GREENDAYAND THEIR AFFECT ON AMERICAN MUSIC

GREENDAY’S EARLY YEARS• GREEN DAY OFFICIALLY FORMED IN 1989 IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. HOWEVER, THE BAND FIRST HAD ITS START IN THE CALIFORNIA

PUNK SCENE WHEN CHILDHOOD FRIENDS BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG AND MIKE DIRNT WERE JUST 14 YEARS OLD, AND WERE PLAYING IN A SMALL SCALE BAND, ‘SWEET CHILDREN.’

• IN 1989, WHEN THE BAND OFFICIALLY FORMED, THE MEMBERS WERE BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG, MIKE DIRNT AND AL SOBRANTE. THAT YEAR, THEY INDEPENDENTLY RELEASED THEIR FIRST EP (EXTENDED PLAY), ‘1,000 HOURS’ AND IT DID SURPRISINGLY WELL IN THE PUNK SCENE FOR A DEBUT. NOT LONG AFTER THE SUCCESS OF THAT EP, DID GREEN DAY SIGN THEIR FIRST DEAL WITH RECORD LABEL ‘LOOKOUT! RECORDS.’ SHORTLY AFTER SIGNING WITH THE RECORD LABEL, THEY RELEASED THEIR FIRST ACTUAL ALBUM, ‘39/SMOOTH.’

• THROUGHOUT THE 90’S, GREEN DAY’S FOLLOWING CONTINUED TO GROW, AND IT BECAME EVEN STRONGER WITH THE RELEASE OF THEIR SECOND ALBUM, ‘KERPLUNK’ IN 1992. WITH THE SUCCESS OF THIS ALBUM, THEY WERE OFFERED BETTER DEALS FROM BIGGER RECORD LABELS, AND THEY ENDED UP SIGNING WITH ‘REPRISE.’

• A FEW YEARS LATER, IN 1994 THE BAND HAD GREAT SUCCESS WHEN THEY RELEASED THE SINGLE ‘BASKET CASE’ WHICH SPENT FIVE WEEKS ON TOP OF THE AMERICAN MODERN ROCK CHARTS. IN THE SUMMER OF ’94, THE BAND ALSO TURNED A LOT OF HEADS AND MADE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES WHEN THEY ROCKED THE SHOW AT WOODSTOCK, WHICH HELPED THEIR ALBUM SELLS IMMENSELY. IN 1994, SALES OF THE ALBUM ‘DOOKIE’ AND THE SINGLE ‘WHEN I COME AROUND’ HAD SKY ROCKETED, AND ‘DOOKIE’ HAD SOLD OVER FIVE MILLION COPIES JUST IN THE UNITED STATES. WORLDWIDE, ‘DOOKIE’ ENDED UP SELLING ELEVEN MILLION COPIES AND IT ALSO WON A GRAMMY THAT SAME YEAR FOR BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCE. ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE ALSO PLACED ‘DOOKIE’ AT NUMBER 193 IN THEIR ‘500 GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME’, BEATING BIG NAME BANDS LIKE BLACK SABBATH AND PINK FLOYD.

By: Haley Shimizu

GREENDAY’S EARLY YEARS CONT.• IN THE FALL OF 1995, GREEN DAY HAD ANOTHER PROMISING RELEASE, ‘INSOMNIAC’ BUT IT

ENDED UP FALLING SHORT AND ONLY SOLD TWO MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE, AND THE ALBUM JUST DIDN’T DO AS WELL AS ‘DOOKIE’. DUE TO THE DISAPPOINTMENT IN SALES, GREEN DAY TOOK A LEAVE OF ABSENCE, CANCELLED THEIR EUROPEAN TOUR AND SPENT THE REMAINDER OF THAT YEAR RE-WRITING MATERIAL. AT THE END OF THEIR HIATUS, THEY HAD NEW AND FRESH MATERIAL, AND RELEASED THEIR ALBUM ‘NIMROD’ WHICH MANY CLAIMED TO BE THE BEST WORK OF THEIR ENTIRE CAREER.

• THROUGH THE RELEASE OF ‘NIMROD’, THERE WERE SEVERAL WIDELY FAMOUS SINGLES, SUCH AS ‘HITCHIN’ A RIDE’ AND ‘TIME OF YOUR LIFE.’ THE SONG ‘TIME OF YOUR LIFE’ CLAIMED THE MOST FAME BECAUSE IT WAS FREQUENTLY USED ON TV SHOWS TO DEPICT AND ILLUSTRATE SAD AND EMOTIONAL SCENES. THE SONG WAS EVEN FEATURED ON THE VERY LAST EPISODE OF THE POPULAR TV SHOW, ‘SEINFELD.’ ALTHOUGH THE ACTUAL ALBUM SALES OF ‘NIMROD’ DIDN’T INDICATE MIND BLOWING SUCCESS COMPARED TO THEIR OTHER ALBUMS, IT DID EARN THE BAND MORE RESPECT THAN ANY OF THEIR PREVIOUS ALBUMS HAD.

GREENDAY’S EARLY YEARS CONT.• THE BAND REMAINED SOMEWHAT DORMANT FOR A FEW YEARS AFTER THAT, AND REEMERGED IN

1999 AND BEGAN RECORDING THEIR ALBUM ‘WARNING.’ THERE WAS SOME TURMOIL IN THE RECORDING PROCESS, AND THE BAND HAD TO FIRE THEIR PRODUCER AND PRODUCE THE ALBUM ALL BY THEMSELVES. SHORTLY AFTER RECORDING THE ALBUM, THEY ALSO MADE A BOLD MOVE AND DID THEIR FIRST HEAD LINE PERFORMANCE AT WARPED TOUR IN TORONTO, AND THEY WERE CREDITED WITH ATTRACTING MORE FANS THAN THE SHOW HAD EVER BROUGHT IN BEFORE.

• ‘WARNING’ WAS OFFICIALLY RELEASED IN 2000, AND IT IS GREEN DAY’S MOST AMBITIOUS ALBUM TO DATE. SEVERAL OF THE SONGS SAT ATOP THE BILLBOARD CHARTS JUST WEEKS AFTER BEING RELEASED.

• IN 2004, GREEN DAY RELEASED THEIR ALBUM ‘AMERICAN IDIOT’ WHICH DEPICTED AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IN A VERY NEGATIVE LIGHT, AND IT DEBUTED AT NUMBER ONE ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS. THAT SAME YEAR THEY ALSO RELEASED THE HIT ‘BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS’ WHICH WAS AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS. GREEN DAY IS ONE OF THE FEW BANDS OF THE 1990’S THAT IS CREDITED WITH SUCCESSFULLY REVIVING MAINSTREAM INTEREST IN THE PUNK ROCK SCENE.

GREENDAY’S LATTER YEARS• I WILL FOCUS ON THE LATTER HALF OF GREEN DAY’S CAREER FROM AMERICAN IDIOT WHICH WAS

RELEASED IN 2004 ONWARD. GREEN DAY IS LARGELY INFLUENCED BY PUNK ROCK MUSIC AND PROMOTING AN ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT MESSAGE SPECIFICALLY IN AMERICAN IDIOT’S CASE TOWARD THE SOON TO BE RE-ELECTED GEORGE W. BUSH. THE BAND HAS RECEIVED COMMERCIAL SUCCESS MANY TIMES IN THEIR CAREER BY RE-INVENTING THEIR SOUND AND IDEAS.(DOWNS, DAVID (SEPTEMBER 2, 2009). "PUNK ROCK OPERA".EAST BAY EXPRESS.)

• AMERICAN IDIOT CAME AFTER A SHORT DECLINE IN GREEN DAY’S POPULARITY DURING THE LATE 1900’S AND A PUSH TO RE-DEFINE THEIR SOUND. IN THE SUMMER OF 2003 THE BAND GOT TOGETHER TO RECORD THE NEW ALBUM AND CITE THE ALBUM AS BEING INFLUENCED AND WRITTEN ABOUT A FICTIONAL CHARACTER CALLED THE “JESUS OF SUBURBIA” AND DESCRIBE THE MUSIC AS A ROCK OPERA. AMERICAN IDIOT WENT ON TO ACHIEVE MASSIVE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS AND MANY OF ITS SONGS WERE RELEASED AS SINGLES AND RECEIVED SIGNIFICANT RADIO AIR PLAY. THE SUCCESS OF “AMERICAN IDIOT” PROPELLED GREEN DAY INTO MANY COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE AND GAVE THE BAND THE FREEDOM TO EXPRESS FURTHER INTERESTS. (MYERS, BEN (2006). GREEN DAY AMERICAN IDIOTS & THE NEW PUNK EXPLOSION. NEW YORK: THE DISINFORMATION COMPANY LTD. ISBN 978-1932857-32-0.) 

By: Drew Workman

GREENDAY’S LATTER YEARS CONT.• GREEN DAY RELEASE 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN IN 2009 AFTER A PERIOD OF MULTIPLE SIDE

PROJECTS SUCH AS STOP DROP AND ROLL!!!. EVEN THOUGH THE ALBUM RECEIVED CRITICISM FOR CONTAINING A PARENTAL ADVISORY LABEL IT STILL ACHIEVED MAJOR COMMERCIAL SUCCESS. LATER IN 2009 THE BAND MET WITH DIRECTOR MICHAEL MAYER TO PRODUCE A LIVE THEATER RENDITION OF “AMERICAN IDIOT” AND INCLUDED A NEW SONG CALLED “WHEN IT’S TIME” THAT WITH THE PERFORMANCE WOULD RE-LIVE THE SUCCESS OF THE BANDS MOST INFLUENTIAL WORK. (NG, DAVID (AUGUST 3, 2009), "BERKELEY REP ANNOUNCES CAST FOR GREEN DAY'S 'AMERICAN IDIOT'", LOS ANGELES TIMES)

• THE BAND RELEASED ANOTHER COMMERCIAL SUCCESS ON ¡UNO!, ¡DOS!, AND¡TRÉ! IN 2011 AND CONTINUE TO PLAY TODAY. I THINK THE OVERALL SUCCESS OF GREEN DAY WILL SET THEIR MARK IN A HISTORICAL REFERENCE OF ROCK MUSIC IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY. THE RE-INVENTION OF AMERICAN IDIOT WILL CONTINUE TO INSPIRE MUSICIANS AND WRITERS TOGETHER TO EXPAND THE POSSIBILITIES IN THEATRE AND WILL SET THE BAND APART FROM ANY OF ITS CONTEMPORARIES.

HISTORY• DEBUT ALBUM: 39/SMOOTH WITH 'LOOKOUT! RECORDS' PRODUCTION COMPANY. PUNK MUSICAL STYLE.

RELEASED APRIL 13, 1990 ON VINYL DISCS AND CASSETTE. THE ONLY ALBUM WITH JOHN KIFFMEYER ON THE DRUMS. CRITICAL RECEPTION WAS MEDIOCRE. 

• KERPLUNK WAS THE SECOND ALBUM RELEASED ON JAN 17 1992, IT WAS THE LAST ALBUM WITH LOOKOUT! RECORDS  TRE' COOL WAS THE NEW DRUMMER. ENDED UP BEING ONE OF THE BEST SELLING INDEPENDENT ALBUMS OF ALL TIME. THIS ALBUM GOT A LOT OF MAJOR PRODUCTION COMPANIES AND GREEN DAY JOINED REPRISE RECORDS AS A RESULT. THEY HAD SOLD ROUGHLY 4 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE BY THE END OF 2013. NO SINGLES WERE MADE THOUGH. 

• DOOKIE WAS THE 3RD AND MOST POPULAR ALBUM GREEN DAY HAS EVER RELEASED. RELEASED ON FEB 1 1994 FIRST ALBUM THAT THEY COLLABERATED WITH PRODUCER ROB CAVALLO AND REPRISE RECORDS. IT BOOSTED GREEN DAY AND PUNK MUSIC INTO MAINSTREAM LIGHT. HIT #2 ON U.S. BILLBOARD 200. SINGLES WERE "LONGVIEW" "WHEN I COME AROUND" "WELCOME TO PARADISE" "BASKET CASE" AND "SHE". ALBUM WON A GRAMMY FOR BEST  ALTERNATIVE MUSIC IN 1995. RANKED 193 IN ROLLING STONES: 500 GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME. ALBUM FOCUSED ON ISSUES OF BAND MEMBERS LIKE ANXIETY, PANIC ATTACKS, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, DIVORCE EX GIRLFRIENDS ETC. 20 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

By: Michael Wright

HISTORY CONT.• AMERICAN IDIOT WAS THE 7TH ALBUM. AFTER MEDIOCRE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS FROM

ALBUMS  INSOMNIAC, NIMROD, AND WARNING, AMERICAN IDIOT BECAME ANOTHER HIT FOR GREEN DAY. RELEASED IN SEPT 20 2004 AFTER TAKING A BREAK FROM THE LAST ALBUM WARNING. THE ORIGINAL CD WAS GONNA BE TITLED CIGARRETS AND VALENTINES BUT THE SONGS OFF THE TRACK WERE STOLEN AND THE BAND DISCARDED THE PROJECT AND MADE UP AMERICAN IDIOT. IT HAS SOLD 15,000,000 COPIES WORLDWIDE MAKING IT THEIR SECOND BEST SELLING ALBUM. IT WON GRAMMY FOR BEST ROCK ALBUM IN 2005. THEY USED MORE LOUD GUITAR SOUNDS IN THIS ALBUM WITH A REBELLIOUS ANTI HERO FREEDOM FIGHTER IMAGE. SINGLES WERE "AMERICAN IDIOT" "BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS" "HOLIDAY" "WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPT ENDS" AND "JESUS OF SUBURBIA"

• LATEST ALBUMS WERE 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN WHICH WON A GRAMMY IN 2009 FOR BEST ROCK ALBUM,  AND THE TRILOGY SET "UNO' 'DOS' AND 'TRE' IN 2012. UNO WAS THE FIRST ALBUM THAT JASON WHITE JOINED THE BAND AS A LEAD GUITARIST. ALL ALBUMS HAVE GONE MEDIOCRE WITH SALES.

LISTENING GUIDE – BASKET CASE• BASKET CASE IS A VIVID DEPICTION OF MENTAL INSTABILITY. BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG WAS, AT THE

TIME THIS SONG WAS WRITTEN, STRUGGLING WITH ANXIETY, AMONGST OTHER EMOTIONAL DIFFICULTIES. AS A MEANS OF COPING WITH THESE DILEMMAS, ARMSTRONG DECIDED TO EXPRESS HIMSELF, HIS THOUGHTS, AND HIS EMOTIONS THE ONLY WAY HE KNEW HOW; HIS MUSIC. THE LYRICS IN THIS SONG REVEAL MANY OF ARMSTRONG’S PSYCHOLOGICAL INSECURITIES. OVERWHELMED WITH HIS LIFE’S MANY CHALLENGES, INCLUDING THE PASSING OF HIS FATHER A FEW YEARS BEFORE, AND HIS BAND’S RISE TO FAME, ARMSTRONG’S MENTAL CONSTITUTION WAS SHAKY AT BEST. THIS OVERWHELMING FEELING OF HIS WAS CAPTURED WITH THE LYRICS IN THIS SONG. IN PARTICULAR THIS LYRIC “"DO YOU HAVE THE TIME TO LISTEN TO ME WHINE, ABOUT NOTHING AND EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE?" ARMSTRONG’S LACK OF CONFIDENCE AND CONFUSION WAS EXPRESSED WELL IN THIS LYRIC "AM I JUST PARANOID? AM I JUST STONED”? THE SONG ALSO DESCRIBES THE POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIP COMPLICATIONS THAT MAY ARISE WHEN INTERACTING WITH SOMEONE SUFFERING FROM MENTAL ILLNESS. LISTENING TO A MENTALLY ILL PERSON “WHINE”, AS ARMSTRONG CALLED IT IN THIS SONG, IS NOT THE MOST EXCITING THING FOR A PERSON WITH DECENTLY NORMAL MENTAL HEALTH TO DO. AS A RESULT, RELATIONSHIPS MAY SUFFER. ARMSTRONG WAS WORRIED THAT IF HE WERE TO CONSTANTLY “WHINE” TO HIS FRIENDS OR FAMILY ABOUT ANXIETY AND STRESSORS, THEY WOULD COME TO RESENT HIM FOR IT.

By: Leticia Linares

Green DayBasket case

American idiot0:00-3:03

0:00-0:22 at the beginning of the song there is a guitar and he starts singing.0:23-0:37 a small cymbal keeps the tempo, still guitar and singing.0:37-0:42 drums, guitar and singing 0:43-0:46 just guitar0:47-1:29 drums, guitar, singing and backup singer1:30-1:39 just guitar with two little hollers at the end1:40-1:44 drums, guitar, singing and backup singer1:44-1:45 Small pause of the instruments and just him singing 1:45-1:48 drums, guitar and singing1:49-2:07 drums and guitar 2:08-2:29 drums, guitar and singing2:30-3:03 drums and guitar until end of the song, song ends with one guitar note fading out   

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• BAND BIOGRAPHY. (N.D.). RETRIEVED DECEMBER 2, 2014, FROM HTTP://WWW.GREENDAY.NET/THEGREENDAYSTORY.HTML

• BIOGRAPHY: GREEN DAY. (N.D.). RETRIEVED DECEMBER 2, 2014, FROM HTTP://WWW.LIFETIMETV.CO.UK/BIOGRAPHY/BIOGRAPHY-GREEN-DAY

• GREEN DAY - BIOGRAPHY, HISTORY, BAND. (N.D.). RETRIEVED DECEMBER 2, 2014, FROM HTTP://GREENDAYWEB.YAIA.COM/BIOGRAPHY.HTML

• "GEEKSTINKYBREATH.NET." . F.A.Q., 29 NOVEMBER 2004. WEB. 28 NOV 2014. <HTTP://WWW.GEEKSTINKBREATH.NET/GREENDAY/SONG-MEANINGS/BASKET-CASE/>.