Green Day

When future historians look for music that effectively captured the zeitgeist during the Bush era, they’ll give Green Day plenty of attention. Before 2004, no one would have guessed such a development: Green Day broke through in 1994 with snarling pop-punk that wore its slacker lethargy like a badge of honor. Credit the maturity that comes with age for 2004’s angsty political rock opera American Idiot, which sold millions and made Green Day newly relevant. The band stayed ambitious for 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown, a similarly despairing look at the aftermath of Bush era. The album plays to the band’s strengths (blazing, melodic punk), but is also comfortable veering outside that template. It all works surprisingly well—or maybe it shouldn’t be surprising anymore. Easily their most unexpected departure, though, arrived this year with the debut of a stage adaptation of American Idiot on Broadway.

Updated 07/27/2010