05 July 2016

top 100 of the '00s | 73. green day - "american idiot"

Green Day is one of those few musical artists that's managed the intricate balance of maintaining a core sound while also growing as an artist.

Their 1994 album Dookie is one of my favorite albums of all time. It brought so-cal punk-influenced alt rock to the mainstream, and is just a flawless set of killer, memorable tracks. If you go back to their two earlier EPs and one album that they released on smaller labels -- 39/Smooth, 1,000 Hours, and Kerplunk -- you'll find that their sound didn't really change in between. They pretty clearly just got access to better equipment when writing and recording Dookie.

Their subsequent albums have followed this trend. They explore new themes (usually finding new targets for their ever-aging angst), but what is distinctly Green Day has always remained.

The W Years effected a resurgence of punk and protest music the likes of which the world hadn't seen in over 20 years, so it would have been ridiculous for Green Day not to chime in. And when they did, they followed through on what we all expected of them, saying what many of us were feeling at that time.

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