely in their thirties, the three elder statesmen could have sat back on their punk laurels and no one would have blamed them.
Instead they decided to knock the music industry sideways once again, and delivered 2004's [i]American Idiot[i], a self-declared punk-rock opera that took on the government. The record debuted at no less than Number One around the world and garnered universal critical acclaim the likes of which most bands dare not dream.
