Friday, May 6, 2011

Last of the American Girls - Green Day

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10arxAv3f1M]


I didn't really appreciate Green Day's music when I was younger, despite the fact that they were hugely popular with my demographic. I just hadn't broadened my musical spectrum to include their genre. I look back now and wish I had learned to take a more encompassing look at the world of music.


Green Day's early stuff is really good. They're not the most talented musicians, but they write clever songs and perform them well, and they are good musicians at what they do. A lot of people will tell you they're "sell outs". I really hate that term. There are definitely bands and artists that are exactly that; however, people like to use that term to describe lots of groups that aren't anything like what it describes.


What a lot of people tend to forget is that the bands they grew up with grew up, too, and they probably changed their musical tastes and personalities just as much or more than than the listener has. What they used to like doing is probably not what they like doing now.


This song is from Green Day's "sell out" period, but I think it's a great song that rocks a stereotype right down to its bare meaning. The lone bass at the beginning is typical of the genre and the simple guitar solo in the middle of the song fits it just right as well. I still can't figure out why Billy Jo Armstrong sounds British when he sings, though...


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