The whole "SELLOUT" Accusation:

[Katarina.]

Whatever

Green Day write songs they like, and we listen to them cause we like/love their songs. Why should people even bother saying stuff like 'they're not punk' or 'they're sellouts'? It's so useless. You're not getting anywhere if you say that, and it definitely doesn't make you anything better. Just don't say anything if you don't like them, gah. I don't care what people say. I love Green Day, they're my favorite band, and nobody can change what I think about them

[Nutella]

I honestly don't care I mean that's not my problem. At the end of the day after a stressful day at work or at school I just want to be able to go a show and have fun. Their shows really are fun aren't they???? Although I'm still debating whether I should still go to their concert on August because I got invited to go camping for a week and I told them I don't know yet...... if I know someone who wants my ticket I'll give it to them but it's like $70 that I just can't waste.

[Bubbles.]

I've already said this to Iain in a discussion we had earlier but...

Well, I think it depends whether we're talking about punk as a type of music, or as a philosophy/approach to life... I'd say sound-wise Green Day have evolved beyond just being a punk band, the band members see punk much more as an approach to life and music rather than a description of what the music sounds like... They grew up with those ideals that they learned from their local punk scene and believed in them wholeheartedly, and they've stuck with them to this day - And so they definitely aren't sellouts in my opinion.

There's nothing wrong with being successful, and as it's already been said - They're obviously not in it for the money.

I used to get so pissed off with people who'd call them sellouts or whatever, but I've learned not to give a fuck what other people say because at the end of the day, I love Green Day and not their or anyone else's opinion is going to change that.

[Armstump]

Muse tickets are more expensive than Green Day tickets.

I would see Muse too if they were not that expensive. :')

/random

[theviridiansea]

If they were sellouts they would get other people to write their songs so they could release a new album every week. They wouldn't be spending 5 years putting all of their effort into their songs if they only wanted money.

[Charlotte2010]

It's the only argument/comeback haters can come up with. I just ignore them when they say it as they clearly have no idea what they're talking about.

[PoliceBoyLogan]

Exactly. Haters just hate. Fuck em. Fuck em all. They get the shit end of the stick for missing out on the newer Green Day material.

[Sharmellow]

Call me a bad fan, but I don't really give a shit if people call Green Day 'sell outs'. When people call Green Day sell outs, they're quite true. Selling out can mean a lot of different things. To me, selling out means they wanted to become a bigger and better band, and in order to do that, they need a major label backing them up. I mean, lets be frank here, without a major label, Green Day wouldn't be as they are today. So, selling out isn't as bad as it really sounds.

I never really understood what the big deal of "selling out" is.

[Homicidal_llama]

Muse tickets are more expensive than Green Day tickets.

I would see Muse too if they were not that expensive. :')

/random

That's got nothing to do with Muse though, the record company would deal with that.

If they were sellouts they would get other people to write their songs so they could release a new album every week. They wouldn't be spending 5 years putting all of their effort into their songs if they only wanted money.

And good point! I'm pretty sure with the amount of songs they've got lying around they could easily make an album every year but they don't because they want their material to be quality.

[Bohemian+Scandal]

Ha. My brother (a former Green Day fan) refers to them as a sellouts all the time. We debate it quite frequently. The word sellout is such a sketchy word first of all, but I won't get into that. I can definitely see why many people would see that as what Green Day did. In 1994 and then again in 2004. Whenever any band gets hugely popular people complain.

Let's refer to 2004 since that's the year most people cite. Green Day's sound DID change and so did their image. Because of that change they became hugely mainstream once more. Right there you have the basic facts that lead people to believe they made those changes specifically to get popular once more. Whether this is true or not, no one can know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was partly true. Their sound became more polished and their look went from the sloppy hobo look to a black and red, suit and tie, studded belt, eyeliner look which was in style in 2004. In the mainstream's eyes Billie Joe was suddenly eye candy.

It's not exactly shocking that people would call them sellouts. I completely understand where they're coming from. For me, I don't give a shit. I have no doubt they do whatever the hell they want to and are happy doing it so good on them. In the end people are either going to dig it or not and that's okay. It's okay not to like Green Day.

Call me a bad fan, but I don't really give a shit if people call Green Day 'sell outs'. When people call Green Day sell outs, they're quite true. Selling out can mean a lot of different things. To me, selling out means they wanted to become a bigger and better band, and in order to do that, they need a major label backing them up. I mean, lets be frank here, without a major label, Green Day wouldn't be as they are today. So, selling out isn't as bad as it really sounds.

I never really understood what the big deal of "selling out" is.

To idiots, if you make money you're not "legit".

[Sharmellow]

To idiots, if you make money you're not "legit".

Heh, apparently so.

[cherrybomb!]

At the end of the day music is music, regardless of whether it's mainstream, underground or even what genre it is, it all does the same thing, creates a medium that people can relate to and provide a voice for people's opinoins etc, So i've never really understood why people judge and discriminate bands and artists for becoming sucsessfull or selling out or whatever when it still provides people with that sense of belonging and identity. It really shouldn't matter, I genuinly think that some people want to keep bands in the underground for their own ego, i mean underground bands and scenes just tend to have some ellitest appeal for people or somthing.

I'm not very good at explaining myself so if I don't make any sense just ignore me :/

I really agree with what your saying.

[Bubbles.]

Muse tickets are more expensive than Green Day tickets.

I would see Muse too if they were not that expensive. :')

/random

:lol:

[in_your_face]

*yawn*

fess up, many doesn't like this discussion.

green day aren't sell outs actually, honestly they produce good music, and both gd fans and non gd fans buy 'em. are they becoming the so called sellouts? nope. they aren't producing music just for money. that's what they do! and if this is about concert tickets and stuffs, i dunno 'cause i haven't seen gd live yet. that sucks!

They wouldn't be spending 5 years putting all of their effort into their songs if they only wanted money.

[Opezi]

i guess people called them sellouts because they were a punk band and punk bands are ment to stay underground and they went mainstream and i cant remember which video but billie said along the lines of "if im making money doing what i like is my own fucking business" yknow its like people just felt i guess betrayed. idek

[SuperSock]

I don't think it matters. (:

If people want to accuse Green Day of being sell outs then let them. Fans don't need to be involved. (:

[musse]

I don't think it matters. (:

This. I don't think they've sold out and even if they were, I wouldn't mind because I love them. Period...

[Juliette]

People who say GD 'sold out' with american idiot just don't get it. To me it seems like they were in a bit of a rut before - their last album hadn't gone down too well, all they released for a while was a greatest hits record and one of bsides and covers, they were having doubts about whether they still wanted to be in the band...

American idiot wasn't them selling out, it was them finding a way to make a comeback, to rebrand themselves and almost start fresh. Just because they wrote about more mature things doesn't mean they were forced to change who they were. People just wonder how they got so big so fast and go with the easiest option.

That's the one I hear most, but then there's also the dookie one, which is just balls. Its every musicians dream to be heard and to have as many people as possible appreciate your music so naturally they moved to a major record label

[xjernpqvrnbfv]

My friends don't even call them sellouts, because they have no idea what that means and they have a bad taste in music. They just say that Green Day is too loud. lol

But I had some arguments with people who lost their respect to Green Day. aha but I always win, because I have the better arguments. I just think it's retarded when people say they hate Green Day because they wear eyeliner or they love them just because of that. People should start listening to the music and not care too much about their looks. Also I think that people change. So did Green Day when American Idiot came out. They are just good musicians who want to develop and write good lyrics and good music. They are grown ups now and can't sing about the same stuff for 20 years.

[Hermione]

The vast majority of people who call them sellouts aren't even thinking about the meaning of the word at all and don't know anything about the band. They're just looking for an insult to use, and they've heard other people call them sellouts so they go with it. Some people just feel the need to make fun of things whether they know anything about them or not. Luckily, a lot of them grow out of it.

It's nothing to worry about though, we're enjoying something and they're not so it's their loss.

[*Green_girl*]

muse and stuff arent accused of being sellouts cause they dont come from a punk scene. the thing with punk is that its a bad thing to break or to be successful, which in my opinion might have been relevent at a certain moment in time, but now does not make any sens. people who call green day sellouts right now, are people who want to fit in by saying what their friends and such has told them. they shoulg really let it go because this issue is really gone.

[liquorhill]

This argument can even go back to "Dookie" for the people who knew of them before Dookie hit it big..

So I guess there's 3 groups of Green Day fans..

Pre-Dookie fans

Pre- AI fans

Post -AI fans

I'm still a fan of Green Day but not as much as i was before American Idiot..

The style changed. Billie isn't the same guy on stage anymore either..

They've exchanged punk rock (which some would question whether or not they were really punk in the first place) for a Top 40/Emo style..

A bit similar to the what "The Goo Goo Dolls" did.. just on a grander stage.

There is really no argument that they've definitely changed. I still like them, but not as hardcore as I was about them before AI hit.

If you really want to get hardcore about it... Green Day were never punks to begin with, except for a few select songs... Platypus for example is a very punky song.. but for the most part there was always a melodic punk at best..

Now songs like Time of Your Life, 21 Guns, Macy's Day Parade... Good songs... but not punk.. which would be "Selling Out" for a supposed punk band to put out.. Punk Rock is not supposed to appeal to the masses. Green Day is no doubt a Top 40 band now..

if you like it.. cool... if you don't.. that's cool too.. I'll always go see Green Day when they come to town and always buy their albums.. but you really can't claim Green Day as a punk band.. at least not anymore.. maybe in the past the way they would behave on stage you MIGHT be able to hold some points to it being punk but not today.. Billie seemed to slow down on stage around the warning era... I miss how he'd beat the shit out of his guitar.

Nobody's is saying you can't love them still. they're just definitely not the same band anymore. Some look at it as good.. Others don't.. it's a matter of opinion that nobody can really win.

I personally would love to see another album like Insomniac out of the band but I have very low expectations of that happening.

That's the Punk music I love.

I noticed alot of you guys have trouble disagreeing with the band.. Just because you love a band doesn't mean you have to follow every word or thing they do as gospel.. I love Green Day but I have no problem expressing a negative opinion about them..

I also think at times the band feels they can't go back anyway, and thats why they put out side projects like Foxboro or the Network..

all in all it's a matter of opinion and neither is wrong. I used to never really understand this argument either back when I was 13 or 14.. being 27 now and have gotten more into non-commerical punk bands (BECAUSE OF GREEN DAY turning me on to the genre) I understand it a little better.

[Guest]

Define what a "sellout" is, how big do you have to be to "sell out" nowadays? Someone will release an album, it'll do fairly well and all of a sudden they're "sellouts".

But in my opinion, they're not. It's only because of their punk roots that they get accused of it.

A lot of it when other bands say it is just jealousy I think.

[Maddy.]

What Dai said. I couldn't give two fucks whether or not they're sellouts. I still love them and no one can change that. It's not like selling out has anything to do with the music. The music doesn't change because you're a sellout. The music changes because you grow up. That's just how it works.

[Kayfabe]

Yeah I think the sellout thing is baloney. Let's examine:

Dookie: They predicted they were growing too fast for Lookout! to keep up, so they left. As predicted, they made a kick ass album and sold kajillions. They were still packaging their own LPs at Lookout!

AI: It's not like it was a sudden change. People talk in terms of 'old Green Day' and 'new Green Day'. But in my opinion, there should be a third category of 'transitional Green Day'. Nimrod and Warning can't be put in the same category as 1039SOSH to Insomniac, in my opinion. They are in a league of their own, where Green Day decided they would mix up their sound a bit. They found their niche in 'new Green Day' style of AI and 21CB.