How has your relationship to Green Day evolved?

[Dillwad]

I first heard Green Day when Dookie came out. I wasn't even that big of a music fan at the time, but hearing Green Day just left me so thrilled and happy that I didn't know what to do with myself. It was kind of overwhelming. Then I learned that 39/Smooth and Kerplunk existed, and I was like a 5-year-old on Christmas morning. Then my life changed, and I stopped paying a lot of attention to Green Day during Nimrod and Warning, but I would still sometimes have dreams in which Billie Joe came to visit me, like he was an old friend. Then American Idiot came out, and I was overwhelmed all over again, and have been since, but "my" Green Day felt different: they were so much more a part of the mainstream and had promotions that I couldn't relate to. They felt less mine. I still love them, but I will never feel the same way about them as I did in 1994.

How has your relationship to the band been? Have you always felt the same way about them, or has it changed over time?

I too have been a fan since 1994, and loved every song and album since. I am just grateful they are still around and making new music. I know what you mean by them becoming mainstream, but that gave them the boost they needed. Warning did not do very well in sales, and they needed new fans and a new generation to prove they are time-less. So many bands that came out in 1994 have broken up, or nobody likes them anymore. Green Day fans are very fortunate and lucky!

[R_Z-Log]

I was ten years old when Dookie came out (the tape in my profile picture is mine, and I still have it ) . A boy in my class brought the tape to school and was listening to it on his walkman during recess. Being the nosy kid that I was, I asked him if I could hear what he was listening to, and that was the second my life changed forever. I think it was the first time I realized that there was music beyond what my parents listened to. I LOVED it, and became a fan right away.

As with most kids, my taste changed over the next few years. I got really into other music and slightly lost interest in Green Day for a while. I discovered Counting Crows, Nirvana, Alanis Morisette, No Doubt, and also started to get really into Broadway musicals. But, in 1998 I picked up a copy of Nimrod and my love for Green Day came flooding back and I became OBSESSED with them after that.

But again, I lost interest pretty quickly thereafter because Blink 182 was starting to get really popular and I (along with most teenagers in the late 90's/early 2000's) dumped Green Day for them. I still liked Green Day of course, but Blink 182 was my obsession for the moment. Sidenote - When both bands toured together in the Pop Disaster tour, I wanted to go SO bad but it was the same night as my high school graduation. Not gonna lie, I'm still kicking myself for not going to the concert instead of my graduation haha.

Anyway, I didn't hardcore get back into Green Day until 2002, and then when American Idiot came out I FINALLY got to see them live for the first time which really solidified everything.

I actually think I'm more obsessed with them now than I ever was as a kid. I think it's because I can actually appreciate them as people now, instead of just the snot nosed punk kids that they were when they first started out. I also make a lot more of an effort to listen to the lyrics, which of course makes the music more meaningful. AND to be honest, I sometimes feel like Green Day is the reason that my Husband and I ended up together. Kind of random I know, but I wont make this post any longer. That's a whole other story