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| From | Michael Bennett <mrhonorama@ameritech.net> |
| Subject | Re: American Idiot |
| Date | Wed, 24 Nov 2004 08:29:58 -0800 (PST) |
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Cries of sell out go back to the early days of punk in
Britain -- The Clash were taken to task for signing
with CBS. As applied to Green Day, I've always
thought they were unfair, because GD worked hard,
touring the country and releasing the indie releases
that established their sound, and then were rewarded
when they happened to write some great songs that
coincided with their first major label release.
From my perspective, Green Day has always been a
talented band, but post-Dookie, they had hemmed
themselves in with their sound. With their last two
albums, they have really made an effort to try some
new things, and they have the talent to back it up.
That being said, while AMERICAN IDIOT is probably
their best album, I still think there are some
ordinary tracks that keep me from finding it to be a
great album.
Sam's comment also intrigues me for another reason.
Last week, I had the pleasure of crashing a wedding
reception for Jake Burns, the lead singer of Stiff
Little Fingers. So I got to sit at a table while
Jake, Big Takeover publisher Jack Rabid and Effigies
lead singer John Kezdy talked about punk, and real
punks versus fake ones. At one level, I know exactly
what they're talking about. Certainly now, so many of
the punk-poppers on MTV are just wearing a costume,
and aren't much different than hair metal bands. It's
not so much about selling out, as having an attitude
-- that is, punk is a vehicle for expression, for
questioning society, etc. Yet, a few of the names
that these esteemed long time punks were throwing out
I might have defended. They may not have been 'real
punks', but they still made good music.
Mike Bennett
--- Sam Smith <samsmith@colorado.edu> wrote:
A point I have made
> any number of times is
> that a punk who talks about selling out is someone
> who doesn't
> understand the whole point of punk.
>
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