Green Day

I like Green Day, although they were never my favorite band. But this band proved to be much better than I had initially thought.

When they first started to really hit it big, around about 1994, they seemed somehow odd. I remember Billie Joe's guitar style, where he almost looked like he was punching at his guitar at a weird angle, rather than simply playing it. They were young and fast and exciting, and their new album, "Dookie", was loaded with hits that the radio stations could not get enough of.

I saw them that year, at Z100's Acoustic Christmas Concert, at Madison Square Garden. It was a star-studded show, with Bon Jovi, Melissa Etheridge, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Sheryl Crow, the Indigo Girls, Weezer, and Hole. Yet, it was Green Day who came on last, in the wee hours of the morning. By that time, of course, it was no longer an "acoustic" show at all, as Weezer and Hole had both come out regularly. The place went nuts when Green Day took the stage. Billie Joe later came out for one song completely naked.

Ah, what a night! I remember it well, and it's hard to believe that it's already been the better part of twenty years since then!

That also marked the one and only time that I have seen Green Day, although I wanted to see them since. Came close to getting tickets when they played at Giants Stadium some years back, but never ended up going.

I'll admit that I never expected them to have the staying power that they have proven to possess. This is a band that still produces solid music after twenty years. They are still huge, still being played quite a bit on the radio, and not just their early stuff. In fact, I have heard them on the radio a few times recently, and none of it was from Dookie.

I enjoyed the group, but in a distant way, for a few years. When they came on the radio, I did not turn it off. But nor did I rush out to get their stuff, either. I had grown up with some punk groups like the Dead Kennedys, DOA, the Clash, and the Pistols. Those groups pushed the envelope, and did not shy away from politicized lyrics, to say the least. By contrast, Green Day seemed to be playing it safe. They seemed to be relative lightweights, when it came to pushing the envelope, despite being under the umbrella of what has come to be known as "punk". At least, those were my reactions back then, mistaken or otherwise.

Still, they had some pretty decent material. I like some of their individual songs, which proved that they had far more diversity to them that most people gave them credit for. Songs such as "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" really showed that they were not strictly all about speed. They had some pretty cool songs that came on the radio, and when they did, I certainly did not make a point of turning it off.

That said, I did not rush out and buy their albums. I had a couple, including Dookie, and their greatest hits, as well, perhaps, as another. But that was about it. They were more diverse than I had expected them to be, but I did not explore it further.

Then came George W. Bush and the war in Iraq, and the trend towards the prevalence of neocon political dominance and an arrogant and ugly nationalism that gripped the nation, fueled by a new paranoia that was an offshoot of September 11th.

With such a stifling atmosphere that the country was under the influence of, I and millions of other Americans longed for something that might express another America, that might remind us that this country of over 300 million was not just filled with sheep, waiting on the edge of their seat to be spoon fed whatever bullshit Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld had to give them. Opposition strengthened, yet the country seemed collectively stubborn and unwilling to admit that those first four years were a huge mistake, and so they elected Bush to another term, and did so by giving this man more votes than any other candidate before in history had ever gotten.

It was under such horrible times for the country, when stupidity seemed to dominate and, often times, to go unchallenged, that American Idiot came out. What an album it proved to be!

Green Day showed some real punk muscle, and they somehow managed to package it in such a way that it was intensely popular! I dare say that is the album that they are not only best known for, but the album that they will most be identified with. Given that the album came ten years after they first broke it big, that's pretty impressive! How many bands can you say that about, anyway?

My own interest shot up. Got the album, just like many millions of others did, and enjoyed it (since then, I seem to have misplaced it, and think that maybe it was lent out to somebody and never returned, although that memory is a bit fuzzy).

American Idiot was the perfect album at the perfect time. Like the years during the early Pearl Jam albums, when they remained very popular despite taking an intensely political stance that went against the grain of popular thinking, Green Day managed to retain their popularity, despite taking an intensely political stance that would not necessarily be accepted, let alone popular, by a majority of Americans. Yet, they somehow managed to get away with it, and that, around the same time that I saw Pearl Jam booed off the stage for performing an anti-Bush song.

The popularity of that album really amazed me, and suddenly, I counted myself among the numbers of Green Day fans, suddenly gaining much more respect for them. That album was exactly what was needed at the time, and Green Day delivered!

So here, I open up a series of blogs about Green Day, where I will review the three recent albums that they released late last year. That's right. Not one album, or even two, but three albums. They also released a DVD, but I have not yet acquired that, or even managed to borrow it yet (sad face). But stay tuned, because it's not eliminated as an option for a future post.

Now, the last time I remember any band releasing more than one album in a sluggish year economically was Guns 'N Roses in their heyday. They only released two albums, however: Use You Illusion I & II. Here, Green Day has released three albums and a DVD. Pretty gutsy, all things considered. Yes, I know that the economy is supposed to be in recovery, but honestly, I don't know many people who are actually thriving right now in comparison to where they were some years ago. These are tough times.

I gave them a listen, and while I offered my thoughts and own experiences concerning Green Day, the focus in some upcoming blogs will be on reviews of the specific, individual albums. So, here goes...

Let me also not forget to thank my coworker, James, a huge Green Day fan at well over fifty, who lent me all three of their recent albums. Green Day seems to almost be the only music he listens to or talks about (I'm sure that's not literally true, but that's the way it seems sometimes). He likes what he calls this "angry music", and uses it as an outlet to vent his frustrations. For whatever the reason, he really wanted to get my reaction. Here, I give my reaction now.