There is a special significance to Green Day album songs. They came at a time in music history when punk rock wasn’t selling as well as it used to. The band that generated these compositions however, changed all that. When it comes to selling punk, few have been as good as this band.

The 1990s was perhaps the band’s decade of success. Before the group became a household name though, there were only two teens in a band called Sweet Children. This was the name Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt settled on in 1987. By 1989, they managed to grab a deal with Lookout! Records along with fellow band mates Al Sobrante and Sean Hughes. This move was marked by a name change. Some sources cite that the current band name is a bow to marijuana. The official account however is that the change was taken merely to separate the group from another one with a similar name.

The group was initially able to churn out an LP and a couple of EPs with their small label. It wasn’t until 1994 that the band saw mainstream success with the release of their first album, Dookie, under their new label Reprise Records. Despite being the band’s first, the album became certified diamond and was honored in the 1995 Grammy Awards as the Best Alternative Album.

The tremendous success of their first album pushed the group to immediately release Insomniac in 1995. Despite being one of the Green Day albums with a dark tone, it still managed to make boatloads in Green Day merch sales and generated even more attention for the group.

After two years, Nimrod took center stage. The album reached the top ten of the charts. Again, it was not as deeply treasured by punk fans as the first album. This is attributed to the fact that it was an experimental venture in which elements of pop and ska were mixed into the band’s traditional sound.

Following Nimrod in 2000 was Warning. This is possibly the group’s least successful work. Unlike its predecessors, it was only certified gold. The following year, the work was named Outstanding Album in the California Music Awards. The dip in sales however, was interpreted by many as the start of the band’s gradual fall from stardom.

In 2004, the band proved critics wrong with American Idiot. It became the group’s first album to top the Billboard and was named the Best Rock Album in the 2005 Grammy Awards. The group took home six more awards that year.

In 2009, the band released 21st Century Breakdown. Like the other first successes, this one became platinum and there was no question that Green Day was back in excellent form.

The band might not be the fathers of punk rock. They have however, definitely jump started in electrifying fashion the popular interest in punk. At some point, the band was accused of selling out and was criticized by more established acts for what seemed to be their fake image of punks in rock tees. Barring these negative comments though, the group has been every bit successful at bringing their genre to the forefront. You can’t argue against the millions of albums they’ve sold in and outside the US.