Product Description

THE WORLD'S FIRST GREEN DAY BIOGRAPHY After fifteen years together and still only in their early thirties, Green Day are the biggest punk band in the world. Self-confessed latch-key kids from small blue-collar Californian towns, Green Day's story is far from simple: bassist Dirnt was born addicted to heroin and left home at fifteen singer Billie-Joe was the youngest of six children whose father died when he was young; and drummer Tre Cool was rarely at home and gigging at the age of twelve. Inspired by both the energy of British punk bands like the Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks and cult American bands such as Dead Kennedys and Husker Du Green Day formed in 1989 when all three members were still at school. Against a backdrop of dodgy glam rock revivalists and mainstream rock-pop, the trio were quickly selling out every underground club that booked them. Word spread fast. Two modest albums down the line, their 1994 major label debut Dookie, was a 10-million-selling worldwide hit album that seized the zeilgest while rock music was still reeling from the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. Punk was back on the agenda. Throughout the Nineties, Green Day asserted themselves as godfathers to a new breed of bands such as Sum 41 and Blink-182. They toured the world, headlined all the big festivals, won countless awards and released multi-million selling albums. In 2004 Green Day reached a career pinnacle with the concept album American idiot, a sophisticated commentary on modern life. The No. 1 success of the album, extended Green Day's fanbase even further - from pre-teen kids to previously sceptical critics - making them one of the world's biggest rock bands.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31030 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

From the Publisher
1. Green’s Day’s seventh and most recent album, American Idiot is the album of its time, sound-tracking feelings of political unrest and resistance in America and going to number one around world - including the UK, in January 2005.
2. Tickets for Green Day’s UK arena tour of January/February 2005 sold out in minutes. They return to play the enormous Milton Keynes bowl in June 2005, the month of publication, in front of approximately 100,000 people - the biggest punk performance the UK has ever seen. The year 2005 also sees them conduct a world tour playing stadiums and arenas.
3. Green Day have influenced a new generation of skate punk bands such as Sum 41, Blink 182, New Found Glory and are the most respected and critically acclaimed band of their genre.
4. American Idiots... contains exclusive band interviews from the author’s archive and eyewitness accounts of some of the band’s most pivotal moments.
5. For the first time in a book, American Idiots... also examines the context of the Nineties punk renaissance and its many major players in minute detail.
6. This is the world’s first biography of Green Day.

About the Author
Ben Myers is the author of the acclaimed I.M.P. biographies Muse and John Lydon. Having grown up with Green Day sound-tracking some of the most significant events in his life. Myers is an archetypal fan who adds an element of personal memoir to this most extraordinary of tales. His work has appeared in publications such as Kerrang!. Q. Time Out, Record Collector and numerous fanzines and websites.

Customer Reviews

The definitive Green Day biography
When I purchased this book I knew it wasn't going to be like every other Green Day biography out there. The reason? Ben Myers. A regular contributor to Kerrang for years, he has conducted many interviews with the band gaining personal insight into what makes them tick. This is not another weakly researched 'riding the tide of popularity' book. It is thorough, unbelievably so, no detail too small to emit (there are several asides from interviews he conducted with the band). It is also written in a personal manner, with a lot of humour and Ben's affection for the band is clear. It is a refreshing change from the cold detatchment often associated with biographies.
I'm sure there will be many more biographies released in the coming months relating to Green Day as their popularity continues to soar, each with prettier and considerably more pictures than the last, but i'm completely confident that none of them will come close to matching this one. Warm, funny, interesting and highly recommended.

The best green day book around
You won't want to put this book down, if you're a true green day fan you should read this. The author gives a detailed history of punk/rock as well as the stories of billie,mike and tre and of course the band green day. Every little bit of information you wanted to know is cleared up in this book, with endless quotes from the trio and pictures in chronological order. The best part about it is, that it is set out like a book instead of the magazine biographies you can find but it overrules them totally. Through only this book you can get to know the band in depth, it is totally worth every penny you spend. Buy it!

From Rebellion To Stardom..
After I read the terrific biography of Marilyn Manson, I decided to purchase American Idiots & The New Punk Explosion - The Unofficial Biography of Green Day. The book is written in the third (or in this case fourth) person style by the author Ben Myers.

I felt very anxious to read this book as it is about one of my favourite groups and inspirational to me when it comes to playing the guitar. When I read the author's note it stated 'this is his take on the story of the band', so from that point onwards, I knew basically this is not like The Long Hard Road Out of Hell.

I have to say Myers, despite being a major fan of the group, does not show any signs of being biased in the comments he makes. The book tells you about the early days, the times of 924 Gillman Street, the tragedies, the marriages and background on basically every record up to American Idiot. The book also contains regular quotes/comments from each member on certain aspects, which makes this far more interesting than it is.

I think what it brings it down a bit, is the fact that sometimes Myers will completely go off into another territory (The US Election being a prime example) or completely waffle on about certain topics (The Gillman Street subject becomes nearly tedious by the end).

I think overall I was looking forward to the inspiration behind some of their songs, and I was amazed when I read the Los Angeles riot during the production of 2000's Warning album. I learnt a lot about the group from this book and it does not disappoint in the long run.

There is also a little section on their discography which I mainly skipped through, although I was happy to find where the songs from Shenagians were in the singles over the years.

Its biggest punk biography on the biggest punk band in the world, depending on your take on Green Day, this is a good reference point and a worthwhile purchase.