Billie Joe Armstrong is the lead vocalist for the band Green Day. They are the new definition of punk rock in the modern world. Green Day has been around since the late 1980's. They started out in California with Billie and bassist Mike Dirnt. They put out two albums before they hit the big time with their album Dookie. The next album was Nimrod which featured one of the best known songs of today, Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). This song was played at my high school graduation and it is the pure essence of punk. One of the most influential songs in the genre as far as I'm concerned. Then the big one came along, American Idiot. There is not an American teenager in public schools that has not heard of this album. It sold 16,000,000 copies worldwide. It was the band's first rock opera, a concept album that told the story of a boy named Saint Jimmy who was the king of the outcasts. This is perhaps the greatest punk/opera that has been written. It's filled with the poetry of the darker side of life. "I'm the son of rage and love. The Jesus of Suburbia."
Green Day has been an inspiration to the rebels of this age. The modern age that has been filled full of lies and extremism. "Land of make believe, and that don't believe in me." They put faith in the young minds of America. That, I believe, is the purpose of many bands within the punk and metal genres. The outcasts of the youth of today have nothing to look to for help in their darkest hour. They write these poems of inspiration and pick people up off the ground and show them how to stand their ground and fight. That's what punk is and Green Day is another branch of the youngest social movement of the era. This greatest example of the punk movement that they were a part of was the next album that was released, 21st Century Breakdown. This album specifically mentions the class of 2013. This is what gave me an emotional attachment to the album. "We are the, we are the class of 13. Born in the era of humility. We are the desperate in the decline. Raised by the bastards of 1969." It's a call to arms to stop the decline just like what the Sex Pistols did in the U.K. only a few decades earlier. It's the new generation and it won't be stopped. The punk era has been going on for years and it won't stop anywhere in the near future. Green Day has made sure of that.
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