The whole "SELLOUT" Accusation:

[sharon mitchell]

The only way Green Day have sold out is at the box office. I have heard it from Larry Livermore himself - the major label thing was a mutual decision, because Lookout couldn't support them in the way they needed.

They still do exactly what they want, push boundaries with every new record, and the fact that they keep their ticket prices so low in comparison with other artists proves that they aren't just in this for the money.

[z5warrior]

I don't get it. I don't think Green Day sold out. They do what they feel is right and not let others tell them what to do. That's not selling out. How's being successful selling out? Selling out is when you do what other people tell you to do to earn a profit and that's not what they are doing. Besides, to me good music is good music and I'm not gonna let a stereotypical label, that they don't even deserve, stop me from listening from my favorite band.

[TotalBasketCase13]

If Green Day were ever sellouts, it was the moment they signed with a major label. NOT when they made American Idiot, because, to me, that was probably the most personal and risky album they could have made, and it definitely wasn't created out of the label or management saying "do this and that". If that album had been the label's influence, rather than 100% Billie, Mike, and Tre... it would have been another Dookie re-hash.

Even so, I think only people who were fans back in the Gilman days are even allowed to call them sellouts based on signing with Reprise. However, that point comes down to perspective. To think they sold out implies they signed purely because they thought they were the shit and knew that by doing so they would make a ton of money. Any dedicated Green Day fan knows that isn't the case. They just love music and wanted to get theirs out to as many people as possible. By signing, it gave them that opportunity.

Personally, I think the whole "sellout" argument the haters present needs to roll over and die. They're one of the biggest bands in the world, and no amount of bitching will change that.

[1039slappygirl]

Because they're intolerant and mediocre and don't like watching other people be successful in life, maybe?

Sorry, but this often accusation it's getting stupidly repeated over and over again and I can't stand it anymore Any band/musician/artist in the world wants to be recognized for it's art, music and effort and make people know the way they feel and think and care about it, so why should Green Day be blamed for being behind a major label or recognized worldwide? They write their lyrics and make their own music, they're an original rock n' roll/punk/or whatever the genere you want to call their music band that's always shown us that they have their minds clear and they're not just another moneymaker project band. So yeah, those who hate Green Day since they signed up with Reprise or released American Idiot can go and fuck theirselves up

[Slappypunk]

You know what I say

"Fuck it. You're entitled to your own opinion and I'm entitled to my own. I frankly just dont give a fuck about your opinion. Now fuck off and let me enjoy my Green Day"

nough said

[Lampostc]

To begin with, in a sense yes, to me Green Day are sell outs because they got signed to a major label, but i dont hate them for doing it as if they didn't get signed to a major label because chances are i wouldn't have heard about them and they wouldnt be able to commit as much time to touring and making new albums. I dont really care if bands are considered sellouts or not as its the only real way of a band becoming successful.

I love how people think that bands like the devil wears prada, chiodos, modest mouse, and all of those tpyes of bands are indie or in someway less of a sell out then Green Day... I mean lets face it, all of the bands mentioned probably have shirts at hot topic haha.

BUT the difference is those other bands are so new no one has seen them evolve (and they started of they way green day ended up.. with eyeliner and skinney jeans), with Green Day on the other have people have seen them change and some people dont like it. I still tink Green Day makes good music and those other band suck, so whatever.

I also think that those other bands wont last nearly as long as Green Day, in fact i think chiodos has pretty much died already.

Now to you, i'm sorry about bringing this up as i don't think you even go online anymore but you touched a nerve. Modest Mouse are one of my favourite bands and if you listen to there music you will hear how they've evolved. They've been around since 1993 which is long enough (only six years less than Green Day) If you look at them you will clearly see that they are NOT the eyeliner and skinny jean wearing band you seem to think they are. Again they would be considered sell outs because of the fact they got signed to major label but again i would never have heard about them if they hadn't. Please if you are going to knock a band at least do you research on them and also *think and *skinny. And yeah " I still tink Green Day makes good music and those other band suck, so whatever." Thanks for that

Sorry for ranting guys but this post had been bugging me all day

[Maddy.]

yeah they're sell outs but they're good sell outs

i love them for selling out

who here would still have been a fan of green day if they hadn't put out dookie and the rest that followed?

90% of the people on this site would never have heard of green day

and you're all saying that green day has changed your lives for the better

so them selling out has been a good thing

[euphoric-pareidolias]

does it even matter??

Green Day make awesome music and frankly, i dont care if they are or not. a lot of those people that slag them are just bitter about the Gilman situation and Green Day signing with Reprise.

loads of people here wouldnt know about Green Day if they werent sellouts but least they arent arrogant about it

[fadi_7]

green day write songs on what they fell at the moment or what they want to make or change and they write music for their self and the one that would like to listen to them it will be very cool that's what mike said and i don't think they should change the direction like your friend said if you see the last two albums were the best albums not only in selling CD's it include the tour the 21stCB tour was the best one and BIAB concert was after American idiot..

they are defiantly not sail out if they were sail out they won't be that much famous and win that much awards they are the best band if you don't know that.muse aren't that much famous and have great song ,the tickets are more expensive than green day's tickets (just saying)........and if you think they are sell outs don't listen for them but before you do that ask your self why you love green day !!!!!!

I wrote this a few years back:

The Great Sell-Out Debate

It's been going on since Green Day signed to Reprise. It will probably continue to go on through their entire career. But I'm going to put my two-cents into the matter and argue every reason I've ever heard for them to be called sell-outs.

They Signed To A Major Label:

So what? They didn't do it to become arrogant rich jerks. They did it because they felt it was the right thing to do. After the release of the Kerplunk! Album, they were selling more records than the label could process and sell. It was time to move onto something bigger- something that could handle the demand they were getting. They also didn't just sign to any label who wanted them- they heard a lot of offers, and only when they met Rob Cavallo and heard what their offer was, did they agree to sign. Not to mention the fact that they allowed Lookout! To keep their first 2 albums, and continue to profit from them. Which brings me onto my next reason…

They Pulled Their Pre-Dookie Albums from Lookout!:

The label hadn't been paying the royalties that Green Day was owed for quite a while, and they allowed it to continue, until eventually, it just got to the point where it was ridiculous, and they pulled the plug. However, they weren't alone in that matter- many other bands left the label as well. Larry Livermore himself had even given a statement saying that Green Day had done the right thing, and he didn't blame them. (Mind you, Larry doesn't run Lookout! Anymore but he still agreed with their decision to pull the records, none the less.)

Dookie:

Lots of people say that they changed themselves when they signed to Reprise Records, and Dookie was a drastic change from their previous albums. They started cursing in the music, etc. They did, in fact, change with Dookie. However, they've changed, expanded, matured, and experimented with new sounds on every single one of the albums. Their career wouldn't have the longevity that it has had, and probably will continue to have if they made the same album over and over again. Not to mention how boring that would be. They had also probably written a lot of their songs from that album before they switched to Reprise. Remember how Haushinka was on the Dookie demos but never made the cut? Written way before Nimrod, but never made the album until then. Who's to say that all the songs from the album were written after their signing to a major label?

Insomniac:

People say they sold out with Dookie, and Insomniac was their backlash that tried to prove they were still punk, and this in itself, was selling out. I think they definitely were trying to prove something here, but that's not the only reason it was so angry. It was angry because they WERE angry. And who could blame them? They had friends turning their backs on them now, people that they'd used to associate with calling them sell-outs, and saying all sorts of hurtful things to them. Seeing things like "Billie Joe must die" written in the bathroom stall at Gilman Street? Being unable to play there anymore, and being shunned when it had been their home for so long? Of course they were pissed off. Anyone in that situation would be.

Nimrod/Warning:

The use of more than just the classic guitar, bass, and drums came in here, and that caused people to call them sell-outs yet again. Their sound drastically changed from their fun melodic 39/Smooth (Since that was what it was called back then), Kerplunk!, and Dookie, and their anger-charged Insomniac. They'd matured. They'd finally reached a stage where they were comfortable enough to branch out and experiment with different instruments and sounds. Billie Joe said himself that they were now making the type of music they'd always wanted to make. Now onto the big one…

American Idiot:

This album was massive. It took a completely new direction for them. We heard a new politically charged side of the guys. Not to mention the fact that it was a rock opera. This is what they were accused of being sell-outs for this time. But here, it had been 10 years since Dookie, when they had very first been accused of selling out, and for almost every new release, there had been backlash, when all the guys had done was mature, and write about what was important to them and they were feeling at the time. That's always been what Green Day had done- and what they did with American Idiot. People will argue that it was less personal than their other albums, but I don't see that being true either. Billie Joe has said that everything he writes comes from a feeling he's had at some point in his life. And he was feeling angry about the president, the war, the way the media handles things, the way the youth was being brainwashed, and he wrote the album surrounding that. Even if it wasn't his personal experiences, it was all sparked from feelings he'd had, and portraying his view of the current times. You can hear the emotion behind each song on this album. Not to mention the fact that they used the attention brought upon them to do good. Instead of just bitching about the state of the world, they put their fame and their money to use to help out and to do good. When the tsunami hit, they played a benefit show, and the donated their profits from Boulevard of Broken Dreams itunes sales to the tsunami victims. They played the Live 8. They teamed up with the NRDC to bring about Global Warming awareness. When Katrina hit, they teamed up with U2 and Music Rising to earn benefits for the victims, as well as the Armstrong and the White family going down to New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity to help out personally. Billie Joe is a part of Emily's Army. Now they've covered Working Class Hero for Instant Karma in order to raise awareness and earn money to help save Darfur. Instead of taking all their fame and their profits and doing nothing- they chose to use it positively to help bring about awareness, change, and to help people. Besides the fact that when American Idiot came out, they didn't know if people would like it or if they would hate it, and they weren't sure what was going to happen. They never expected it to blow up the way that it did. It could have been a complete and utter failure, and they knew that… yet they released it anyway, because they felt that it was amazing, and had exceeded anything they'd ever done.

American Idol:

Now, I have to admit… I was quite iffy on this one. I was one of the people that wanted to peg them as sell-outs for playing it, but in the end- it was done for a good cause again. Think of the millions of people that watched the finale of American Idol that might have known nothing about the horrors going on in Darfur that have an idea of what's going on now. Maybe there are better places they could have done it- but maybe there weren't. Think of how many viewers the season finale of Idol raked in. All those viewers might be a little more aware now, may be inspired to want to help, when they weren't before. Think of the good that playing that show had the potential to do.

To be classified as a sell-out, a band or artist would have to be in it for the money and change themselves to stay popular, and clearly, this is not the case with Green Day. They've changed, but not to stay on top. They've changed because they're not the kids they used to be… they've grown up, they've got kids of their own now, they're adults, the world has changed as well as their views on it, and the things they care about along with it. Green Day has never changed themselves for popularity… they've always done what they wanted to do. They don't make music for the fans, they make it for themselves, and if we as fans like it- that's great, but they aren't going to stop making it if we don't like it. Take a look at the period from Insomniac to Warning…probably even International Superhits and Shenanigans… their sales decreased with each album. They were getting less and less received, yet they continued making their music, because it's what they loved to do. And that's what they'll continue to do.

Besides that- they've never let their fame go to their heads. They've never acted like their better than people because they're famous or because they're rich. They're good to their fans and to people, they use the fact that they're famous and have money to help. To a sell-out, it would have to be all about being rich and famous, and not caring. Screw the world! Is that the attitude that the guys have? Is that what they're in this for? I think not.

now you should add 21st century breakdown to it

[jacknovella]

Watching Green Day: Behind The Music taught me a lot about the sell out accusation and why people were so pissed off with Green Day. However, it also made me realise what they failed to realise, Green Day did the most punk thing they could have done at that time.

This bitter old guy on the show kept mentioning how punk music was about shocking people, offending people, doing what was'nt expected, going against conventions, etc. Then they went on to talk about how everyone was so shocked and pissed off when they signed to a major label. Am I the only one who see's what happened there?

Green Day did what everyone told them not to, what they apparently 'should'nt' have done. They're punk, and they're just doing what they want, regardless of some phony rules and regulations that were blindly followed by other 'punk' bands at the time.

[valeria carci]

uhmmm well i don't really care... but for me the whole broadway thing and bj as st.jimmy was too much... i mean i love them for their music that's it... anything else it's just about money and i guess it's okay

[Wretched & Divine]

I'm honestly so sick of the whole "sellout" crap. Whether I like it or not, there's always going to be some dick somewhere who feels that it's necessary to brand the band as sellouts. It used to really get under my skin and piss me off, but it's always going to happen, so there's no point in fighting it.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. People can think Green Day are sellouts if they want, but that doesn't make them right. Just like I'm not right in thinking they're not sellouts. I don't know- there's no real wrong or right when it comes to this, if you ask me

[Whatsername1911]

This debate is exhausting. At school, Nickelback fans argue with me about it. There's just no hope for some people.

[Fuzz]

uhmmm well i don't really care... but for me the whole broadway thing and bj as st.jimmy was too much... i mean i love them for their music that's it... anything else it's just about money and i guess it's okay

How do you know it's for money? It's not like Billie Joe is going on Broadway because he needs the money. And I really doubt Michael Mayer had the idea to do the musical simply because he wanted money as well.

You love them for their music, but guess what, they make money off that too. I don't see how creatively, the musical or a new album are that different.

The only thing I honestly know Green Day do for the money is merchandising, which comes with any band.

Selling out doesn't mean signing to a major label, that's just smart business to reach a bigger audience. Selling out would be signing to a label, then changing what you play, or why you play it, because of what the label wants. I don't think Green Day has ever done that. They continue to write songs they feel like writing.

[Vespertine]

The funny thing is, people say Green Day sold out after American Idiot. They don't even know what they're saying.

Dookie sold over 15 million copies, so I don't understand why people say they've sold out after American Idiot, since Dookie was even more successful.

I don't care what people say anyway. There's nothing wrong with being successful.

I take that back. I had a wrong understanding of what selling out actually means. I believe Green Day has always loved doing what they do and played what they wanted to play. How could anyone say they have sold out?

[clairex]

Most successful bands are accused of being sell outs at some point, especially the ones who have been around a long time like Green Day. People confuse being successful, popular and evolving as selling out.

[SixtiesJunkiie]

Green Day are sellouts because they're successful, because they have a great & growing fanbase, because they love experimenting with their sound, because they agreed to make broadway history by having AI as a musical, because their albums sell, because they sound too 'pop' even though it's not like their 20 year olds any more and thus their musical sounds will naturally change as they mature, because they talk about politics, because their concerts sell out and become a hit tour-after-tour, because they want to find success in what they do and strive to reach out to fans all across the world.

(in annoying, snobby voice) They are just total sell-outs.

Puh-lease.

[Ryan GD]

I love the band !! thats why I feel compelled to defend them sometimes .. but really what good will it do ? They dislike them and we love them .. who cares if someone who actully dosent know what they're talking throws a random meaningless insult. I just ignore it and listen to Green Day on my iPod

[Lu.]

Okay, this is maybe the biggest problem when it comes to Green Day: they make great music, they play awesome gigs and they're one of the most well-known and probably most decent rock bands in today's music, which is practically 50% bullshit. But all this sellout issue is kinda their karma. And it gets me on my nerves.

First of all, in my opinion, Dookie, which is a mainstream album, is much more punk-rock sounding than its two previous albums. So when it comes to music, nothing has changed: they're still fucking talented and their music is probably one of the best things that ever happened to the last two decades. Nobody on Earth can deny it.

And regarding to ideology, don't you think that any other punk band at Gilman would have approached the opportunity Green Day was given? It's logical. They were talented and hard-working enough to have their big break, and they showed they were even better by climbing onto the top and becoming THE rock band. Being successful at something you do with your heart is no sin. I can't understand all that shit. Today I was thinking about this "if they continued being amateur musician's, they'd have a job at any place instead of earning money by making music, but they'd still be in the system" It's the system and you must do something for living, unfortunately. So, we're all stuck in the system, whether you are a pizza boy or a famous musician or a boring office manager.

[Shnitzel]

They aren't sellouts and success doesn't mean you are a sellout. But this debate will go on forever and will keep on going in circles without getting anywhere.

[pasalaska]

A sellout is someone who changes their music for financial success.

It is not someone who signs onto a major label, or who is highly popular.

While yes, Green Day have changed their sound over their career, they have done so in a natural, evolutionary way, not because they decided that one day they'd like to have 5 songs in the top 10 and make a bucketload of money.

And yes, Green Day are highly popular, but since when is it a 'crime' to have people liking your music. I think anyone in any band would like to have a huge fanbase. It's hardly Green Day's fault that people like them. If you had the chance to spread your music further than your local music scene by signing to a major label, you would (well, I would).

Lastly, if you are going to write political messages (like American Idiot), surely you want maximum exposure for that message. Alot of punk bands (and I'm saying punk because that scene that is quick to use the 'sellouts' label) write politically charged songs, but what's the point of playing it to other punks only? That's just preaching to the converted.

The problem is, people use the term 'sellout' without actually knowing what it means, and then people just parrot the term, so they fit in, or to make themselves look 'better' than whoever they are bagging.

In the end, it's Green Day that get the best job in the world, doing what they love. they win.

[-Billiejoezee-]

Whoever acuses them of being sell outs can kiss my ass.

[Doris The Spider]

They continue to make music because they want to but they never changed their music to become more popular. Therefore they are not sellouts.

But I hate this debate.

[TheSaltOfTheEarth]

Obviously alot of fans like their new stuff and old stuff but for some it does just boil down to whether you'd rather watch... lets say a blue haired Billie joe starting a mad fight a woodstock while playing paper laterns or if youd rather see some 40 year old men wearing eyeliner who write concept albums and play dirge like 21 guns on their signature guitars.

I'd rather see that then see a bunch of 40 year old men with blue hair writing about masturbation. Green Day grew up, and their music and style grew up with them; they can't stay 20 years old forever, you know. Just saying.

[Foxboro Holiday]

If you're a fan (of any band) and then you accuse them of being sellouts that makes you a sellout. JTLYK.