Out of all the post-Nirvana alternative bands to break into the pop mainstream, Green Day were second only to Pearl Jam in terms of influence. At their core, Green Day were simply punk revivalists who recharged the energy of speedy, catchy three-chord punk-pop songs. Though their music wasn’t particularly innovative, they brought the sound of late-70’s punk to a new, younger generation even in their debut Dookie.
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Formed as a pop-punk band in the late ’80s, Green Day got their start as a part of the San Francisco Bay area’s DIY punk scene, but they quickly outgrew it. Soon, they were touring nationally and inked a major-label record deal just in time to lead the early-’90s punk revival that also made bands like the Offspring and Rancid stars. Green Day’s 1994 Dookie brought them mainstream success — and started a backlash from other punk bands, which questioned their “punkness.”
Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols even called out Green Day following ‘Dookie's success by saying, “They didn’t earn their wings … and if they were true punks, they wouldn’t look anything like they do.”
But frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and his band’s ability to reinvent themselves have been Green Day’s true secret to success. Two decades after first breaking, the band is as big as ever thanks to albums like the massive punk-rock opera American Idiot.
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READ: What Green Day’s ‘Bang Bang’ is All About
2004's American Idiot, was an aggressive rock opera that became a surprise success -- a chart-topper around the world, a multi-platinum Grammy winner, and easily the best-reviewed album of their career. Green Day reveled in the album's success, hitting numerous award shows and performing as part of Live 8 in July 2005. That fall brought the release of Bullet in a Bible, a concert album that documented the trio's expansive Idiot live show.
In 2009, they released the album 21st Century Breakdown.
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21st Century Breakdown picked up where American Idiot left off, as another ambitious punk rock opera. The album was a commercial success, selling over 215,000 copies in its first three days of sales. In the same year, American Idiot was adapted into the Broadway stage with critical acclaim.
Green Day’s upcoming album Revolution Radio will be released on October 7, 2016. After stating that their previous trilogy of albums had "absolutely no direction to them" and attempted to be "prolific for the sake of it," Billie Joe Armstrong claims that their new record is "not so much a makeover as a make under." The lead single, Bang Bang, described by Armstrong is about "the culture of mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media."
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Armstrong also stated that the whole album is meant to reflect the current state of violence in the United States.
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