A Very Green Day

NOTE: I had to rush this post because...well, I fell asleep at the computer after work today and only left myself with 20 minutes to write. Damnit.
As I type this, I have a copy of Green Day's newest album "21st Century Breakdown" sitting in front of me. It remains unopen and will probaby stay that way for another five or six hours...maybe longer.
You see, I write this as a recently engaged 26 year old. My musical love affair with Green Day goes back to the summer of 1994 when I saw the music video for Green Day's first single "Longview". At the time, my musical tastes were strictly top 40 pop (Ace of Base, Janet Jackson, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince...you get the idea, hell, the first CD I ever bought was "Shaq Desiel").
Needless to say, my original taste in self discovered music was pretty awful. So when I saw the "Longview" clip on MTV, I can honestly say without being overdramatic, that my lifelong (hopefully) passion with music would be changed (as well as ignigted) forever.
My parents allowed me to order the pay per view package of "Woodstock '94" a few months later. The only set I cared to see was the Berkley trio's. What ensued took my interest in Green Day further. I saw three guys running around with dyed hair chucking mud back and forth with fans. I cannot stress how strange of a sight this was to an 11 year old.
During the ensuing years, Green Day released a few more albums before 2000's "Warning", which became the soundtrack of my freshman year of college. During the summer before I left for the University of Minnesota, I was given a free ticket to the Warped Tour a the Metrodome parking lot where I was able to see Green Day in the flesh for the first time (since then I have seen them 8 more times in person).
The highwater mark of Green Day's career was without question 2004's "American Idiot". An album that to this day probably holds the title of "Mike's Favorite Album".
Looking back on the summer of 2004 and the couple of years that followed, "American Idiot" seemed to make sense to me...as it did to many people between the ages of 15-25 (quite a range, I know). I felt that as a 22 year old with no real plan in life, I could relate to the characters in the story within the album.
Alas, to be compleatly honest, I haven't listened to "American Idiot" from start to finish in nearly two years. For the most part, Green Day has stayed out of the CD player during the last three. I moved on from one part of my life to another and the soundtrack changed. Perhaps I was irritated by the massive fame that Green Day achieved thanks to "American Idiot". It might have been the nine year olds with jet black spiked hair that I saw sporting Green Day shirts at the mall that disenchanted me. But hey, at least they're not listening to Ace of Base, right?
So, I sit here with an unopened copy of "21st Century Breakdown". A new Green Day album at my fingertips. Like a visit from a friend I haven't seen in years, I'm worried that I've outgrown my relationship with said friend. I'm a tad scared that I won't be able to relate to them after three years. I know it sounds hokey but it's true. Worst case scenario? I listen to the new music and can't understand why I connected with the band for so long. Honestly, it's unlikely. As my friend put it, "Sure, sometimes you see a friend you haven't seen in years and it's awkward at first...but then you see them again the next day and it's like old times."
Well, here's to new times with old friends.