Yes and no. Op Ivy was before them and better than them.
Yes, they came first. Are they a better band overall? Hey, I sure think so. But are they a better band in terms of making the same kind of music? Fuck no, because they aren't making the same kind of music. I don't even have to shift into music geek-mode...I can just use my ears. They don't sound the same. Green Day definitely went for a more Ramones-kinda sound, whereas Op Ivy (And by default, Rancid) found their kicks in the Clash.
"Punk" is the weirdest musical label, since it throws together bands that at a very basic level, "sound" somewhat alike, but really end up not being very similar at all. Take the original "big three," the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Ramones. If you had to, you could link them in that they played faster and more stripped-down guitar music than most other "rock" groups at the time...but take their albums and careers as a whole, they really are three very different sounding bands, but at the end of the day they're all still thrown together as "punk." It's pretty interesting, and pretty fucking odd, when you think about it.
As for Atreyu, yeah, they're pretty fucking horrible, but I actually "get" what the guy is trying to saw with the Green Day quote. The guy clearly isn't making music derived from anything Zeppelin did. He's young enough that his his first taste of "punk" was probably Green Day's faux-punk, and from there he went on to probably find "harder" bands, totally sidestepping ever having to listen to a band like Zeppelin.
As a kid, I heard and loved plenty of classic bands like the Beatles and the Who and the Stones...but I didn't hear bands like Zeppelin or Pink Floyd until I was in high school or college, and by then I had heard SO much else that neither band really did much for me. It was very much a "that's IT?"-kinda feeling. But I was 14 when I first heard Green Day, over a good decade ago...and even though now I don't think they're some kind of great or lasting band, I went on to listen to other actually great bands (Like Op Ivy, which pushed me towards actual HC bands, which pushed me to the DC scene, etc.) BECAUSE of them and their fake "punk"...far more than I'll ever hear because of a band like Zeppelin.
And hey, don't mind me. I just like to write, and I especially like to write about music. Its a dangerous combo when I get the chance to do both.
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1979 << December boys got it BAD >> "You can tell some lies about the good times we've had, but I've kissed your mother twice...and now I'm working on your dad..."
This message was edited by TheMojoPin on 7-6-04 @ 5:32 PM