Green Day

so much, its aged prematurely. Bands have evolved and even died as its progressive strain mutates and grows. Being a genre so bratty, angst ridden, and fucked around, punk is a recycled phenomenon. Its infectious armour heals after a continuous battering. 1989 may have offered a revival, a medication to ease niggling pains. A band offered a drug with impact more potent than domestic painkillers. This trio offered their own formula, a concoction of highly fuelled shouts, layered with their own views.

1989 was the year were a certain venue housed a band on the road to future greatness and milestones. Gilman Street reeked of punk, sweat and promise. A modest starting point for bands to elevate and nurture together. To talk about their dreams, their analysis of Rock and Roll. Fans swapped stories of their times in Gilman, bands jumped and showered themselves in their faithfulls passion.
Sweet Children formed under the bright lights of Gilman, a band made up of bratty latch-key teenagers. Kids who mastered the art of rolling doobies and drinking beer. But music was a passion they all shared, a cause they could confide in. Gilman would become a lair they could showcase a musical intent, with fiery, ultra-angst songs that the crowd would relate to. Of course, Sweet Children weren’t a finished article; they were a band growing easily without sprouting beyond their years.

Lead singer/Song writer Billie Joe Armstrong was born into a family of modest workers; a home life with comfortable settings, his mother earned a living darting around Roy’s Hickory Pit, and his Father worked as driver for renowned brand ‘Safeway’. So life was fairly modest at the early age for an inspiring rock star. Billie became musical at a tender time, releasing his first record under fiat records when he was only five. His young vocal tone was a subtle reminder of his potential, but punk seemed a distant venture at that age. Vocally sweet and nostalgic, Billie became a star of epic proportion, it was just the commence. Billie didn’t suit the child star uprise, punk would stray him away from media scrutiny, it was a genre he would upgrade and innovate in years to come.

Bass Guitarist Mike Pritchard and drummer Al Kiffmeyer (Al Sobrante) would aid Armstrong on his Punk/Rock assault. Mike’s attributes as a guitar maestro offered a density to the band, diverse spark s of rawness and sound the act needed for progress. Al sobrante contributed flair and appeal on a scale the female species craved, he was a drummer on a mission to get laid, as so were the rest of the trio. Sweet Children were formed, and Gilman Street opened its palms to them. Sweet Children would later become Green Day, a name inspired by the bands relationship with weed. A substance so meaningful to them, it deserved an inclusion. Drug relation may have inspired the bands later gems.

But times change, minds alternate and band members split from the charge, and al Sobrante did just that. The drummer ventured into a college education when Green Day were still raw and under development, but will always be held in high esteem as the drummer who witnessed the commence of something special. The act hired a drummer with a fun infused aura they needed, humour goes far in Punk Music. Frank Edwin Wright 11 Aka (Tre Cool) filled the missing void, a stupendous drumming powerhouse who bolstered the bands quality factor, Green Day was fully fledged and ready to rise against the world.

By 1989, Green Day became a force. A respected pact in Gilman and in the fume of Berkeley. The crowd lapped up the rawness; inhaling the wisdom they were being served. Gilman was a cotton wool overcoat for Green Day, a stage that paid homage to them. Branching out of Gilman was on the cards, as the band released their first EP, 1039 Smooth in 1989 under Lookout records. Lookout records was an independent label founded by Musician Lawrence Livermore who spotted the band in its glory and later captured their signature.

1039 smooth later morphed into a fully classified track list. 1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours was a characteristic voyage for the outfit, a direction that was needed. A modest account of teenage life, a plot fuelled by angst, sexual neglection and suburban alienation. That was a viewpoint the band had on their home life, a viewpoint they and thousands of other teenagers tried to address. Music was the only suppressant, a pleasure button they could press without being disregarded. Green Day first outing was a success. 1039 was an instant slab of punk, simply coordinated and brash, but punk/rock isn’t supposed be clean and groomed. Lookout found a hidden gem, and that started to shine brighter.

Smoothed sounded mature, lyrically sound and exuberant. From the first pace of ‘At the Library’ to the rage and disapprovement ‘Of Why Do You Want Him’ Billie Joe’s vocals were raw, cranky, and radical, with a right tone of Punk. From the starting point Green Day ignited Rock, stating a new revolution and bratty music bloomed and once again became lively. With music so angst ridden it became the norm. Featuring their own account, their own Punk formula, and a musical trio served justice.

Green Day ventured again into the recording studio in 1991.,to develop their second lookout release. Kerplunk was on the radar, a album lying on the same lines as Smoothed. An album yet again reviewed their teenage growing pains, with songs overblown with young angst. Kerplunk soled thousands of copies making lookout a prime fortune as well building the labels reputation. ‘Christie Road, ‘Welcome to Paradise’ were all placed among Kerplunk’s armoury. Songs that showed songwriters emphasise of his own self awareness.

Green Day eventually outgrew Gilman, they had and unmatched lead in Punk/Rock by the early 90’s. The venue that housed the band on their crusade had quickly became out of favour. The band played their last show in front of a crowd that were there from the very beginning, witnessing the band nurture and evolve into a true fixture. 1993 reared its head quickly; and Green Day ended their stay with Lookout Records to venture into Major league status. Lookout was a great nurturing sector for the trio who were destined to hit scales other Lookout recruits could only dream of. By 1993 Green Day signed a lavish deal with Reprise. A Record label build by Warner Bros, the company who were true leaders in film. Green Day would agree to undertake the task of releasing 5 studio albums under the Major label. And the band wasted no time in contributing.

Green Day latched onto a genre like leeches prowling for blood. The Berkeley Trio’s innovation under the splitting lights of punk rock was prominent in why the 90s was such a wholesome decade, with music so angst ridden it became the norm. Featuring their own account, their own Punk formula, and the Berkeley trio served justice when 94 arrived. The band set the punk/Rock fuse alight with an array of fast-paced, in your face gems. Dookie would land in 1994, taking the act to distant angles in Rock. Bolstering their reputation of being the next darlings of Punk.

Dookie still harboured the same raw emotion and intent as prior records. It was just more homogenised, with more defined and professional input. Yet again the album’s content previewed the acts analysis of sexual disarray. Featuring an in depth look at Humdrum life, the desire to get laid as well a weed influence, would you expect any less? Dookie was an awesome leap forward in terms of maturity and wealth. The songs were 2.minute lashings of punk in all its glory. From the outset to the conclusion, fans were left over-awed and musically junkiified.

Dookie’s decisive inclusion elevated the band to a broader future. The tracks were of higher quality, with a silky vocal overlay. From the drum infused intro of ‘Burnout’ to the calming, soothing aftermath of ‘FOD’ of course still flew into loud-mouthed belter. ‘Welcome to Paradise’ was given a new sheen as it was to good to be shelved. ‘Basket Case’ would become an instant hit, a flamboyant analysis of insanity. Overall, Dookie was a milestone, and it was only Green Day’s third full length album, that showed class. Dookie was conceived as the next great album after Nirvana’s masterpiece never mind. It took the band to sufficient places, making the act 10 million sellers. Dookie would later be praised gold, and be acclaimed by artists and critics alike.

1995 would be the year insomnia reeked havoc. Green Day took a spell out of the fast-paced train ride of punk, by becoming family men. Billie Joe was granted father-ship, so his rock star charge was put on a back-burner. The band needed a record to match or even overtake Dookie’s groundbreaking stance as their elevator to true punk/rock prominence, and an album influenced by sleepless nights would become the challenger. With a dark overtone, insomniac was released in late 95. An overbearing urge to get noticed again was put in remission; insomniac may have been a dampener as couldn’t quite aim high enough. Not as fundamental or glittering as Dookie, but Musician’s mature.

Dookie spoke of teenage growing pains, masturbation, weed, and humdrum suburbia. Insomniac spoke of family values, as the band entered new places. All though insomniac wasn’t a consistent inspiration as the masterpiece that cemented Green Day, the album had its fair share of jewels. Opening with slickness, ‘Armatage Shanks’ starts a healthy track list. Billie Joe writes about a mindset engulfed with dread and self-disregard. The singer enters a darker world, maturing heavily when bellowing out insomniac’s profound content. The catchy ‘Stuck with me’ has a Dookie influence, not sticking to insomniac’s deep tone. ‘Geek Stink Breath’ quirky intro settles into a belter that beds into the mind, insomniacs has a knack of achieving such things. A song discussing the consequences of Crystal Meth, a substance that’s ridden in America’s drug underworld. Insomniac’s growth misses a few inches. As follow up albums go, it’s half-measured, and half-inspiring as Dookie. But still packed enough classics to keep the fans craving another slice.

Insomniac sells where heavily inferior to that of Dookie’s. The band only shifted 5 million copies, still a hefty margin, but disappointing considering prior achievements. If it was only a basic poster boy band that earned sales of that magnitude, then the World would sit and take notice, but Green Day is a special band, and special bands should top statistics and learn from media scrutiny. Fans argued and shared their thoughts on Insomniac; some even stated that it outclassed Dookie, some called for its execution, that’s how stern Music followers can be. Green Day then took a break from the overhaul of Music’s stronghold as two years passed without a sound.
In 1997, Green Day burrowed out of hibernation with 4th instalment Nimrod. A layered album breaching the darkness, and fierce undertone of Insomniac. Green Day was entering modern times, music angled towards pop/punk. Music was changing, alternating under the noses of a band that kick-started revolutions when music really mattered.

Nimrod was a contrasting barrier, free-flowing with centrepiece classics. Deeply melodic, Green Day showed a softer approach to punk. Battling off manufactured bands that tried to overtake and steal the Berkeley Trio’s crown, Green Day fought and won with no blood shed. Nimrod elegance was a factor of the bands maturity. They weren’t teenage outcasts anymore; they were adults, a band growing old gracefully. Nimrod was that of grace, in sound and in motive. Dookie had no influence in Nimrod’s charge for glory. From the outset melody becomes apparent; the cranky, strewn sound is replaced by a more defined, earthy feel. Not to say that nimrod is cowardly or a watered down anti-punk cause, it is punk, just with a prettier face.