The McBournie Minute: That’s enough, Green Day

Every band in existence has said in their early stages that they are in it for the music. Maybe they say it’s for the chicks or the drugs, but they don’t say it’s for the money. And at least some of them are lying. They may not intend to do it for the money at first, but they all need to eat, and instruments don’t pay for themselves. At some point, every artist is a sellout.

And yet there’s something that separates artists from the average Joe or even the management they work for: the musician does it because it’s his or her passion, and he or she takes pride in the quality of the craft. It’s in their DNA to do this, and the benefits like a paycheck? Well, those can be necessary, but not necessarily the reason the artist puts pen to paper in the first place.

So what about Green Day’s new Angry Birds Facebook app is about the music?

Yes, Green Day, punk rockers since 1987, now have their own Angry Birds game, which dovetails nicely into the release of their first of three albums later this year. The Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool are no strangers to being called sellouts. They faced those calls when they first made it big with their 1994 album Dookie, and faced them again and again until finally bidding the haters goodbye with “Time of Your Life.” They made the statement that holding your work to the constraints and ideals of one group of people isn’t worth it, and whatever musical path they chose, it would be their own.

They lost relevancy with Warning, and nearly broke up. Then they catapulted back and bigger than ever in 2004 with the punk rock opera American Idiot and its 2010 follow-up 21st Century Breakdown (both won Grammy awards for Best Rock Album), songs from which were later made into a Tony-Award-winning musical borrowing the former album’s name and characters. They pushed the boundaries of what a punk band could do and saved the genre when the world was on a pop-punk hangover. And they sold millions of albums in the process. Their music was so popular that millions around the world paid to see them perform and still do.

But lately, it feels like Green Day has taken their eyes off the ball. Last month it was announced that Billie Joe would be joining NBC’s The Voice as a mentor for Christina Aguilera’s team. You know, the Christina Aguilera the so-called diva. There’s a line between being known for your work and being known for being known. It’s possible to cross that line through reality television, but once you do, there’s no going back. Just ask Ozzy Osbourne, Bret Michaels or Gene Simmons. They’re more famous as individuals now, but no one thinks of them as the artists they were. They’ve morphed into former-rockers-turned-reality-show-personalities, even if they still tour. I was afraid of this happening to Billie Joe, but I figured he’s just trying to EGOT.

Then came the news that Green Day, my favorite band of all time, partnered with Angry Birds. How does this have anything to do with the music? The soundtrack for the game and a few rock-concert-type objects in each level does not constitute the promotion of the music you create, it constitutes a marketing vehicle. It’s not the first time they have appeared in a game. Green Day: Rock Band was different, though. That was a game about the music and about getting the fans involved in the songs that they love, not launching birds at structures to kill green pig versions of the trio.

There is no music being sold. There is no product here to sell but Green Day the brand. At some point, a group reaches a critical mass where it because more of a corporation than a musical group. The focus turns from quality of art to selling more merch for the sake of selling more merch, until they become parodies of themselves à la Kiss.

When I first heard that Green Day was coming out with three new albums this fall and winter, I was thrilled, but worried that it was the end of the band. Now I find myself hoping it is.