I'm a HUGE Green Day fan, but...pre-American Idiot Green Day > post-American Idiot Green Day

[Alan86]

Warning era ftw but really I love it all

[Daughter.of.Rage.and.Love]

Yes, it's different, that happens when people grow older. One thing that confuses me from your OP: do you mean that pre-AI is better or that you personally like it better?

I like every album of theirs. I wouldn't say I like them all equally, but I like them all. And my favourites (I couldn't pick only one) aren't all pre- or post-AI They all have a sound that appeals to me, even though the difference between 1039/SOSH and 21stCB is quite large. But, all Green Day albums have a something in their sound, a something in common that makes it Green Day. It is different, but it's not like they morphed into a new band with American Idiot or any of their albums. I personally think they evolved naturally, not that it was a big sudden change.

And I do suppose that with every fan, in one way or another they'll have a "closer connection" or whatever that makes them like that album or era better.

But it seems in general, the younger crowd, outside of these forums, fell in love with AI and don't even acknowledge the band existed before then. Obviously, none of you are like that, even the ones who first became fans with AI.

Thing is, those aren't the fans. I don't think you can call yourself a fan of a band if you only like and listen to one or two of their albums, if that band's discography is so much larger. I mean, it's fine with me if someone only likes post-American Idiot, but then that person isn't a fan of the band, merely a fan of that album or whatever you want to call it.

[ConfirmPassword]

I was only 4 when Dookie came out, but I've known Green Day around the Nimrod era, I think, I don't even remember now.

But I don't care, I love every single album and I hate seeing Green Day as Dookie era Green Day, Warning era Green Day, American Idiot era Green Day ... It's just Green Day .

This!!

I wasnt even born when Dookie came out. I have only been a Green Day fan for like a year, but it doesnt mean I like 21st CB more than Kerplunk! I love all of their albums!

[Tubbie Head]

Everything is nice

[DecanoLP]

Wow, you can't be serious with this thread... this is the 52334. thread concerning this topic.

I like the "old Green Day" more, Dookie was the first album I bought but I became a real fan in 2004 when I got a copy of American Idiot.

Their new stuff is awesome but Nimrod, Dookie, Kerplunk and all this stuff is unbeatable

[†...HAUSHINKA...†]

I do not think any album or era is actually better than the previous, because Green Day continues to grow as musicians. It's all different enough that it will appeal to different people.

I totally agree with you!

no one can fustigate himself for having born after dookie or for having been a baby during that era or whatever...as Andres said you're most related to an album 'cause it represent something to you and you can feel on your own what it talks about...but this doen't exclude that you can also appreciate something did before...for example I was 4 yeras old when dookie came out so obviously I didn't listen to it but years after I found in those lyrics feelings I was experimentig in that present period of my life..so you can discover that what you're living in that time it was already experimented by someone else that put it in music...so who cares when dookie or nimrod or kerplunk or whatever came out if they keep on giving something to people??

[sara_gd]

I don't really see that border line between Warning and American Idiot.

[GDM]

This is probably the most redundant and irritating topic of discussion.

I concur. I really don't understand this imposed division on Green Day, why can't people enjoy what they enjoy, and stop drudging up the same conversation about a topic that really needs to be shot in the head.

Sigh. Well, have fun folks discussing this topic to death again!

[Hermione]

Some people will always feel a greater connection to the era that got them involved. For me it was Warning, I still consider it their best album (lyrically) - and for the people who got into them during American Idiot, I'm sure that'll be their favorite 10 years down the road.

I do not think any album or era is actually better than the previous, because Green Day continues to grow as musicians. It's all different enough that it will appeal to different people.

So yeah, there are definitely people here who got into Green Day during Dookie (and some even before then) who will agree with you.

It's true everyone has their preferences between albums or eras. It's just splitting it down the middle, black and white as "old" and "new" that doesn't make sense to me.

If they'd made 4 Dookie replica albums and then suddenly come out with American Idiot, then "old" and "new" Green Day would make sense. But that's not how it happened - they evolved gradually with every album. American Idiot was a bigger change of course, but even that had the stepping stone of Warning leading up to it. For me Warning is as much a new Green Day album (with it's outward looking lyrics, hints of political themes and boldy different/experimental style) as it is an old one. By all means compare the merits of different albums and eras, but the idea of just old and new Green Day is over-simplified and redundant to me.

It doesn't always matter when you got into them, not for everyone anyway. I got into them during AI but it's not my favourite album or era. Discovering AI was amazing, but discovering Dookie a month later was just as amazing. You can love a particular album more regardless of when you got into them. And with all the interviews, performances, photos, articles and gig videos from each era still available you can love any era more too.

[†...HAUSHINKA...†]

I really don't understand this imposed division on Green Day, why can't people enjoy what they enjoy, and stop drudging up the same conversation about a topic that really needs to be shot in the head.

[abhishek]

A lot of people here may have heard of Green Day later like with Warning, or they popularity boom with American Idiot. But pretty much all of us here appreciate every album from 1039 SOSH to 21 Century Breakdown.

Very well put.

totally

[pasalaska]

everyone is entitled to have a preference over GD's different eras. I'm pretty sure everyone on here appreciates and loves each album differently. For me, the Warning era is my least favourite, and Kerplunk/Dookie and AI/21CB are an equal first.

Green Day would be boring if they stayed the same forever

[Alan86]

I think everyone that became a fan before American idiot (myself included) has to realise that green days popularity was in decline and in a sub genre they created they were seen as second best by many to Blink 182. American Idiot got Green Day excited about making and playing music again, if this didn't happen it is very possible that Green Day would have split up. So American idiot has given Green Day the chance to still play all their old favourites live today

Ps Green Day need to play more songs from warning though, just Minority isn't enough for me.

[Bastard of 1967]

I'm sure most of you on here are probably going to disagree with me, but how many of you actually became fans when Dookie came out, as opposed to American Idiot? Most of you on this board are pretty young and don't remember the greatness of Green Day when Dookie was released. I like their new stuff, don't get me wrong, but it just isn't the same as the Dookie-Warning era. In fact, I think Warning is their second best album after Dookie, but Dookie, Insomniac, Nimrod, Warning (and 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk) are all > than American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown.

Any old school Green Day fans feel me on this?

Read my "About Me" in my profile for the details -- I became a Green Day fan about a year or so after AI, but quickly became familiar with their back catalog and wish I had been more familiar with them back "in the day". Not because I think their older material is qualitatively better or worse than their more recent work, but because I think of all the tours I missed and . In my opinion it's all good!

[lizziebix]

I feel like we keep rehashing this subject.

But anyway, I became a fan during the Dookie era. But I just like what they have evolved into. Growth and maturity in their music makes me love them all the more. That isn't to say that I dismiss the older songs, I don't. I love listening to it all. I just appreciate what they have grown into.

[E!!i]

I'm a fan since 2005 and I love all their albums and my favorite album is american idiot but I don't like 21st Century Breakdown so much, doesn't mean that I hate it but it's one of my least favorite albums from Green Day

[IscoredWaddlesgoals]

Maybe it's because I only got into them during AI, but to me there aren't any 'eras', just Green Day.

[fadi_7]

you are totally wrong dude cause green day is green day they are "like sex when they are good they are awesome and when they are bad they still pretty much good " that's what mike said or something like that but my point is that green day have great songs all the time but sure you have tour opinion and i totally respect it.and green day writes songs that make them feel good and that people that like it can hear them and that will be so much cool and American idiot is the greatest album for green day but it's not my fave album my fave is 21CB and there is no such thing old green day and new green day. and as you know American idiot and 21CB are more about politician and they wrote what they felt about the world and about the shitty things that happening this century or what was in 2004.and for sure Dookie and nimrod ...... are pretty awesome

[Bastard of 1967]

as Andres said you're most related to an album 'cause it represent something to you and you can feel on your own what it talks about

That slice of your post made me think of something I've mentioned before, but I'll say it again here 'cuz I hope it's relevant: Billie Joe's own life experience has put him face to face with so many different things that he's then gone and written about. Do you feel like a lost, misdirected, or ignored teenager? He's got a song for that. Are you struggling with addiction or other self-destructive behavior? He's got a song for that. Are you older and find your marriage has hit a rough patch? He's got a song for that. Have you found yourself so intensely in love with someone that you'll just go crazy if you don't find some way to let it out? He's got a song for that. And are you confronting the death of a friend or loved one? Yeah, he's even got a song for that too. His bandmates also have a gift for backing that songwriting up with music that runs the gambit from angry, edgy punk to sweet ticklish ballads to good old fashioned classic rock to (!) Broadway-caliber orchestrations -- but that's not really my point here.

My point is that even though Billie wrote some of his best songs when he was in his late teens and early 20s, he had already lived real, real close to the edge on the one hand and beyond his actual years on the other. He brought back from this a lifetime of experiences that he in turn has a gift of being able to express in song as well as he does. Add to this the quality of the band's music -- especially the tightness of their rhythm section, the longtime deep friendships and resulting synergistic effect that the guys have with each other, and the fact that they have the ability to play just about any musical style and still have it sound great -- and you get a whole catalog of music that is evolving with the bandmates. In turn, the band's music appeals across generations to people with musical tastes either overlapping with or entirely outside of the band's core punk rock roots....this I think is where the connection begins that leads so many different people from so many different places in life to find something personal they can relate to in Green Day's music.

[Harriet]

Billie Joe's own life experience has put him face to face with so many different things that he's then gone and written about. Do you feel like a lost, misdirected, or ignored teenager? He's got a song for that. Are you struggling with addiction or other self-destructive behavior? He's got a song for that. Are you older and find your marriage has hit a rough patch? He's got a song for that. Have you found yourself so intensely in love with someone that you'll just go crazy if you don't find some way to let it out? He's got a song for that. And are you confronting the death of a friend or loved one? Yeah, he's even got a song for that too.

This. This is a part of why I love Green Day so much, I feel like whatever I'm going through Billie has written a song about it that I can relate to perfectly. This is why I love all "eras" of Green Day, each album represents something different to me and I love them all. Saying one is better than the other is just a matter of personal preference.

I also agree with what Andres said: American Idiot introduced me to Green Day, and for that reason it will always be my favourite album.

[CzechIdiot]

I am listening Green Day since American Idiot, But I think ALL their stuff is AWESOME!!!

[FannyDefoe]

I started my Green Day-fan life with the Warning era. It's still my favourite album.. it has awesome lyrics and I think it's just beautiful... I love their new style and the fact that they are VERY open-minded ..I mean they tried the musical thing and I love that about them. I like that they dare to change...great rolemodels

and well...I don't mind if many became fans after AI and 21stCB ... some aren't old enough to know green day from the dookie era (as you said)... better late than never, right?

and if they are fans, then I guess they will soon listen to their other stuff

[Abbey.]

I'm sure most of you on here are probably going to disagree with me, but how many of you actually became fans when Dookie came out, as opposed to American Idiot? Most of you on this board are pretty young and don't remember the greatness of Green Day when Dookie was released. I like their new stuff, don't get me wrong, but it just isn't the same as the Dookie-Warning era. In fact, I think Warning is their second best album after Dookie, but Dookie, Insomniac, Nimrod, Warning (and 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk) are all > than American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown.

Any old school Green Day fans feel me on this?

their albums are like children...no favorites...love them all...differently...yet equally

[KatherineKerplunk]

I love that Green Day try hard and "experiment" to see if this rock opera is going to turn out well, which it did! no other band has succeeded well in trying differnent things in their music but Green Day. I never experienced the old Green Day because I was born the same year dookie came out, but who gives a damn, at least people like me who got into Green Day around American Idiot era knew what the old GD was like by watching old videos...

Personally like most, I love all their eras even if a lot of us wernt born before they started.

[Solitary One]

I love all of their stuff equally. Which album I listen to depends on what mood I'm in, and just whatever I feel like listening to.

I don't prefer "new" or "old" Green Day