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Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of the Nice, Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitars, producer) of King Crimson, and Carl Palmer (drums, percussion) of Atomic Rooster. With nine RIAA-certified gold record albums in the US, and an estimated 48 million records sold worldwide, they are one of the most popular and commercially successful progressive rock groups of the 1970s, with a musical sound including adaptations of classical music with jazz and symphonic rock elements, dominated by Emerson's flamboyant use of the Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, and piano (although Lake wrote several acoustic songs for the group).

The band came to prominence following their performance at the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1970. In their first year, the group signed with E.G. Records (who distributed the band's records through Island Records in the United Kingdom, and Atlantic Records in North America), and released Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970) and Tarkus (1971), both of which reached the UK top five. The band's success continued with Pictures at an Exhibition (1971), Trilogy (1972), and Brain Salad Surgery (1973, released on ELP's own Manticore Records label). After a three-year break, Emerson, Lake & Palmer released Works Volume 1 (1977) and Works Volume 2 (1977). After Love Beach (1978), the group disbanded in 1979.

The band re-formed partially in the 1980s as Emerson, Lake & Powell featuring Cozy Powell in place of Palmer, who was, by then, a member of Asia. Robert Berry then replaced Lake while Palmer returned, forming 3. In 1991, the original trio re-formed and released two more albums, Black Moon (1992) and In the Hot Seat (1994), and toured at various times between 1992 and 1998. Their final performance took place in 2010 at the High Voltage Festival in London to commemorate the band's 40th anniversary. Both Emerson and Lake died in 2016,  leaving Palmer as the only surviving member of the band.

1969–1970: Formation and first gigs
By the end of 1969, the Nice keyboardist Keith Emerson and King Crimson bassist and vocalist Greg Lake were looking to leave their respective groups and form a new band. The pair first met in New York City and discussed the possibility of forming one together; they met again in December 1969 when the Nice and King Crimson were billed together for concerts at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. During a soundcheck before one of the shows, Emerson described the first time he and Lake played together: "Greg was moving a bass line and I played the piano in back and Zap! It was there." When the Nice split in March 1970 and Lake left King Crimson a month later, the pair began the search for a drummer, which turned out to be a difficult process. They initially approached Mitch Mitchell, who was at a loose end following the break-up of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and suggested a jam session take place amongst the three of them and guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The session never happened, but it caused the press to report rumours of a planned supergroup named HELP, an acronym for "Hendrix Emerson Lake Palmer", which Lake later debunked. As part of auditions for drummers at a studio by Soho Square, Emerson's manager, Tony Stratton Smith, suggested Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster and previously the Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Palmer turned up for a session and enjoyed the chemistry, but was reluctant to commit as Atomic Rooster were starting to gain attention in Europe. Emerson and Lake persisted, and after several weeks Palmer agreed to join.

The three named themselves Emerson, Lake & Palmer to remove the focus on Emerson as the most famous of the three, and to ensure that they were not called the "new Nice". Triton was a name that Emerson said "was buzzing around" for a little while, and Triumvirate and Seahorse were also in contention. They moved to Island Studios in Notting Hill to rehearse and form a live set. Most of the numbers were rock adaptations and arrangements of classical pieces, including: Allegro barbaro by Béla Bartók entitled "The Barbarian", the jazz standard "Blue Rondo à la Turk" by Dave Brubeck entitled "Rondo" that Emerson had recorded with the Nice, "Nut Rocker" as an encore, and Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky that Emerson wanted to do after seeing it performed by an orchestra. An original song from Lake, "Take a Pebble", was also worked out. The group wished to enhance their live act, and spent £9,000 on a sound mixer and £4,000 on a Moog modular synthesizer imported from America that was adapted for better performance on stage.

The trio's first live gig followed at Plymouth Guildhall on 23 August 1970, supported by Earth, a local band. They travelled to the venue in a transit van previously owned by fellow progressive rock band Yes, and were paid around £400 for the gig. A small venue outside London was deliberately chosen in case the concert was a failure, but the concert was well received. Their second gig took place on 29 August with a set at the Isle of Wight Festival which was attended by an estimated 600,000 people and drew considerable attention from the public and music press. At the end of "Pictures at an Exhibition", the band fired two cannons that Emerson had tested in a field near Heathrow Airport.

The success of the group's debut, as well as Lake's prior association with King Crimson, led to the band signing management and recording contracts with E.G. Records, who distributed their records through Island in the UK and Cotillion, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, in North America. Emerson believed that Atlantic's chief and co-founder Ahmet Ertegun agreed to take the band on "because we could sell out 20,000-seaters before we even had a record out. That was enough for him to think that a lot of people would go out and buy the record when it did come out."

1970–1971: Debut album, Tarkus, and Pictures at an Exhibition
In the months surrounding their debut gigs, the band recorded their first album, Emerson Lake & Palmer, at Advision Studios. Lake took on the role of producer, which he had also done in King Crimson, with Eddy Offord as their engineer. The album included studio versions of "The Barbarian" and "Take a Pebble", "Knife-Edge", based on the first movement of Sinfonietta by Leoš Janáček and the Allemande of French Suite No. 1 in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, Palmer's drum solo "Tank", the three-part "The Three Fates", and "Lucky Man", an acoustic ballad that Lake wrote when he was twelve. The album was released in the UK in November 1970, and reached No. 4 in the UK and No. 18 in the US. "Lucky Man" was released as a single that peaked at No. 48 in the US.

From September 1970 to March 1971, the band completed their first concert tour with shows across the UK, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Emerson used a large Moog modular synthesizer on stage but it was unreliable as heat affected its sound. Their performance on 9 December 1970 at the Lyceum Theatre in London was filmed and released in UK theatres in 1972 with added psychedelic effects including characters from Marvel Comics.

During a break in their first tour in January 1971, Emerson, Lake & Palmer returned to Advision Studios with Offord to record their second album, Tarkus. Friction between Emerson and Lake during the early recording sessions almost caused the group to disband as Lake disliked the material that Emerson was writing. Following a meeting with the band and management, Lake agreed to write his own songs and continue recording. The album was recorded in six days. The album's first side is occupied by the 20-minute title track, a seven-part song based on reverse evolution that was recorded in four days. Its cover art was designed by painter and graphic designer William Neal. Tarkus was released in June 1971 and was a commercial success, reaching No. 1 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. The band resumed touring with their first North American tour, starting 24 April 1971 at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania, and continued until the end of May. Further dates across Europe followed until the end of the year.

The band's third album, Pictures at an Exhibition, was released as a budget album in the UK in November 1971. It features their version of the Mussorgsky suite performed live at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971 plus the concert's encore, "Nut Rocker". It was to be released before Tarkus, but the group delayed its release on purpose to show the music press and public that they could write their own songs, and were not merely "the band that did classical music". Atlantic Records declined to release it in the US, claiming it would not sell or receive any radio airplay because of its classical orientation and offered to release it on its sister label Nonesuch Records which handled budget, classical, and avant-garde albums. The band refused until Island imported 250,000 copies into the US which quickly sold, helped by radio DJ Scott Muni playing the entire album on WNEW-FM in New York City. The strong response prompted Atlantic to release it through Cotillion at a full price in January 1972. The album peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 10 in the US.

1971–1974: Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery
Trilogy, the band's third studio album, was recorded at Advision Studios with Offord between October 1971 and January 1972. Its cover art was designed by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis. "Hoedown" is an adaptation of Rodeo by Aaron Copland. Released in July 1972, Trilogy reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 5 in the US. "From the Beginning", an acoustic ballad featuring an extended synthesizer solo, was released as a single which reached No. 39 in the US. Lake has picked Trilogy as his favourite studio album by the band. The album was supported with a North American tour in March and April 1972 which included a spot at the Mar y Sol Pop Festival in Manatí, Puerto Rico on 3 April. Following dates across Europe, including their first in Italy, the band performed at the Concert 10 Festival at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on 9 July 1972. This was followed by their first dates in Japan where a riot broke out during the show in Osaka, causing the power to be cut and the group fleeing the stage.

In early 1973, the band formed their own record label, Manticore Records, and purchased an abandoned cinema as their own rehearsal hall in Fulham, London. In June 1973, Emerson, Lake & Palmer began recording Brain Salad Surgery in London at Advision and Olympic Studios which lasted until September that year. Offord was not present for the recording sessions as he was working with Yes, leaving engineering and mixing duties to Chris Kimsey and Geoff Young. Lake wrote the album's lyrics with Peter Sinfield and its sleeve was designed by H. R. Giger and includes the band's new logo. Formed of five tracks, the album includes a rendition of "Jerusalem" which features the debut of the Moog Apollo, a prototype polyphonic synthesizer. "Toccata" is a cover of the fourth movement of Piano Concerto No. 1 by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera and contains synthesised percussion in the form of an acoustic drum kit fitted with pick-ups that triggered electronic sounds. The 29-minute track "Karn Evil 9" is the longest song recorded by the group. Brain Salad Surgery was released in November 1973 and reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 11 in the US.

From November 1973 to August 1974, the band toured North America and Europe which saw them carry almost 40 tons of equipment. On 6 April 1974, the band headlined the inaugural California Jam Festival at the Ontario Motor Speedway, California, to an attendance of 250,000 people. The show was filmed and broadcast across the US. These shows exhibited a mix of virtuoso musicianship and over-the-top performances which some criticised as excessive, such as Emerson playing a piano as it spun, suspended, end-over-end; Palmer playing on a rotating drum platform; and Emerson throwing a Hammond organ around the stage to create feedback. Emerson often used a knife, given to him by Lemmy Kilmister, who had roadied for the Nice, to force the keys on the organ to stay down. The tour was one of the top concert draws during for the 1973–1974 period. Performances from Anaheim, California, were documented in the live album, Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends ~ Ladies and Gentlemen, released in August 1974 as a triple LP. The album peaked at No. 5 in the UK and No. 4 in the US.

1974–1978: Hiatus and Works
After touring in 1974, the band took an extended break. The three members bought homes overseas and became tax exiles in the process, but Emerson suffered a setback in 1975 when his Sussex home burned down and lost most of his possessions. The ordeal left him depressed, and he later credited his bandmates in helping him recover from drug misuse.

They regrouped in 1976 to record Works Volume 1 at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland and EMI Studios in Paris, France. It is a double album with one side of an LP containing songs by each member and a fourth of group material. Much of the album was recorded with an orchestral accompaniment; Emerson's side consists of his 18-minute, three-movement Piano Concerto No. 1. Lake contributed five songs he co-wrote with Sinfield, and Palmer's includes two covers of classical pieces by Sergei Prokofiev and Bach. One of the two group tracks, "Fanfare for the Common Man", is a cover of the same-titled orchestral piece by Aaron Copland, who gave permission to have the band release it. Works Volume 1 was released in March 1977 and peaked at No. 9 in the UK and No. 12 in the US. A single of "Fanfare for the Common Man" was released and reached No. 2 in the UK, the band's highest charting UK single. In November 1977, Works Volume 2 was released as a compilation of shorter tracks recorded from 1973 to 1976 during various album recording sessions. The album was not as commercially successful as the band's previous albums; it reached No. 20 in the UK and No. 37 in the US. Three tracks from the album were released as singles: "Tiger in a Spotlight", "Maple Leaf Rag", and "Watching Over You".

The two Works albums were supported by North American tours which lasted from May 1977 to February 1978, spanning over 120 dates. The original plan was to have an orchestra on stage with the band each night, but the idea was dropped after 11 shows due to the high costs and difficulties with the orchestra unions. The 64-piece orchestra and choir were formed from the 500 who auditioned for a position. The orchestra was used two other times on the tour: for three dates at Madison Square Garden in New York City and the August 1977 show at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal that was attended by an estimated 78,000 people, the highest attended Emerson, Lake & Palmer concert as a solo act. The concert was filmed and released as a live album in 1979 entitled Emerson, Lake & Palmer in Concert that reached No. 73 in the US. Emerson wished for a double album release, but Atlantic Records decided against it due to the band's pending dissolution at its time of release. In 1993, the album was repackaged with additional tracks as Works Live, and put out on video in 1998. Emerson later said that his insistence on the band using an orchestra was a mistake, but he was unwilling to tour without one. Lake looked back on this period as the beginning of the end of the group's original run.

1978–1979: Love Beach and first break-up
After their 1977–78 tour, the band discussed their next move. Emerson recalled that in order for the group to continue, "we would have to do a lot of cutting down" and considered the possibility of producing music with just a piano, bass guitar, and drums. As the group were contractually obliged to record one more studio album, the band relocated to Emerson's home near Nassau in the Bahamas and recorded Love Beach at the nearby Compass Point Studios in 1978. Lake did not carry out the production duties, leaving Emerson to complete the record on his own after his bandmates returned home when recording was complete. The album has been dismissed by the band, who explained it was produced to fulfil a contractual obligation. Sinfield is credited on the majority of the tracks as a lyricist except "Canario", an instrumental based on Fantasía para un gentilhombre by Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. The second side is taken up with "Memoirs of an Officer and a Gentleman", a four-part 20-minute track that tells a coming of age story of a soldier during the World War II-era. Its cover is a photograph of the group at a beach off an island from Salt Cay, Turks Islands, "decked out as bare-chested late-seventies disco stars". Despite Emerson expressing his disapproval on the album's title and cover to Ertegun, neither was changed.

Love Beach was released in November 1978 and was poorly received by the music press. "All I Want Is You" was released as a single in the UK, but failed to chart. It did sell enough to be certified gold in the US for 500,000 copies sold, in January 1979. In early 1979, Palmer attempted to organise a farewell summer tour and have the group disband at its conclusion. Due to internal problems, such as "what we should play and how we should play it", the tour never materialised. The band made no announcement of their break-up, and Palmer moved on by forming a band, PM, which released one album entitled 1PM.

1985–1989: Related activity
In 1985, Emerson and Lake formed Emerson, Lake & Powell with former Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell. Palmer declined to participate in a reunion as he was busy with commitments with Asia. Rumours also linked Bill Bruford to their new line-up, but he was committed to King Crimson and Earthworks. The group's only album, Emerson Lake & Powell, was released in June 1986 and charted at No. 35 in the UK and No. 23 in the US. The single "Touch and Go" went to No. 60 in the US and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The trio toured the album in 1986, playing material by the Nice and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

In 1988, Emerson and Palmer joined with Robert Berry to form the band 3. They released an album, To the Power of Three, in 1988.

1990–1998: Re-formation, Black Moon, In the Hot Seat, and second break-up
In 1990, former Atlantic Records executive Phil Carson approached Emerson, Lake & Palmer to reunite and produce music for a proposed film. The project never developed, but the trio remained in London and started to come up with new musical ideas. The sessions were productive, with the band working as much as five to six days a week for three months, which convinced them to abandon soundtrack work in favour of putting out a new album. By mid-1991, Carson had secured them with a two-album deal with his new independent label, Victory Music. Lake's voice had deepened by this point, and the band took greater care in the key that songs were written to better suit his vocals. They also utilised modern recording technology to complement the songs, including MIDI and digital sampling, which Palmer said kept their material fresh. Atlantic capitalised on the reunion by releasing The Atlantic Years, a two-and-a-half hour compilation of their early material.

Black Moon was released in July 1992; it peaked at No. 78 in the US but failed to chart in the UK. The group supported it with a world tour between July 1992 and April 1993, which included their first shows in England since 1974. The concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall were broadcast on BBC radio and released as a live album in 1993, entitled Live at the Royal Albert Hall. The shows were also filmed and subsequently released on DVD. Later in 1993, Victory Music released The Return of the Manticore a 4-disc box set retrospective of the band's career and previously unreleased studio tracks, including a new studio recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition" in Dolby surround sound.

The band's final studio album, In the Hot Seat, was released in September 1994. Victory Music was in financial trouble by this time, as albums by fellow label acts Tin Machine and Yes failed to generate strong enough sales, causing Victory and producer Keith Olsen to put pressure on Emerson to make a more commercially oriented album with the band. When Emerson reluctantly agreed, Victory and Olsen brought in several individuals to assist in the songwriting; Olsen received a credit on four tracks and Bill Wray on two. In the summer of 1994, the band cancelled an upcoming North American and Japanese tour, and the group split for a short period to pursue solo projects. Emerson underwent surgery to correct a compressed nerve in his arm in October, which left him able to play at only half his previous capacity. Palmer also had an operation to fix his carpal tunnel syndrome. Initial plans to commemorate the band's 25th anniversary in 1995 were shelved. Following the demise of Victory Music, their back catalogue transferred to Rhino Records.

Emerson and Palmer eventually recovered enough to start touring again from August 1996, beginning with a 33-date US tour opening for Jethro Tull. This was followed by a Japanese tour in October, where the group played a full set. In 1997, the band completed a 50-date world tour. It is noted for Emerson's Hammond organ catching fire during the show in Boston. The remains were donated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In May 1998, Lake's manager announced that the band had started work on a new studio album. This was followed by a North American tour in August as openers for Deep Purple and Dream Theater, which included the "Tarkus" suite performed in its entirety for the first time since 1974. After the tour, friction arose within the group as Lake wanted to relinquish his role as producer on the new album, and blamed the band's recent creative lull on this fact. Emerson and Palmer were against the idea, and claimed Lake had not presented any tangible material for them to work on despite knowing he was collecting ideas for a solo album. The rift resulted in the trio's split by the end of 1998, and a tour booked for the spring of 1999 was cancelled.

2010–present: 40th anniversary concert, deaths of Emerson and Lake, and aftermath
In April and May 2010, Emerson and Lake embarked on a North American tour with stripped-down versions of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the Nice, and King Crimson songs. It originated when the pair got together at Lake's home studio earlier in the year to write new songs. When they stopped for a break, they occasionally played an Emerson, Lake & Palmer song which led to the idea of recreating it on stage as it gave the songs a different feel to the originals. Later in 2010, the 4-CD box set A Time and a Place was released that features live tracks from 1970 to 1998. Two archival concerts followed in 2011: Live at Nassau Coliseum '78 and Live at the Mar Y Sol Festival '72.

In September 2009, Palmer announced that the band had planned to reform earlier in the year, but it had to be pushed back for Emerson to receive medical attention on one of his hands. The three got together for a one-off concert for their 40th anniversary, headlining the High Voltage Festival at London's Victoria Park on 25 July 2010. The show was recorded and filmed; a live album was released as High Voltage. The DVD and Blu-ray of the concert followed in August 2011, which also contained a documentary on the band's career. Lake said that despite the band having "tremendous technical problems" on stage and struggled at points, the audience were enthusiastic and people enjoyed their performance. Palmer held a more critical view, and said the group rehearsed for five weeks before the show, which he initially considered excessive, but upon hearing the recording, "maybe five weeks was not long enough. It wasn't to the standard that I liked and I didn't think it sounded that good."

Following their 2010 reunion, the band expressed differing opinions regarding their future. In early 2010, Emerson and Lake had not ruled out further Emerson, Lake & Palmer concerts or the possibility of a new studio album; the former said: "I see no reason why we shouldn't be doing more." In 2011, Lake said that Emerson and he were open to the idea of more group activity, but acknowledged Palmer's more negative comments to the press shortly before the 40th anniversary concert. Lake said: "I don't know why Carl has a propensity to dwell on negative issues... Keith and I have had our differences over the years, but we've certainly put them behind us and just forgot about them... I'm waiting for Carl to reach the point of wisdom in his life when he realises that carrying around grudges from the past is pointless." In 2012, Lake was unsure that a reunion could take place: "I doubt very much it will happen because I don't think Carl and Keith are in that same frame of mind." In 2013, Palmer revealed that he put a stop on further group plans.

In December 2010, Emerson, Lake & Palmer signed a worldwide licensing deal with Sony Music Entertainment. In 2012, they secured a new back catalogue agreement with American-based Razor & Tie, and acquired a worldwide catalogue distribution deal with BMG Rights Management three years later.

On 11 March 2016, Emerson died by suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his head. On 7 December, Lake died from cancer.

In October 2021, Rocket 88 Books released Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the first official book about the band that was made in co-operation with Palmer and Emerson and Lake's families, with Palmer as executive editor. It was available in three editions, Classic, Signature, and Ultimate, all containing rare and previously unpublished interviews and photographs.

Influence and appraisal
A 2016 retrospective review in Rolling Stone listed "10 Essential Songs by EL&P" and noted, "ELP became one of rock's first supergroups upon forming in 1970…The result was a stretch of albums…that turned prog from a black-light-in-the-basement listening experience into a stadium-filling phenomenon. At their heart was Emerson, whose eternal quest for a bigger, grander sound (thanks to a bank of organs and synthesizers that grew to resemble a fortress onstage) helped make ELP one of the most accomplished and absorbing bands rock ever birthed." Koji Kondo, Nintendo's first video game composer, cited ELP as a major influence on his work. Nobuo Uematsu, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series, cites ELP as one of his influences. The trio are described as "genuinely classically aware, and openly demonstrated their respect for classical music." They are said to have "formed a genuine fusion between rock and jazz" and were noted for their "virtuosity and their uninhibited aggression."

Despite their success and influence, ELP received criticism from some music critics, one citing a popular joke from the 1970s: "How do you spell pretentious? E-L-P." Robert Christgau said of the band in Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), "these guys are as stupid as their most pretentious fans", also calling them the "world's most overweening 'progressive' group". John Kelman of All About Jazz noted that an "overbearing sense of self-importance turned ELP from one of the 1970s' most exciting new groups into the definition of masturbatory excess and self-aggrandizement in only a few short years." Kelman also stated that "in their fall from grace, [ELP] represented everything wrong with progressive rock." Paul Stump, in his History of Progressive Rock, likewise attributed ELP's infamy to their decadent activities during progressive rock's fall from favour: "What prompted ELP to do what they did to their listeners, their critics and ultimately themselves in 1977 can only be guessed at. What is certain is that it consigned them to eternal rock notoriety. Even discounting Punk, had not the musical climate changed enough to convince them that epics were out of fashion, both on record and in concert?" DJ John Peel went so far as to describe the band as "a tragic waste of talent and electricity". In an appraisal of the band's legacy, PopMatters journalist Sean Murphy said ELP "wore immoderation like a badge of courage", regardless of whether they were loved or loathed: "Here are three words that strike fear in the hearts of all those allergic to prog rock: Emerson. Lake. Palmer. Popular enough to have several songs still in the regular FM rotation, obscure enough to be forever relegated as one of 'those' bands from a certain time and place (the '70s), ambitious enough to attempt things few if any other bands did, for better or worse, pretentious enough to earn the full-throated derision of holier-than-thou tastemakers. And album art awful enough to ensure they will never be forgotten, for better or worse."

Discography
Main studio and live discography
 * Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1970)
 * Tarkus (1971)
 * Pictures at an Exhibition (1971, live)
 * Trilogy (1972)
 * Brain Salad Surgery (1973)
 * Works Volume 1 (1977)
 * Works Volume 2 (1977)
 * Love Beach (1978)
 * Black Moon (1992)
 * In the Hot Seat (1994)

Band members

 * Keith Emerson – piano, organ, keyboards, synthesizers (1970–1979, 1991–1998, 2010, 2010–2011; died 2016)
 * Greg Lake – vocals, lead and bass guitar, acoustic six- and twelve-string guitar (1970–1979, 1991–1998, 2010, 2010–2011; died 2016)
 * Carl Palmer – drums, percussion (1970–1979, 1991–1998, 2010, 2010–2011)

title: Emerson, Lake & Palmer


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Green Day

Green Day is an American rock band formed in Rodeo, California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their major-label debut Dookie, released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and eventually shipped over 10 million copies in the U.S. Alongside fellow California punk bands Bad Religion, the Offspring, Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise and Social Distortion, Green Day is credited with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.

Before taking its current name in 1989, the band was named Blood Rage, then Sweet Children. They were part of the late 1980s/early 1990s Bay Area punk scene that emerged from the 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases were with the independent record label Lookout! Records including their first album, 39/Smooth (1990). For most of the band's career, they have been a power trio with Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 before the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk (1991). Though the albums Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997) and Warning (2000) did not match the success of Dookie, they were still successful, with Insomniac and Nimrod reaching double platinum status, while Warning achieved gold. Green Day's seventh album, a rock opera called American Idiot (2004), found popularity with a younger generation, selling six million copies in the U.S. Their next album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released in 2009 and achieved the band's best chart performance. It was followed by a trilogy of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!, released in September, November, and December 2012, respectively. The trilogy did not perform as well as expected commercially, in comparison to their previous albums, largely due to a lack of promotion and Armstrong entering rehab. They were followed by Revolution Radio (2016), which became their third to debut at No. 1 on the  Billboard 200, Father of All Motherfuckers (2020) and Saviors (2024).

In 2010, a stage adaptation of American Idiot debuted on Broadway. The musical was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design, winning the latter two. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, their first year of eligibility. Members of the band have collaborated on the side projects Pinhead Gunpowder, The Network, Foxboro Hot Tubs, The Longshot and The Coverups. They have also worked on solo careers.

Green Day has sold roughly 75 million records worldwide as of 2024, making them one of the best-selling music artists. The group has been nominated for 20 Grammy Awards and won five of them, with Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording.

Formation and Lookout! years (1987–1993)

In 1987, friends and guitarists Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, 15 years old at the time, along with bassist Sean Hughes and drummer Raj Punjabi, a fellow student from Pinole Valley High School, formed band "Blood Rage", the name taken from the eponymous film, and played together in Raj's father's house garage at Rodeo, California; a few months later, the band renamed to Sweet Children. One of their first songs written together was "Best Thing in Town". The group's first live performance under the name Sweet Children took place on October 17, 1987, at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California. In 1988, Armstrong and Dirnt began working with former Isocracy drummer John Kiffmeyer, also known as "Al Sobrante", who replaced original drummer Raj Punjabi. It was around this time that bassist Sean Hughes also left the band, causing Dirnt to switch from guitar to bass. Armstrong cites the band Operation Ivy (which featured Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, who would later contact Armstrong to fill in as a possible second guitarist for their band Rancid) as a major influence and a group that inspired him to form a band.

In 1988, Larry Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records, saw the band play an early show and signed them to his label. In April 1989, the band released its debut extended play, 1,000 Hours. Shortly before the EP's release, the group dropped the name Sweet Children; according to Livermore, this was done to avoid confusion with another local band, Sweet Baby. Sweet Children adopted the name Green Day, instead, due to the members' fondness for cannabis. The phrase "green day" was slang in the Bay Area, where the band originated, for spending a day doing nothing but smoking marijuana. Armstrong once admitted in 2001 that he considered it to be "the worst band name in the world".

Lookout! released Green Day's debut studio album, 39/Smooth in early 1990. Green Day recorded two extended plays later that year, Slappy and Sweet Children, the latter of which included older songs the band had recorded for the Minneapolis independent record label Skene! Records. In 1991, Lookout! Records re-released 39/Smooth as 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and added the songs from the band's first two EPs, Slappy and 1,000 Hours. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide tour, Kiffmeyer left the East Bay area to attend Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. The Lookouts' drummer Tré Cool began filling in temporarily and later permanently, an offer which Kiffmeyer "graciously accepted". The band went on tour for most of 1992 and 1993 and played a number of shows overseas in Europe. By then, the band's second studio album Kerplunk had sold 50,000 copies in the U.S. Green Day supported another California punk band, Bad Religion, as an opening act for their Recipe for Hate Tour for most of 1993.

Signing with Reprise Records and breakthrough success (1993–1995)
Kerplunk's underground success led to interest from major record labels and a bidding war to sign Green Day. The band eventually left Lookout! and signed with Reprise Records after attracting the attention of producer Rob Cavallo. The group was impressed by his work with fellow Californian band The Muffs and later remarked that Cavallo "was the only person we could talk to and connect with". Reflecting on this period, Armstrong told Spin magazine in 1999, "I couldn't go back to the punk scene, whether we were the biggest success in the world or the biggest failure … The only thing I could do was get on my bike and go forward." After signing with Reprise, the band began recording its major-label debut, Dookie. On September 3, 1993, Green Day played their last show at 924 Gilman under the pseudonym Blair Hess before being banned permanently because of their major label signing.

Recorded in three weeks and released in February 1994, Dookie became a commercial success, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos of the songs "Longview", "Basket Case", and "When I Come Around", all of which reached the number one position on the Modern Rock Tracks charts. The album went on to sell over 10 million copies in the US. At a performance on September 9, 1994, at Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston, mayhem broke out during the band's set (cut short to seven songs), and by the end of the rampage, 100 people were injured and 45 arrested. The band also joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza festival and Woodstock '94, where at the latter the group started an infamous mud fight. During the concert, a security guard mistook bassist Mike Dirnt for a stage-invading fan and punched out some of his teeth. Viewed by millions by pay-per-view television, the Woodstock 1994 performance further aided Green Day's growing publicity and recognition. In 1995, Dookie won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album, and the band was nominated for nine MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. In the band's homestead of the East Bay following Dookie's success, the band felt a sense of hostility. Billie Joe Armstrong recalled aggressive glares and furtive whispers. The band's success would trickle onto other East Bay bands such as Jawbreaker, a local favorite of Armstrong's, which garnered accusations of selling out during a concert attended by Armstrong.

Middle years and decline in popularity (1995–2002)
In 1995, a single entitled "J.A.R." for the Angus soundtrack was released and debuted at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The band's fourth studio album, Insomniac, was released in Fall 1995. Compared to the more melodic Dookie, Insomniac was a much darker and heavier response to the band's newfound popularity. The album opened to warm critical reception, earning 4 of 5 stars from Rolling Stone, which said "In punk, the good stuff unfolds and gains meaning as you listen without sacrificing any of its electric, haywire immediacy. And Green Day are as good as this stuff gets." The singles released from Insomniac were "Geek Stink Breath", "Stuck with Me", "Brain Stew/Jaded", and "Walking Contradiction".

Though the album did not approach the success of Dookie, it sold three million copies in the United States. The album earned the band award nominations for Favorite Artist, Favorite Hard Rock Artist, and Favorite Alternative Artist at the 1996 American Music Awards, and the video for "Walking Contradiction" earned the band nominations for Best Video, Short Form, at the Grammy's, in addition to Best Special Effects at the MTV Video Music Awards. After that, the band abruptly canceled a European tour, citing exhaustion.

Following a brief hiatus in 1996, Green Day began work on its next album in 1997. From the outset, Cavallo and the band agreed the album had to be different from Green Day's previous albums. The result was Nimrod, an experimental deviation from the band's standard melodic punk rock. The album was released in October 1997 and provided a variety of music, from punk, pop, hardcore, folk, surf rock, ska, to the acoustic ballad "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". Nimrod entered the charts at Number 10. The mainstream success of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" won the band an MTV Video Award for Best Alternative Video. The song was used in the second clip show episode of Seinfeld and two episodes of ER. The other singles released from Nimrod were "Nice Guys Finish Last", "Hitchin' a Ride", and "Redundant". The band made a guest appearance in an episode of King of the Hill in 1997. In late 1997 and most of 1998, Green Day embarked on a tour in support of Nimrod. In 1999, Jason White began supporting the band during concerts as guitarist.

In 2000, Green Day released their folk-punk-inspired sixth studio album Warning and, in support, participated in that year's Warped Tour. In November 2000, in a show produced by Ian Brennan, the band performed for free on the steps on San Francisco's City Hall to protest the eviction of artists from the city. The band also launched an independent tour to support the album Warning in 2001. Critics' reviews of the album were varied. AllMusic gave it 4.5/5, saying, "Warning may not be an innovative record per se, but it's tremendously satisfying." Rolling Stone was more critical, giving it 3/5 and saying, "Warning … invites the question: Who wants to listen to songs of faith, hope and social commentary from what used to be snot core's biggest-selling band?" Though it produced the hit "Minority" and smaller hit "Warning", some observers were coming to the conclusion that the band was losing relevance, and a decline in popularity followed. While all of Green Day's previous albums had reached at least triple platinum sales, Warning was only certified gold.

At the 2001 California Music Awards, Green Day won all eight of the awards for which it was nominated. The group won awards for Outstanding Album (Warning), Outstanding Punk Rock/Ska Album (Warning), Outstanding Group, Outstanding Male Vocalist, Outstanding Bassist, Outstanding Drummer, Outstanding Songwriter, and Outstanding Artist.

The release of two compilation albums, International Superhits! and Shenanigans, followed Warning. International Superhits! had a companion collection of music videos entitled International Supervideos! Shenanigans contained collected B-sides including "Espionage", which was featured in the film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

In Spring 2002, Green Day co-headlined the Pop Disaster Tour with Blink-182, documented on the DVD Riding in Vans with Boys.

American Idiot and renewed success (2003–2006)

In Summer 2003, the band wrote and recorded material for an album tentatively titled Cigarettes and Valentines. After completing 20 tracks, the master recordings were stolen from the studio. Instead of re-recording the stolen tracks, the band decided to abandon the entire project and start over, considering the taken material to be unrepresentative of the band's best work. It was then revealed that a band called The Network was signed to Armstrong's record label Adeline Records with little fanfare and information. After the band, who concealed their identities with masks and costumes, released an album called Money Money 2020, it was rumored that The Network was a Green Day side project, due to similarities in the bands' sounds. However, these rumors were never addressed by the band or Adeline Records, except for a statement on the Adeline website discussing an ongoing dispute between the two bands. The bands "feuded" via press releases and statements from Armstrong. Several journalists openly referred to the group as a Green Day side project,  although it was not confirmed as such until 2013.

Green Day collaborated with Iggy Pop on two tracks for his album Skull Ring in November 2003. On February 1, 2004, a cover of "I Fought the Law" made its debut on a commercial for iTunes during NFL Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Finally, American Idiot was released in September 2004 and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. Backed by the success of the album's first single "American Idiot", it was the band's first album to reach this pinnacle. American Idiot was labeled a punk rock opera and follows the journey of the fictitious "Jesus of Suburbia". The album depicts modern American life under the control of an idiot ruler who lets people be misinformed by the media and a "redneck agenda". It gives different angles on an everyman, modern icons, and leaders. Released two months before U.S. President George W. Bush was reelected, the album became protest art. The album went on to sell 6 million copies in the US.

American Idiot won the 2005 Grammy for Best Rock Album and was nominated in six other categories including Album of the Year. The album helped Green Day win seven of the eight awards it was nominated for at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards; the "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" video won six of those awards. A year later, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. In 2009, Kerrang! named American Idiot the best album of the decade, NME ranked it number 60 in a similar list, and Rolling Stone ranked it 22nd. Rolling Stone also listed "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "American Idiot" among the 100 best songs of the 2000s, at number 65 and 47, respectively. In 2005, the album was ranked number 420 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. In 2012, the album was ranked number 225 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

While touring for American Idiot, the group filmed and recorded the two concerts at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in England. These recordings were released as a live CD and DVD set called Bullet in a Bible on November 15, 2005. The DVD featured behind-the-scenes footage of the band and showed how its members prepared to put on the show. The final shows of the 2005 world tour were in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, on December 14 and 17, respectively.

On August 1, 2005, Green Day announced it had rescinded the master rights to its pre-Dookie material from Lookout! Records, citing a continuing breach of contract regarding unpaid royalties, a complaint shared with other Lookout! bands. On January 10, 2006, the band was awarded People's Choice Award for favorite musical group or band.

21st Century Breakdown and American Idiot's stage adaptation (2007–2010)
Green Day engaged in many other smaller projects in the time following the success of American Idiot. In 2008, the group released a garage-rock-inspired album under the name Foxboro Hot Tubs entitled Stop Drop and Roll!!! The Foxboro Hot Tubs went on a mini tour during the same year to promote the record, hitting tiny Bay Area venues including the Stork Club in Oakland and Toot's Tavern in Crockett, California.

In an interview with Carson Daly, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson revealed that Butch Vig would be producing Green Day's forthcoming album. The span of nearly five years between American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown was the longest gap between studio albums in Green Day's career. The band had been working on new material since January 2006. By October 2007, Armstrong had 45 songs written, but the band showed no further signs of progress until October 2008, when two videos showing the band recording with producer Butch Vig were posted on YouTube. The writing and recording process, spanning three years and four recording studios, was finally finished in April 2009.

21st Century Breakdown was released on May 15, 2009. The album received a mainly positive reception from critics, getting an average rating between 3 and 4 stars. The album reached number one in fourteen countries, being certified gold or platinum in each. 21st Century Breakdown achieved Green Day's best chart performance to date. The band started playing shows in California in April and early May. These were the group's first live shows in about three years. Green Day went on a world tour that started in North America in July 2009 and continued around the world throughout the rest of 2009 and early 2010. The album won Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. As of December 2010, 21st Century Breakdown has sold 1,005,000 copies in the US.

Wal-Mart refused to carry the album as it contains a Parental Advisory sticker and requested that Green Day release a censored edition. The band members did not wish to change any lyrics on the album and responded by stating, "There's nothing dirty about our record... They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there. We just said no. We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something."

In 2009, the band met with award-winning director Michael Mayer and many cast and crew members of the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening to create a stage version of the album American Idiot. American Idiot opened in the Berkeley Repertory Theatre during the end of 2009. The show features an expanded story of the original album, with new characters such as Will, Extraordinary Girl, and Favorite Son. On April 20, 2010, American Idiot opened on Broadway, and Green Day released the soundtrack to the musical, featuring a new song by Green Day entitled "When It's Time". In June 2010 iTunes released "When It's Time" as a single.

During the Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009, it was announced that Green Day was set to have its own Rock Band video game titled Green Day: Rock Band, as a follow-up to the last band specific Rock Band game, The Beatles: Rock Band. The game features the full albums of Dookie, American Idiot, and 21st Century Breakdown as well as select songs from the rest of Green Day's discography.

During the second leg of the 21st Century Breakdown World Tour the band members stated that they were writing new material. In an interview with Kerrang! magazine, Armstrong spoke about the possible new album: "We did some demos in Berlin, some in Stockholm, some just outside of Glasgow and some in Amsterdam. We wanted get [the songs] down in some early form." The band members also stated that the group was recording a live album of the tour, featuring the previously unreleased song "Cigarettes and Valentines". In October 2010, Dirnt was interviewed by Radio W, mentioning that the group had completed the writing process of the ninth studio album. In the interview, Dirnt also mentioned that a new live album would "most likely" be released. The live CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray entitled Awesome as Fuck was released on March 22, 2011.

¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! (2011–2014)

During the end of 2011, the band played several secret shows (under the name Foxboro Hot Tubs) whose setlists consisted almost entirely of previously unheard songs. Green Day entered the studio and began recording new material in February 2012, later announcing a trilogy of albums titled ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! which would be released in fall 2012. The trilogy featured longtime touring guitarist Jason White joining the band in the studio as an additional musician. This marks the first time that White had played guitar on a Green Day album. That summer Green Day played several festivals and promotional shows including the Rock en Seine festival in France, the Rock am See festival in Germany, and the Reading Festival in the United Kingdom.

¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! were released on September 21, November 9, and December 7, 2012, respectively, and were met with generally positive reviews from critics, though fans were more lukewarm towards the albums. On January 22, 2013, the band announced that ¡Cuatro!, a documentary about the making of ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!, would premiere on January 26 in Aspen, Colorado as part of the X Games FILM showcase, and would be released on DVD April 9, 2013. Another documentary was announced called Broadway Idiot which focuses on the creation on the American Idiot musical and Armstrong's run as playing the character of St. Jimmy. On March 10, 2013, Green Day began its 99 Revolutions Tour to support the trilogy. In June, Green Day broke Emirates Stadium attendance record with 60,000 tickets sold. The band played Dookie from start to finish on several dates on the tour's European leg, including during the Reading Festival 2013 headline show.

Demolicious, a compilation album that contains alternate versions and demos of songs from ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré! recorded during the studio sessions of these albums, was released on April 19, 2014, for Record Store Day. It also contains a previously unreleased song called "State of Shock" and an acoustic version of "Stay the Night", from ¡Uno!.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Revolution Radio (2014–2018)

Green Day performed its first concert in a year on April 16, 2015. The group first played a set as Sweet Children with John Kiffmeyer, followed by a set as Green Day. On April 18, 2015, Green Day were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Fall Out Boy.

On April 24, 2015, Rob Cavallo revealed Green Day were recording a twelfth studio album. Cavallo claimed to have heard "five new songs that Billie has written and demoed", and that the fans should be "sure that when they do return, the music will be amazing". On December 24, 2015, Green Day released a Christmas song, "Xmas Time of the Year".

On August 11, 2016, Green Day released the first single, "Bang Bang", from the group's album Revolution Radio, which was released on October 7, 2016. The band went on a world tour supporting the album. In November 2016, the band performed at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles and made a political statement about the then-recent US election of Donald Trump by chanting "No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA" during their rendition of "Bang Bang".

Aaron Burgess at Alternative Press observed, "It's the first time in years Green Day haven't had all the answers. But as a statement on how it feels to fight, it's the closest to the truth they've ever gotten." Gwilym Mumford of The Guardian stated "[after their last few albums] the band have decided to get back to basics: Revolution Radio is their most focused work in years. Lead single "Bang Bang" sets the tone, with a caustic consideration of the fame-hungry psychosis of a mass shooter.

The band released their second greatest hits compilation, God's Favorite Band, on November 17, 2017. It contains 20 of their hits, along with two new tracks: a different version of the Revolution Radio track "Ordinary World", featuring country singer Miranda Lambert, and a previously unreleased song titled "Back in the USA".

Father of All Motherfuckers (2019–2023)
On April 13, 2019, for Record Store Day, the band released their Woodstock 1994 performance on vinyl for the first time. It contains all 9 songs they played live, as well as audio of the ensuing mud fight. On September 10, 2019, the band announced the Hella Mega Tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer as headliners alongside themselves, with the Interrupters as the opening act. They also released the single, "Father of All..." off their thirteenth album, Father of All Motherfuckers. The same day, in an interview with KROQ, Armstrong announced the band would be parting ways with Reprise after the album's release, as they were off their contract with Warner. On September 30, 2019, Green Day signed a two-year agreement with the National Hockey League (NHL). The album's second single, "Fire, Ready, Aim", was released on October 9, 2019. The album's third single, "Oh Yeah!", was released on January 16, 2020. The album was released on February 7, 2020. The album's fourth single, "Meet Me on the Roof", was released on the same day as the album.

On April 6, 2020, Armstrong revealed that he had written six songs intending to record new music with the band once the COVID-19 pandemic had passed. On May 21, 2020, the band released a cover of Blondie's "Dreaming".

On October 30, 2020, the band's secret side project, the Network, teased upcoming activity with a video entitled "The Prophecy" and mentioned their upcoming sequel album. Then on November 2, 2020, the Network released a music video for their first song in 17 years, named "Ivankkka Is a Nazi". After a couple of weeks of small hints on social media, as well as Green Day claiming they were not the Network, the band released an EP on November 20, 2020, titled Trans Am. On December 4, 2020, the Network released their second album Money Money 2020 Part II: We Told Ya So!.

In February 2021, Green Day announced a single, titled "Here Comes the Shock", which was later released on February 21, 2021. The band would release a remastered version of Insomniac in March for the belated 25th anniversary of the album's release, with bonus live tracks. On May 17, 2021, Green Day released the single "Pollyanna". The reshuffled Hella Mega Tour would take place in the United States from July to September 2021, and the United Kingdom in June and July 2022. Between legs, on November 5, 2021, the band released the single "Holy Toledo!".

BBC Sessions, the fourth live album by Green Day, was released on December 10, 2021. Eight days later, they put out a teaser video with the captions "RAK Studios. London, England. Green Day. 1972".

In 2022, Green Day played a handful of major festivals in the United States, including Lollapalooza and Outside Lands. The band also played a surprise Lollapalooza aftershow set at Metro Chicago on July 29, a set that was mostly improvised. The set included their first performances of "Church on Sunday" and "Warning" since 2001, and also included fan favorite deep tracks "Whatsername", "Letterbomb", and "Murder City". On October 26, 2022, Green Day was announced as a headliner for the fifth annual Innings Festival in Arizona.

Saviors (2023–present)
In November 2022, the band stated they were recording for a new studio album. The album was produced by Rob Cavallo, marking his first album working with the band since ¡Tré! (2012). Prior to the album's release, the band played a new song titled "1981" during their live performance at Festival d'été de Québec on July 16, 2023. On September 30, 2023, Green Day was announced as the halftime show at the 110th Grey Cup. The following day, the band launched a new website with the name "The American Dream Is Killing Me". Included on the website was a video appearing to tease new music, and a circled date of October 24, 2023, leading some news outlets to believe that it is related to their next album. Before the album's release, they played the first song, "The American Dream Is Killing Me", during a live show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 19, 2023, and announced a US tour for the summer 2024 with the Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and the Linda Lindas. They played another song, titled "Look Ma, No Brains!", from the upcoming album during the When We Were Young Festival on October 22, 2023.

On October 24, 2023, the title of the new album was announced as Saviors, and the album's first single, "The American Dream Is Killing Me" was released. The album was released on January 19, 2024. The second single, "Look Ma, No Brains!", was released on November 2, 2023. A third single, "Dilemma", was announced on December 4, 2023, and released three days later on December 7, 2023. On New Year's Eve, Green Day performed "American Idiot" on the television special Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Armstrong replaced the line "I'm not a part of a redneck agenda" with "I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda", a reference to Donald Trump's Make America Great Again slogan, in criticism of Trump. The album's fourth single, "One Eyed Bastard", was released on January 5, 2024. On the evening of January 16, 2024, the band appeared in a surprise performance in the 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station of the New York subway system, with late-night host Jimmy Fallon joining them on tambourine to help draw attention to the upcoming album and tour, and played several songs including the recent single "Look Ma, No Brains", "Basket Case", and "American Idiot"-this time, Armstrong leaving space to let the subway crowd sing out the song's revised line "I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda." The album, and a music video for "Bobby Sox", were both released simultaneously on January 19, 2024. A music video for "Corvette Summer" is set to release on July 23, 2024.

Musical style and influences

Green Day's sound is often compared to first wave American and British punk rock bands such as the Ramones, Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Dickies, and Buzzcocks. Stylistically, several publications have characterized as punk rock,     pop-punk,    skate punk,      melodic punk,     alternative rock, and power pop. Critics have disputed the qualification of the band as power pop. The band has casually explored other musical styles including post-punk and pop-rock with 21st Century Breakdown, and garage rock on ¡Dos! and Father of All... Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described Green Day as "punk revivalists who recharged the energy of speedy, catchy three-chord punk-pop songs." Among the labels of the band by critics, members Billie Joe Armstrong and Tre Cool have stated in interviews with Livewire and Kerrang! self-describing Green Day as just a punk rock band.

While Armstrong is the band's primary songwriter, he looks to the other band members for organizational help. Billie Joe Armstrong has mentioned that some of his biggest influences are seminal hardcore punk bands Hüsker Dü and the Replacements, and that their influence is particularly noted in the band's chord changes in songs. Green Day has covered Hüsker Dü's "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" as a B-side to the "Warning" single, and the character "Mr. Whirly" in the group's song "Misery" is a reference to the Replacements song of the same name. Southern California-based hardcore bands Social Distortion and Bad Religion have also been cited as influences. Green Day would cover the former's song "Another State of Mind" from their 1983 debut release, Mommy's Little Monster as a bonus track for 21st Century Breakdown.

Outside of their punk influences, Green Day have also cited hard rock bands the Kinks, the Who, and Cheap Trick. In August 1996, Billie Joe Armstrong told Guitar World he "can remember a few different instances" of when he first discovered punk rock: "There were these two guys who introduced me to things like D.O.A. and the Dead Kennedys. Then, in the seventh grade, there was a girl at school who would bring in records like T.S.O.L. and say, 'Here, listen to this.'" Armstrong said he thinks he "really started getting into" punk rock "in 1987 with Turn It Around!, a double seven-inch compilation record put out by [punk fanzine] Maximumrocknroll." Armstrong cited Turn It Around! as an influence, calling it "a pretty big record" for him. Armstrong would also cite fellow East Bay punk bands Operation Ivy, Jawbreaker, and Crimpshrine as influences. Tré Cool has stated that the band is influenced by music that they did not like, naming artists like Hall & Oates, Cyndi Lauper and other 1980s music.

Although Green Day has been compared to the Buzzcocks, the Ramones and the Clash, Mike Dirnt said he had never heard the Buzzcocks when Green Day began. Dirnt said: "First off, you can't sound like any of those bands. And secondly, those are probably the last ones in my record collection." Armstrong responded to Dirnt, saying: "Mine too. Those are all bands I got into later." The Dickies is another band Green Day has been compared to. Dirnt said he "never owned a Dickies album, although" he "did see" the Dickies live "around the time of" Kerplunk!. Dirnt said "by that time, we'd played so many shows it had no bearing." Armstrong referred to the Dickies as "just another Ramones rip-off". Although in August 1996, Armstrong said bands like the Ramones are bands he listened to later, in June 2010, Armstrong cited the Ramones as an influence. He also said his "range of favorite songwriters goes anywhere from the Sex Pistols to Lennon–McCartney." During the American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown era of Green Day, the band was influenced by the Who, U2, Motown albums, and musicals such as Grease.

Billie Joe Armstrong regularly invites musicians at Green Day concerts onstage to substitute for the band members on guitar, bass and drums, often letting the guest musicians keep the instruments they used during their guest spots. Armstrong explains, "I remember being a kid and seeing Van Halen play. I was, like, 12, and Eddie would come out, and I'd go, 'God, it would be so cool to be up there and do what he's doing. So I was always keeping that in mind, subconsciously that's basically what ended up happening, breaking down the barrier between the band and the audience."

Legacy
The band's 1991 album Kerplunk is one of the bestselling independent albums of all time, selling over 4.5 million copies worldwide. It was also listed in a 2007 ranking of the 100 greatest indie albums by Blender.

Green Day is credited (alongside Bad Religion, the Offspring, NOFX, Social Distortion, and Rancid) with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States, particularly with the album Dookie,  which was cited by Fuse as the most important pop-punk album of all time, the best alternative album of 1994 by Rolling Stone,  and as one of the best punk rock albums of all time by Rolling Stone, Kerrang!, Revolver, and LA Weekly. It was also placed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Definitive 200" list of 200 classic albums. Both Dookie and American Idiot appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2011, they were voted best punk rock band of all time by Rolling Stone. Diffuser.fm listed Dookie as the greatest album of the 90s.

Green Day has sold roughly 75 million records worldwide as of 2024, making them one of the highest-selling artists of all time. The group has been nominated for 20 Grammy awards and has won five of them with Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording.

In 2010, a stage adaptation of American Idiot debuted on Broadway. The musical was nominated for three Tony Awards: The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2015, their first year of eligibility.

The band has been cited as an influence by a variety of artists, including Alkaline Trio, Avril Lavigne, AFI, Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, Joyce Manor, Lady Gaga, Wavves, Fidlar, Tegan and Sara, the Menzingers, New Found Glory, Prince Daddy & the Hyena, Bowling for Soup and Sum 41.

Related projects
Since 1991, members of the band have branched out past Green Day, starting other projects with various musicians. Notable projects related to Green Day include Billie Joe Armstrong's Pinhead Gunpowder with Jason White and the Longshot with Jeff Matika, the Frustrators with Mike Dirnt, and the Network, a collaboration between Green Day and friends in which all members play under fake stage names. Green Day has also released an album titled Stop Drop and Roll!!! on May 20, 2008, under the name Foxboro Hot Tubs, which the band uses to book secret shows. In late December 2011, Armstrong formed a family band called the Boo which recorded a one-off Christmas record for their friends and family making a few copies available in a local store. Since January 2018, Armstrong, Dirnt and White have played in the band the Coverups along with Green Day audio engineer Chris Dugan and tour manager Bill Schneider. The band sporadically performs one-off shows, usually in small clubs, and cover the songs of classic rock and alternative rock bands such as Cheap Trick, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Clash, and Nirvana.

In September 2006, Green Day collaborated with U2 and producer Rick Rubin to record a cover of the song "The Saints Are Coming", originally recorded by the Skids, with an accompanying video. The song was recorded to benefit Music Rising, an organization to help raise money for musicians' instruments lost during Hurricane Katrina, and to bring awareness on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the disaster. In December 2006, Green Day and NRDC opened a web site in partnership to raise awareness on America's dependency on oil.

Green Day released a cover of the John Lennon song "Working Class Hero", which was featured on the album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. The band performed the song on the season finale of American Idol. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008 but lost to the White Stripes' "Icky Thump". That summer, the band appeared in a cameo role in The Simpsons Movie, where the band performed a rock version of the show's theme song. Their version of it was released as a single on July 23, 2007.

In 2009, the band collaborated with theater director Michael Mayer to adapt the group's rock opera American Idiot into a one-act stage musical that premiered at the Berkeley Rep on September 15, 2009. The show then moved to Broadway on April 20, 2010. The reviews of American Idiot: The Musical have been positive to mixed. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote an enthusiastic review for the Broadway production. He called the show "a pulsating portrait of wasted youth that invokes all the standard genre conventions ... only to transcend them through the power of its music and the artistry of its execution, the show is as invigorating and ultimately as moving as anything I've seen on Broadway this season. Or maybe for a few seasons past." Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald enjoyed the premise of the show but found that "the music and message suffer in a setting where the audience is politely, soberly seated".

Michael Kuchiwara of the Associated Press found the show to be "visually striking [and] musically adventurous", but noted that "the show has the barest wisp of a story and minimal character development". Paul Kolnik in USA Today enjoyed the contradiction that Green Day's "massively popular, starkly disenchanted album ... would be the feel-good musical of the season". Time magazine's Richard Zoglin opined that the score "is as pure a specimen of contemporary punk rock as Broadway has yet encountered, [yet] there's enough variety. ... Where the show falls short is as a fully developed narrative." He concluded that "American Idiot, despite its earnest huffing and puffing, remains little more than an annotated rock concert. ... Still, [it] deserves at least two cheers—for its irresistible musical energy and for opening fresh vistas for that odd couple, rock and Broadway." Peter Travers from Rolling Stone, in his review of American Idiot, wrote "Though American Idiot carries echoes of such rock musicals as Tommy, Hair, Rent and Spring Awakening, it cuts its own path to the heart. You won't know what hit you. American Idiot knows no limits—it's a global knockout." The musical has been nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Scenic Design. It was also nominated for several Drama Desk Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

In October 2009, a Green Day art project was exhibited at StolenSpace Gallery in London. The exhibition showed artworks created for each of the songs on 21st Century Breakdown, was supported by the band, and led by the group's manager Pat Magnarella. He explained in an interview that "[Artists are] basically like rock bands. Most are creating their art, but don't know how to promote it." For Billie Joe Armstrong, "Many of the artists... show their work on the street, and we feel a strong connection to that type of creative expression."

On April 13, 2011, a film version of American Idiot was confirmed. Michael Mayer, director of the Broadway musical, will be directing the film. It will be produced by Green Day, Pat Magnarella (Green Day's manager who also produced Bullet in a Bible, Awesome as Fuck, and Heart Like a Hand Grenade), Playtone (Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman) and Tom Hulce. However, in February 2020, Billie Joe Armstrong revealed to NME that plans for a film adaptation of the stage musical had been "pretty much scrapped", without providing anymore details as to the reason.

On January 23, 2013, it was announced that a documentary showing Armstrong's journey from punk rock to Broadway was to be released. Called Broadway Idiot and showing a lot of behind-the-scenes of the American Idiot musical production, the movie was directed by Doug Hamilton, veteran television journalist for CBS News' 60 Minutes and PBS documentaries such as Nova, Frontline and American Masters. A trailer was released on January 30, 2013. The documentary premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 15, 2013.

Green Day served as executive producers of Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk (2017), an extensive documentary film about the San Francisco Bay area punk scene from the late 1970s to the 1990s.

Music style
Green Day has generated controversy over whether their musical style and major-label status constitutes "true punk". In reaction to both the style of music and the background of the band, John Lydon, former frontman of the 1970s punk band the Sex Pistols commented, "So there we are fending off all that and it pisses me off that years later a wank outfit like Green Day hop in and nick all that and attach it to themselves. They didn't earn their wings to do that and if they were true punk they wouldn't look anything like they do." However, others in the punk rock scene would come to the defense of the band on their punk status. Bad Religion lead guitarist Brett Gurewitz and founder of the independent punk label Epitaph Records would state, "They [Green Day] are a punk band, but you know, punk is the legacy of rock and roll, and Green Day are the biggest band in the genre."

Armstrong has discussed the group's status of being a punk band on a major record label, saying, "Sometimes I think we've become redundant because we're this big band now; we've made a lot of money—we're not punk rock anymore. But then I think about it and just say, 'You can take us out of a punk rock environment, but you can't take the punk rock out of us. In 2021, Armstrong condemned the band's labeling as "pop-punk" by critics in a Vulture magazine interview, stating, "I never really liked that term (pop punk), it turned into sort of a genre. I never thought of myself as a pop artist. I've always been left of center. To say you're a pop-punker … it never sat well with me." Armstrong acknowledged the band's more melodic punk style compared to other bands from the Bay Area scene it emerged from, but also brought up the band's performance alongside East Bay hardcore bands like Neurosis, Engage, Spitboy, Blatz, and Filth.

In 2006, English rock musician Noel Gallagher of the Britpop band Oasis complained about the band semi-jokingly, claiming that the band had ripped off his song "Wonderwall" with "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

2012 iHeartRadio Festival incident
On September 21, 2012, while Green Day was performing at the iHeartRadio music festival, Armstrong stopped while performing "Basket Case", because he believed the group's time was being shortened, possibly to extend R&B artist Usher's performance. Angered, Armstrong began ranting while a screen in the rear of the audience was labeled "1 Minutes Left", saying "You're gonna give me one fucking minute? You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" He also told the crowd he "was not Justin Bieber" and labeled the festival as a "joke". When the screen went blank, Armstrong smashed his guitar, while bassist Mike Dirnt smashed his bass. Armstrong then gave the finger, and declared that Green Day would be back before throwing his microphone down and walking off the stage. Two days later, the band's representative apologized for the incident on the group's behalf stating that "Green Day would like everyone to know that their set was not cut short by Clear Channel and to apologize to those they offended at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas", also adding that Armstrong would be headed to rehab, for abuse of alcohol and prescription pills. However, Dirnt would later say in an interview with Rolling Stone that he agreed with what Armstrong meant by his rant. The band later made amends with the company and played an album release party for their 2016 release, Revolution Radio. They also returned to the festival in 2019 supporting the album Father of All Motherfuckers.

Mad Cool incident
On July 7, 2017, about 20 minutes before Green Day headlined Mad Cool, a festival in Madrid, an acrobat fell about 30 m from a cage above the stage and died. Some fans were upset at the band and festival organizers for continuing the show, which was attended by about 35,000 people. On their website, Armstrong said the band did not know about the accident before their set, and likely would not have played if they had.

Members
Current members
 * Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar (1987–present); harmonica (1997–present); piano (2008–present)
 * Mike Dirnt – bass (1988–present); backing and occasional lead vocals (1987–present); guitar (1987–1988)
 * Tré Cool – drums, percussion, occasional backing and lead vocals and guitar (1990–present)

Current touring musicians
 * Jason White – guitar, backing vocals (1999–present; session member in 2012)
 * Jason Freese – keyboards, accordion, saxophone, trombone, backing vocals, occasional acoustic guitar (2004–present; session member from 2003–2004, 2008–2009; on hiatus as of 2024)
 * Kevin Preston – guitar, backing vocals (2019–present)
 * Coley O'Toole – keyboards, backing vocals (2024)

Former members
 * Raj Punjabi – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1987–1988)
 * Sean Hughes – bass (1987–1988)
 * John Kiffmeyer – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1988–1990; one-off guest appearance in 2015)

Former touring musicians
 * Dave "E.C." Henwood – drums, backing vocals (1990)
 * Garth Schultz – trombone, trumpet (1997–1999)
 * Gabrial McNair – trombone, saxophone (1999–2001; session member in 1997)
 * Kurt Lohmiller – trumpet, backing vocals, percussion (1999–2005)
 * Mike Pelino – guitar, backing vocals (2004, 2005)
 * Ronnie Blake – trumpet, backing vocals, percussion (2005; session member from 2015-2016)
 * Bobby Schneck – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2005)
 * Jeff Matika – guitar, backing vocals (2009–2019)

Awards and nominations
Green Day has earned 214 award nominations and 92 wins.

Discography
Studio albums

 * 39/Smooth (1990)
 * Kerplunk (1991)
 * Dookie (1994)
 * Insomniac (1995)
 * Nimrod (1997)
 * Warning (2000)
 * American Idiot (2004)
 * 21st Century Breakdown (2009)
 * ¡Uno! (2012)
 * ¡Dos! (2012)
 * ¡Tré! (2012)
 * Revolution Radio (2016)
 * Father of All Motherfuckers (2020)
 * Saviors (2024)

Tours

 * 39/Smooth Tour (1990–1991)
 * European Tour '91 (1991)
 * Kerplunk Tour (1991–1993)
 * Dookie Tour (1994)
 * Insomniac Tour (1995–1996)
 * Nimrod Tour (1997–1998)
 * Life Without Warning Tour (1999–2000)
 * Pop Disaster Tour (with Blink-182) (2002)
 * American Idiot World Tour (2004–2005)
 * 21st Century Breakdown World Tour (2009–2010)
 * 99 Revolutions Tour (2013)
 * Revolution Radio Tour (2016–2017)
 * Hella Mega Tour (with Fall Out Boy and Weezer) (2021–2022)
 * The Saviors Tour (2024)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Green Day


text:
Radiant Silvergun

Radiant Silvergun (レイディアントシルバーガン) is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Treasure. It was originally released in Japanese arcades in 1998 and subsequently ported to the Sega Saturn later that year. The story follows a team of fighter pilots in the far future who are battling waves of enemies summoned by a mysterious crystal dug up from the Earth. The player hosts an arsenal of six different types of shots to choose from, and a sword to destroy nearby targets. The stages are tightly designed to present players with scenarios that can be approached differently with the various weapon types.

Treasure was primarily known for developing action and platform games for home consoles before Radiant Silvergun. Despite the company's concerns about the financial viability of arcade games and the shooter genre, they felt they had a good premise for a game and decided to pursue it. Radiant Silvergun was developed by ten people, with Gonzo outsourced for animated cutscenes. The game was developed for the ST-V arcade board first and later ported to the architecturally similar Sega Saturn. Towards the end of development, the team recruited professional gamers that held high scores in shooters to play test the game.

Radiant Silvergun was first released in Japanese arcades in May 1998. Treasure president Masato Maegawa went in person to arcades to gauge the reaction of players. The Saturn port was released two months later in Japan. Despite its region exclusivity, Radiant Silvergun was imported by Western critics and received critical acclaim. Journalists agreed that the game revived the shoot 'em up genre, which had fallen by the wayside after the rise in popularity of arcade fighting games in the 1990s. In retrospect, it is considered one of the greatest shooters and Sega Saturn games of all time. It received a spiritual sequel in the form of Ikaruga (2001), and was ported worldwide to the Xbox 360 in 2011, to the Nintendo Switch in 2022 and to Windows in 2023.

Gameplay
Radiant Silvergun is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up. The player is given a wide arsenal from the start of the game featuring three primary weapons: strong forward laser, weak homing projectiles, and a spread gun which fires pairs of exploding projectiles at a wide angle. Combining any of these weapons with another will result in one of three new types of attack: a rear firing laser (laser + spread), an auto-targeting plasma beam (laser + homing), and a close range missile targeting system (homing + spread). Using all 3 weapons together activates a sword that can be swung around the ship to damage nearby enemies and defensively absorb a common type of enemy projectile. Absorbing enemy fire charges up the sword for a screen-clearing special attack. The stages are methodically and tightly paced with carefully crafted scenarios that can be approached differently with the varying weapons.

The game's scoring system is based on enemy color. All enemies are one of three colors: red, blue, or yellow. Destroying three enemies of the same color in a row starts a bonus scoring chain. Destroying another set of the same color continues the chain and increases the bonus, while shooting another color resets it. Unlike Ikaruga, switching colors between sets breaks the chain. In addition to gaining a higher score, chains contribute to leveling up the weapon being used, increasing its effectiveness. The weapons stay powered up for the remainder of the game. The player can also obtain extra points by destroying bosses more methodically. Each boss has different segments and appendages that can be destroyed before targeting their weak spot. If all these segments are destroyed first, the player will earn a greater bonus. There are also hidden dogs that when shot, will give the player bonus points and unlock more game options.

Plot
The story of Radiant Silvergun is told non-linearly through animated videos and scripted dialogue between stages. In the year 2520, scientists on Earth have unearthed a giant crystal along with an ancient robot bearing the same serial number as another robot called "Creator" on the Tetra spaceship orbiting around Earth. The crystal creates a massive explosion, engulfing the Earth and killing all humans except for the remaining four on the spaceship. One year later, exhausted of supplies, they return to Earth in fighter jets known as Silverguns, fighting through hordes of enemies until they reach the crystal, which is referred to as “the Stone-Like”. After battling the Stone-Like and failing to destroy it, it brings the last two remaining pilots 100,000 years into the past, and tells them that it is the guardian of the Earth and destroyed humans in order to protect the planet, before destroying the last two humans in another explosion. 20 years later, still in the distant past, the Creator uses DNA from the pilots of the Silverguns to create clones and start humanity anew before the Creator finally breaks down for good, bringing the story into a loop.

Background
Since the company's inception, Treasure had primarily been a developer of action and platform games for home consoles. Sega had repeatedly asked the company to develop an arcade game for them, but Treasure president Masato Maegawa was concerned the shrinking arcade business would be too risky from a business perspective and arcade goers would not appreciate the effort placed into their game. Despite this concern the team had wanted to develop a 2D arcade style shoot 'em up for some time. Much of the staff were fans of the genre, having grown up during the genre's golden age, but entering their careers after fighting games started filling arcades. Director Hiroshi Iuchi was especially passionate about starting the project. Although the team was eager to develop the game, there were still concerns. Maegawa believed that the shoot 'em up genre was dying, and was risky from a sales perspective. Iuchi was also concerned there would be no place for a 2D shooter in an arcade space that was advancing more towards large and specialized 3D game machines. In the face of these concerns about commercial viability, the team felt they had a good concept and pushed forth.

Iuchi thought arcade developers of the era were not innovating enough and only settling for rehashes of old ideas. He thought shooting games at the time were most commonly in the style of Toaplan-developed vertical shooters, but he remembered in the past when developers like Konami and Irem had distinct shooter styles. In response to this, Iuchi's first thought was to develop a non-Toaplan style shooter. He claimed to have the idea for Radiant Silvergun long before it was released, not pulling any influence from games of the era. The key philosophies he carried was to make a classic style game, but make it unlike anything else. He was a big fan of Irem's Image Fight (1988), and believes that some of that inspiration is reflected in Radiant Silvergun.

The Treasure team wanted to develop the game for home console in addition to arcades. They agreed the game had to be released in arcades first, as a console exclusive shooter may be a hard sell. They hoped the game would appeal to shooting fans in the arcades while also convincing home console players that shooters were still fun. Maegawa thought it would be best to keep the arcade and console portions of the development cycle separate, because arcades and consoles are so different. Iuchi treated the arcade version as the "test version" with the console version released soon after that. He believed that if the team was not successful with the console port, the 2D shoot 'em up genre would soon die.

Production
Development on Radiant Silvergun started in late 1997, and progressed smoothly as opposed to past projects where they had to scrap ideas and restart from scratch. The title is in reference to an early concept that had people flying through the sky holding silver guns in each hand. Some of the staff thought the name was difficult to remember, but Iuchi believed that if it was hard to remember, it was hard to forget. Only ten people worked on the game, including three programmers, four artists, and one sound designer. They chose to develop for the Sega ST-V arcade board because Treasure had normally developed games for Sega and it was similar to the Sega Saturn home console, which they were planning on porting the game to. The team had knowledge of the Sega Saturn's hardware from developing previous games for it, so they believed it would be easier this time around. They did not use any expensive hardware, just conventional computers. They used LightWave for the 3D objects and freeware downloaded from the internet to make the 2D graphics. The programmers and designers worked hard to use every bit of power from Sega's hardware.

Iuchi did not include power-ups in Radiant Silvergun because he felt they were distracting, and he often found himself dying when trying to manage different weapons and items. To combat this, he made the game progress simply through shooting and dodging, and mapped weapons to individual buttons and button combinations instead of needing to press a button to cycle through weapons. The team also made the bullets deliberately slow to appeal to a wider playing audience. The team recruited animation studio Gonzo to create movie sequences with deeper story elements for the Saturn version. These sequences were not included in the arcade version because players there do not want to wait through story sequences. Gonzo had previously done animation for Treasure's Silhouette Mirage (1997) and Iuchi was happy with the outcome of their work on Radiant Silvergun. The game's music was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto.

Towards the end of development, Maegawa could not finish the game to properly debug it because it was too difficult. He brought in skilled players who held national records at shooters to debug the game.

Release
Radiant Silvergun was released in Japanese arcades on May 28, 1998. The team was anxious about whether it was going to be received well in arcades since it was such a unique shooter and their first arcade game, so Maegawa went in person to arcades to gauge the player reaction. He later said they observed people playing the game for a very long time, which made them happy. The game was released at retail for the Sega Saturn on July 23, 1998, and sold around 50,000 copies.

Reception
In July 1998, Game Machine listed the game as being the fifth most popular arcade game in Japan at the time.

The Sega Saturn port of Radiant Silvergun received critical acclaim, with some calling it one of the best shoot 'em ups ever made. Critics agreed that Treasure successfully revived and redefined the shooter genre following a period of stagnation in the wake of the advent of fighting games during the 16-bit era.

Several journalists commented on the game's visuals. Edge wrote the game was "arguably the finest technical showcase the Saturn has ever played host to." They praised the parallax backdrops, Mode 7 style distortion effects, and use of 3D polygons to create imaginative bosses. They felt the game was a successful attempt to push the Sega Saturn's graphical capabilities to its limits, calling it "a wonder to behold." Sega Saturn Magazine also thought the game had some of the most impressive Sega Saturn graphics, and highlighted the great mix of 2D and 3D graphics. Computer and Video Games thought the game outclassed graphics capable on the PlayStation or Nintendo 64. Arcade called it a "gorgeous" and "sense-pummeling" shooter with spectacular explosions and visual effects.

Critics also praised Radiant Silvergun 's gameplay, and most commonly highlighted its replayability thanks to the depth of its scoring system and hidden bonuses. Arcade called it "the kind of repeat play magnetism that makes you wonder why 2D shoot 'em ups fell from grace in the first place." Sega Saturn Magazine argued that there are role-playing games with less depth than Radiant Silvergun. Edge claimed that Treasure's commitment to "old school" gaming principles paid off, and praised the game's hardcore appeal. Both Edge and Sega Saturn Magazine shared positive thoughts on the game's weapon systems, and also agreed that it was satisfyingly difficult, although Edge complained that sometimes it sacrificed fairness for visual flair. GameSpot concluded their thoughts saying: "This game is an absolute must-buy. Never has a shooter combined relentless, thoughtfully-designed action with such stunning graphics and sound...Radiant Silvergun makes you feel as if you've never really played a shooter before. It's a whole new experience."

Legacy
In retrospective reviews, Radiant Silvergun is considered one of the greatest shooters of all time, and one of the best Sega Saturn games. IGN called Radiant Silvergun a "milestone in shooter design" and in 2008 listed it as their number one classic shoot 'em up. In 2005, IGN also compiled all their reader's review ratings of the 31,000 games in their database, among which Radiant Silvergun reached the twelfth spot. Because of the game's limited availability, it soon became an expensive and sought after collector's item, selling for at least US$150 by 2011.

The game received a spiritual successor in the form of Ikaruga (2001), which was originally subtitled Radiant Silvergun 2. It was first released on the Sega NAOMI arcade platform until later being ported to the Dreamcast and GameCube. Like its predecessor, Ikaruga gained a reputation as one of the greatest shooters ever made. It was rereleased in 2008 on the Xbox 360.

Xbox 360 port
Following Ikaruga 's rerelease, fans began asking Treasure why Radiant Silvergun had not been rereleased as well, so Treasure began work on a port. At first, the port was being developed solely by Katsuhiro Sanjo at Treasure until others assisted. Development lasted two and a half years. Sanjo stated that bringing Radiant Silvergun to the Xbox 360 was more difficult than anticipated. He had difficulties recreating some of the backgrounds and the Saturn's special effects. In October 2010, Microsoft announced the game was coming to the Xbox Live Arcade in 2011, marking the game's first official release in the West.

The port features online and offline cooperative play, leaderboards, downloadable replays, and an option to play with updated graphics. There is also an option for a scoring system based on Ikaruga. It was released on 14 September 2011 garnering "generally favorable" reviews according to ratings aggregator Metacritic. Critics praised the new high-resolution graphics options and new online modes and enhancements. They also appreciated the rerelease for giving more people the opportunity to play it given the Saturn version's expensive cost on second hand markets.

The Xbox 360 version was ported and released to the Nintendo Switch in September 2022. It was briefly pulled from the online store in North America at release due to a change in the game's content rating, but was added back six days later. The game was released on Steam in November 2023.

title: Radiant Silvergun


text:
OIC (disambiguation)

OIC or Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is an international organisation of Muslim nations.

OIC may also refer to:
 * Offer in compromise, an agreement to reduce debt to the United States Internal Revenue Service
 * Officer in Charge (Philippines), the specific status of a temporary head of a local government or agency in the Philippines
 * Officer in charge (police), a gazetted officer in command of a police station in Sri Lanka
 * Officer in Command, primarily used in the United States Uniformed Services as well as police and sheriff's departments
 * Two incarnations of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference: Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (1914–1928), Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (1974–1997)
 * Opportunities Industrialization Center, a nonprofit adult education and job training organisation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
 * Open Interconnect Consortium
 * Opioid-induced constipation
 * Order of the Imitation of Christ, a monastic order in the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
 * Orkney Islands Council, the local government authority for Orkney, Scotland, United Kingdom
 * OIC, the IATA code for Lt. Warren Eaton Airport in Norwich, New York, United States
 * Octahydroindole-2-carboxylic Acid (Oic)
 * Office of the Independent Counsel, an office of the U.S. Department of Justice
 * Outline in Color, a rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
 * Opioid intervention courts

title: OIC (disambiguation)