I stopped listening to Green Day around the time of the Nimrod album
I've been a fan of Green Day for a long time too. I was in middle school when Dookie came out and first started learning guitar off that album. Then I went back and got the earlier stuff and fell in love with them even more.
I thought Nimrod was a great album and a bit of a return to their 1,039 style of writing. I saw them in a little club in Orlando touring for that album, and honestly I think it was the best show I've ever been to.
American Idiot is a great album too, but they started losing me with their new emo-esque image and live show. I haven't been able to get into 21st Century Breakdown. I'm happy they are finding so much success, but it's just hard for me to get into them these days.
I hear 21 Guns in that first line in the chorus of Dare, but I'm sure we won't think twice about it once we have the whole song and have listened to it a few times.