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GREEN DAY: Coming To Dump Their Load
by
Tom Lounges
Every musical genre
has icons.
You know what I am
speaking of... An elite group of bands and solo artists who continue to
inspire new musicians. That select crowd that, no matter how many times
you hear their songs blasted over the airwaves, you never seem to tire
of. Those artists who continue making an impact in the musical world,
occasionally slipping into the shadows, but always being able to emerge
with a bang.
For rock, it is the
Rolling Stones. For pop its Madonna. Rap has the Beastie Boys. And could
you imagine country music without Willie Nelson?
That said, in the
punk/alternative world, Green Day
is royalty.
Back in the 1990s,
Billie Joe Armstrong,
Mike Dirnt and
Tre’ Cool
stirred quite a commotion amongst teenagers steeped in the grunge scene,
with their breakthrough album, Dookie.
Insomniac,
Nimrod and Warning followed, each punching a notch in the band’s belt of
success while developing them an even more widespread fan base.
While the band
certainly didn’t disappear after Warning, (a Greatest Hits
CD and a B-Sides
disc were released next, as well as a tour with Blink 182…) they did
seem to quiet down a bit. But as we know, a calm always comes before a
storm!
So despite false
rumors of the band thinking of calling it quits and following a nearly
four-year break since their last studio album, Green Day has reappeared
with a vengeance and smashed the charts in multiple countries with the
September release of their latest disc, American Idiot.
Called their most
controversial album yet, the band-dubbed “punk-rock opera” debuted at #1
in the United States, Canada, England, Australia and Japan.
Why such a long delay
for a follow-up to Warning? A witty and candid Tre’ Cool, dished the goods to
Midwest BEAT
via telephone while the band was in Hollywood, preparing for their tour
with New Found Glory and Sugarcult.
“We pretty much
recorded, I’d say… fourteen songs, and then they sort of walked away
from the studio. They were stolen – the master tapes. Fourteen songs,
pretty much a whole album. Instead of going back and doing them again,
we just wrote ‘American Idiot’
and ‘Jesus of Suburbia’…”
A blessing in
disguise? The results on the charts would point to –
“YES”.
Those fresh songs evolved into the themed album that has punched yet
another notch into that success belt. But don’t call Idiot a “concept album”. Neither Tre’ nor I intend to “go there”.
“There’s been so many
bad ones, with progressive rock and stuff,” joked Tre’. “It’s [American
Idiot] the first of
its kind. It’s the first punk-rock opera. And who better to bring you
new ground-breaking punk rock than Green Day?”
So why a themed
album, as opposed to a set of non-related tracks?
“We pretty much
realized that we’re probably the only band that can pull it off. We
thought –– ‘If we don’t do it,
someone else might –– and do it sh*tty.’
We’re ambitious. We made
Dookie. We made Insomniac. It seems like every single thing
that’s happened in our careers was like leading up to doing a record of
this caliber. We put our noses to the grindstone and pulled it off.”
Pulled it off, indeed
– ironically, during a time of political controversy and bizarre FCC
crack-downs. Could those instances be why critics claim that Idiot is
so controversial? What’s it like for a band to be called controversial
today?
“I think controversy
is good being that rock ‘n’ roll is dangerous, it’s cool. But I don’t
want people to think that like, we’re being politically preachy or
anything. Or like, telling them what to do or how to think. We’re sort
of displaying it out there, sort of the situation, like taking a
snapshot of American life.”
If you haven’t heard
the album, let its success on the charts speak for itself. Characters
like Jesus of Suburbia, St.
Jimmy and
Whatsername live in a tainted world painted by frank lyrics and catchy
guitar chords. Politics, lies and greed just scratch the surface of the
themes engulfing these characters’ lives.
Front to back, the
album is solid. Given the history of rock ‘n’ roll, an album of this
caliber probably wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for strong band
dynamics and drive. Dynamics and drive that could only evolve after a
band has solidified a strong relationship.
“I’ve never seen
Billie so focused. He’s so intense about this band. Every single
little thing he makes happen. Me and Mike, we’re here, and we do our
stuff, we do our business, we have input, we have great ideas that we
use or not use or whatever, but at the end of the day, Billie’s gotta
check everything, down to each light that flickers.”
That focus and
dedication doesn’t end with production and recording. The band is
hitting the road with New Found Glory, a band who lists Green Day as one
of their own influences not only musically, but also for the way that
they treat their fans. Tre´ didn’t hesitate in responding to this
compliment, speaking candidly.
“If you don’t treat
your fans well, they’re not going to be around for your next album. I
try to treat everybody with respect. You can’t take anything for
granted. You can’t be one of those bands that sits there in the
interview and stares at the floor and pretends to be too cool for school
because that sh*t – its not becoming.”
Never one to remain
serious for too long, Tre´ threw some words of advice out to Chicago
area Green Day fans awaiting the group’s show here this month.
“We’ll be dumping our
bus sh*tter on a bridge soon. We’ll be covering your tourist boats with
our sh*t in a few short weeks. Keep the top down on that boat.”
GREEN DAY
performs November 8th
at the UIC
Pavilion in Chicago
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