Green Day: Punks for the masses

Pop punk trio Green Day have sold 20 million albums US trio Green Day, winners of seven MTV music awards, have established themselves as one of the biggest bands in the world and influenced a number of bands in both America and the UK. Green Day began life in Berkeley, California, under the name Sweet Children in 1988, with Billie Jo Armstrong (vocals), Mike Dirnt (bass) and John Kiffmeyer (drums). A few weeks before their first EP was to be released in 1989 they changed their name to Green Day, a supposed reference to smoking marijuana. Kiffmeyer left the band in 1990 for college and Tre Cool, real name Frank Wright, stepped in on a temporary basis although the arrangement worked so well it became permanent. Their first major record label album was 1994's Dookie, which took them from talked about unknowns to mainstream success. The 10-times platinum album went to number two in the US charts and number 13 in the UK, producing singles Basket Case and Longview. Their music is described as pop punk, mixing the energy and attitude of the punk era with a more mainstream approach to song writing. The band arrives in style at the MTV music awards In MTV's bio of the band on MTV.com, it says: "Out of all the post-Nirvana American alternative bands to break into the pop mainstream, Green Day were second only to Pearl Jam in terms of influence." Subsequent albums Insomnica, Nimrod and Warning failed to match the success of Dookie as the US chart became dominated by hip hop and R&B. But last year's album American Idiot re-established Green Day as one of America's biggest acts. It has sold seven million copies in the US and has been described as the first punk rock opera. But American Idiot almost never was after master tapes for 20 songs for the album were stolen before it was released. The band decided not to try and re-create the lost tracks and instead wrote more, new material. The concept album, which follows the journey of "Jesus of Suburbia", earned the trio a Grammy this year and a movie based on the album is due to go into production next year.

Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt are the actual founders of the band Sweet Children, which we know today as Green Day. When they were ten years old (1982), the duo met in the cafeteria of John Sweet High School in Crockett, California. During sleepovers at each other's houses, they played songs by old heavy metal warhorses such as Ozzy Osbourne, Def Leppard, and Van Halen. Other influences would be the "thrash and drang" of the Bay Area's alternative music culture percolating throughout the eighties. Clubs such as Mabuhay Gardens and Berkeley's 924 Gilman Street regularly showcased local groups like the Dead Kennedys and Buck Naked. Billie Joe was 14 when he wrote his first song, "Why Do You Want Him?", a song about his mother and stepfather. In 1987, Billie Joe and Mike recruited drummer John Kriftmeyer (aka Al Sobrante) and formed the band Sweet Children. They played their first official gig at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, CA. Soon, they started playing at clubs on the infamous Gilman Street in Berkeley, CA.

   As Green Day, they recorded their first EP, 1,000 Hours, in two days when they were 17 and seniors in high school. Soon, Mike graduated, however Billie Joe dropped out one day prior to his 18th birthday. They followed up the 1,000 Hours EP with numberous pressings of the "Sweet Children" EP, and also the "Slappy" EP. Their official debut album came in 1990, a combination of all the previous EP, and named "1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours". The album was released by local indie label Lookout! Records. Soon after, John Kriftmeyer decided to leave the band to presue college, so Billie and Mike recruited Gilman Street vetran, Tre Cool. Tre had been playing in the band, The Lookouts!, since he was 12. Members of The Lookouts include Lawrence Livermore, the owner of Lookout! Records. In 1991, Tre debuted on Green Day's second album, "Kerpunk!".

   Green Day built its following the old-fashioned way -- they earned it. Before they even hooked up with a major label, the band had already completed five national tours, driving their renovated bookmobile (with Tre's father at the wheel) coast to coast and crashing on friends' and fan's floors. After capturing the attention of producer Rob Cavallo of Reprise Records. Faced with a hard choice, the guys decided to sign onto a major label in April 1993, and soon started recorded the album that would through them into stardom, 1994's "Dookie".

   Pandemonium struck when their Reprise debut, "Dookie", was released and Green Day introduced an ever-expanding audience to the energy and insanity of punk rock. With the 14 loud'n'fast tunes of "Dookie" clocking in at only 39 minutes, 1993 suddenly sounded more like 1977. Soon, Green Day's songs about picking scabs, pyromania and masturbation had become unofficial national anthems. Green Day was singing about its own distinct form of malcontent, but it seemed there was a world of followers who felt their pain and wanted to laugh --and mosh -- along with it. Immaturity was cool again. "Dookie" went on to sell more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone, and Green Day won a Grammy in 1994 for "Best Alternative Music Performance." Of course, this led some of the gang back on Gilman Street to cry "sell-out" and "mainstream," but one listen to Green Day and you'd know this wasn't some watered- down white-bread punk designed to impress your parents.

   On their next few albums, "Insomniac" and "Nimrod", Green Day has managed to stay true to the punk attitude while proving they're not just one-trick ponies or even three-chord monkeys. On Nimrod, note the surf-style instrumental, "Last Ride," and the string section of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", which was featured prominently on an episode of ER and the final installment of Seinfield. By this time, the members were starting families, and it was becoming apparent that they were maturing as individuals and as a band. They wanted to take some time off to be with their families and enjoy life. So after the success of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", Green Day took a two year break.

   In 2000, Green Day hit the music scene once again with their album "Warning". The album is a different sound for the band, a more mellow punk if you will. Unfortunatly, the album wasn't very well accepted by critics and fans alike. The biggest hit from the album was the song "Minority".

    So after another four years with a few tours and a couple of compliation albums (International Superhits! in 2001 and Shenanigans in 2002), but no new material from Green Day, fans were hit with the September 2004 released of "American Idiot", an album which lashes out against the American government and the media. "American Idiot" was the first Green Day ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard Charts, and other music charts around the world. The album's title track, was an instant success. The follow up single, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" experienced a must greater success. "American Idiot" was nominated for seven Grammy awards, and took home one, "Best Rock Album". The release and success of this album proved that Green Day are indeed the biggest rock band in the world.

So do you have the time to listen to me whine? We still answer with a resounding yes.

 Some parts of this biography was written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, while other parts were written by GDA Webmaster, Courtney Smith.
Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt are the actual founders of the band Sweet Children, which we know today as Green Day. When they were ten years old (1982), the duo met in the cafeteria of John Sweet High School in Crockett, California. During sleepovers at each other's houses, they played songs by old heavy metal warhorses such as Ozzy Osbourne, Def Leppard, and Van Halen. Other influences would be the "thrash and drang" of the Bay Area's alternative music culture percolating throughout the eighties. Clubs such as Mabuhay Gardens and Berkeley's 924 Gilman Street regularly showcased local groups like the Dead Kennedys and Buck Naked. Billie Joe was 14 when he wrote his first song, "Why Do You Want Him?", a song about his mother and stepfather. In 1987, Billie Joe and Mike recruited drummer John Kriftmeyer (aka Al Sobrante) and formed the band Sweet Children. They played their first official gig at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, CA. Soon, they started playing at clubs on the infamous Gilman Street in Berkeley, CA.

   As Green Day, they recorded their first EP, 1,000 Hours, in two days when they were 17 and seniors in high school. Soon, Mike graduated, however Billie Joe dropped out one day prior to his 18th birthday. They followed up the 1,000 Hours EP with numberous pressings of the "Sweet Children" EP, and also the "Slappy" EP. Their official debut album came in 1990, a combination of all the previous EP, and named "1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours". The album was released by local indie label Lookout! Records. Soon after, John Kriftmeyer decided to leave the band to presue college, so Billie and Mike recruited Gilman Street vetran, Tre Cool. Tre had been playing in the band, The Lookouts!, since he was 12. Members of The Lookouts include Lawrence Livermore, the owner of Lookout! Records. In 1991, Tre debuted on Green Day's second album, "Kerpunk!". 

   

Green Day est un groupe important, très important, on le savait depuis le succés planétaire de Dookie (1994 !), on en est totalement persuadé à l'écouter de ce International Superhits ! qui sanctionne une dizaine d'années de carrière. 21 titres donc 21 tubes ? Non, car il y a, et c'est là l'intérêt de cette compilation pour tout skatecoreux averti, 2 inédits de bonne facture et une "rareté". Les inédits ont été enregistré cette année et si "Maria" est un morceau 100 % Green Day, le "Poprocks & coke" est nettement plus influencé par le Green Day d'aujourd'hui, plus rock que punk, celui qu'on connaît depuis Warning:. La rareté c'est "J.A.R.", extrait de la bande originale du film Angus, un titre sympatoche qui date de 1995. Pour le reste, ce n'est vraiment que les Super Hits et donc on a toute la collection de singles tueurs depuis Dookie, des singles qui correspondent à des tranches de vie pour chacun de nous, même les moins fans n'ont pas pu passer à côté des "Basket case", "Geek stink breath", "Stuck with me" ou plus récemment de "Minority", on tient là les 18 morceaux les plus connus de Green Day, pas forcément les meilleurs, mais ceux qui ont marqué des "time our our life" pour jouer avec la parenthèse de "Good Riddance". Seule réelle déception de ce best of, l'absence des 2 premiers albums du combo californien, certainement faute de droit... Dommage, les "Paper lanterns", "Road to acceptance", "Christie road" et autres "One of my lies" méritaient amplement leur place sur un album qui aurait pu embrasser totalement leur carrière... Comme elle n'est pas terminée, c'est certainement pour plus tard...
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