In the sixth grade, which was, for me, 2006, I was embarrassed to admit that I liked Green Day, so I said my favorite band was Nickleback. Everyone knows that Green Day is lame. Happy poppy sellout crap for thirteen year olds wearing eye-liner. The least “punk” punk rock band of all time. Like if Blink-182 took itself seriously and was even more commercially minded. Turn it off and play The Ramones, you poser.

But the truth is, Green Day is just really good. Unbelievably good. Billie Joe Armstrong understands melody, simplicity, and how to arrange a song better than any punk songwriter, or really any contemporary songwriter. The closest thing to a Lennon/McCartney songwriting level out there. The tune catches the ear, but what really reeled me in and made me a fan are the lyrics. Sure, some of his ballads can feel cheesy and overplayed, but Billie Joe Armstrong is easily among the best lyricists of all time. From a candid take on adolescent boredom in "Longview" to heartbreaking reminiscence of a failed relationship on "Whatsername," Armstrong expresses whatever is on his mind without getting obnoxiously preachy or disingenuously sappy, and it always fits the rhyme scheme. And it just so happens that whatever is on Armstrong's mind is usually on a lot of other peoples' minds as well. I dare you to listen to all of Dookie or American Idiot and then disagree with anything I’ve said. Every line, every melody, every simple guitar solo, every arrangement, cohesive coherent and perfect.

Musically, they’re all perfect for each other. They’re a viscerally good band, in the way that Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, or Sublime were; they’re all on the same page and everything they do complements what everyone else is doing. Everything works together and total is greater than the sum of its parts. This is especially evidence in the rhythm section and Dookie, with the bass always bouncing in under a rollicking drum entrance. Plus, Tre Cool is one of the best punk rock drummers in history. Just listen to "Jesus Of Suburbia," or the drum fill every nine seconds in Dookie.

There are many levels of accused selling out when in comes to Green Day, and probably more so than any other band. First, they got signed to a major label for their third album, after recording their trash sound-quality first two albums independently. They signed to a major label to record professionally and reach a bigger audience, like Sonic Youth and Nirvana and every band anyone’s ever heard of. This seemingly no-brainer move lost them all their punk-cred back home, and the punk venue in their hometowfamously banned them. The punk kids of Berkley, CA were furious that Green Day wouldn’t just continue recording terrible sounding albums for not that much money and keep playing basement shows to the same kids in the same towns over and over forever. Of course this third album ending up being Dookie and single handedly introduced millions to the cathartic world of punk rock.

The band's eventual progression From Dookie to American Idiot is about the best imaginable way a punk band can progress. Dookie is an album about being a masturbating loser in a deadbeat town with no future dealing with panic attacks, angry feminist girlfriends, a nagging mother, squatting in a violent neighborhood, and fantasies of mass murder. A straightforward album about something so shallow and basic, that so many others have written about before, and yet every song somehow feels fresh. There are no dull moments, no dead spots. It's a profound, engaging look into a psyche we can all reluctantly relate to at some point in our lives, and it's fun as hell. After Dookie came Insomniac, a pretty straightforward follow up that makes it seem the only thing Billie Joe Armstrong got from fame was an inability to sleep.

Eager to break the pattern of immature songs only about the world directly in front of their eyes, they released Nimrod, a much more eclectic album of varying styles and types of songs. Said Armstong of the album, "this is a record we've been thinking about for the past six years. We knew we wanted to change, but we didn't want to change too much too soon. The record's about vulnerability in a lot of ways—throwing yourself out there...Why the fuck not put out that fucking stupid acoustic song?” Suddenly the band whose breakthrough album was named after a literal shit had the high school graduation song of the century, "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)." Breaking from the norm and subverting expectations, they were once again deemed unpunk sellouts by a new wave of commentators. After Nimrod came Warning, a transitional album that finds the band getting more comfortable with writing story-songs and inventing characters ("Misery"), as well as making political statements ("Minority," "Warning").

Then, in the thick of the Iraq War just before Bush was reelected, after Green Day's master tapes for their new album were stolen, they started from scratch and came out with the brilliantly scathing American Idiot. The anti-war, anti-Bush masterpiece was the most direct political statement by any contemporary musician at their level of fame. It was current, it was real, it was heartbreaking. The album is one story told through all the songs, a cohesive work, a punk rock opera. Two of the songs are over nine minutes long, but there Is not one moment not blisteringly immediate and engaging. It’s a tough call to make against Radiohead, but it’s the best album of this millennium so far. Lyrically unmatched, musically and melodically perfect. Incredibl ambitious and not misguided in the least. This brought a whole new generation of fans to Green Day, including a nine year old me, and at the same time it brought a whole new generation of detractors who accused the album of being a commercial sellout because it’s too popular and sounds too good. Anyone who refuses to actually listen to American Idiot because they're too cool and punk is only missing out on one of the most perfect works of art in existence. Anyway, from confused kids who didn’t care about anything to informed angry adults who can make a coherent statement about the socioeconomic climate of modern America, there isn’t really much more you can ask from a punk band.

After Idiot, where could they go? They recorded somewhat of a thematic sequel to American Idiot with 21^st Century Breakdown, another political punk rock opera, with more songs and more styles of music. It has its moments, but like most sequels does not fully live up to the first. "21 Guns" is essentially a worse version of "Wake Me Up When September Ends", "Last Of The American Girls" is essentially a worse version of "She's A Rebel," and "Last Night On Earth" edges onto straight up cheesy territory.

Then, they abandoned concept albums completely, even seemingly abandoning putting any thought into lyrics at all. Billie Joe Armstrong did a bunch of cocaine and prescription pills and somehow convinced himself that writing about being horny was novel, and wrote his three worst albums in quick succession, and then went to rehab. Uno, Dos, Tre. If there was any time to call him a sell out, it was then, but no one cared enough about the albums to make any comments about them.

And that brings us to now. After four years of rehabilitating and regrouping, Green Day just released two singles to their new album, “Bang Bang,” a dark, furious song from the point of view of a mass shooter that recalls the production of 21^st Century Breakdown, and "Revolution Radio," the title track with a similar vibe to "Bang Bang" and a catchy chorus. Now, we wait to see if Armstrong will be an exception to rule and pull off writing a great album after the age of 34. Revolution Radio is out October 7^th.