General Discussion

They took a lot of shit for "selling out" back in the day, but they have been MORE punk than most punk bands EVER. Doing American Idiot put their careers on the line. They have called out fascism every second of every day, painting themselves as targets, enemies of the oligarchy. Yet, they endure. They could have just taken soft stands and write just a bunch of feel-good tunes w/ much different lyrics, but they chose to speak truth to power. The idea to "shut up and sing" is not anything followed by BJ, Tre and Mike. They are so badass.

Also, recall how they took the homosexual band out on tour with them back in the 1990s. There were promoters literally telling Green Day to nix Pansy Division from the bill, they were not allowed to play. What did Green Day do? Tell those people to fuck off, Pansy Division either plays or we won't.

Green Day has earned my undying respect as a fan of metal and punk rock. And they also write some incredible music. Billie Joe is arguably my favorite punk writer along with the Gurewitz/Graffin Bad Religion combo and Deryck Whibley of Sum 41.