Pittsburgh, PA Friday February 3, 2023 |
![]() | |
![]() |
News Sports Lifestyle Classifieds About Us |
![]() |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() Music Preview: Green Day vs. Blink-182 It's a battle of the bratty punk heroes on the Pop Disaster Tour Friday, May 24, 2002 By Scott Mervis, Weekend Editor, Post-Gazette
Green Day -- Mike Dirnt, Billie Joe Armstrong and Tre Cool -- kept the critics listening even after the "Dookie" backlash.
Justin Stephens
Blink-182 -- Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker and Tom DeLonge -- has the support of fans and the critics are coming around.
While it's not exactly the Beatles-Stones or the Clash-Sex Pistols rivalry, the meeting of Green Day with Blink-182 is decent fodder for a pop debate.
The argument probably wouldn't last long though, seeing as how it would pit the rock critic and record store music geek (Green Day) against the dazed MTV watcher just as likely to be listening to Pink as Blink.
The common ground is that both bands are bratty, both are thrashy, both have been known to traffic in teen angst, but by most accounts, Green Day gets the upper hand, not only for leading that first wave of punk revival in the '90s, but for being less of a cartoon, if that's at all possible.
Green Day recovered from the backlash that followed the success of the amazing "Dookie" to become something of a classic rock band. It's no accident that they were the ones honored with covering for the Ramones a few months ago at the punk band's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In the summer of 2002, however, Blink-182 is the stronger contender in the pop market. Green Day's "Warning" -- a midtempo affair that kicked off with the sound of an acoustic guitar -- limped to gold and fell off the charts after 25 weeks. Getting the bigger media push was Blink's the crunchier (and I'd say better) "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket," which dealt with some serious issues despite the prank name. Blink's record debuted at No. 1, just went double platinum and is hanging in there after 48 weeks.
The Pop Disaster Tour puts them on the same stage and, although they've played down the battle, you can bet they'll be looking to outgun each other. Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong told Rolling Stone, "I look at it as a challenge, as a sort of drag race."
Here's the tale of the tape:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Back to top ![]() ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |