Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown Review

'21st Century Breakdown' is the kind of album that will suprise you if you know it's reputation before listening to it. A large number of critics and fans make the album sound as if it's awful, disappointing and even 'The album that killed Green Day'. I'd heard all of this before I picked it up, so when I put the album on for the first time I was amazed as track after track passed by and none of them seemed particularly bad. That said, there are several big flaws with the album, so lets see why '21st Century Breakdown' is among most Green Day fans least favourites...

The album is split into three parts, 'Act I - Heroes and Cons' being the one that opens the album (Discounting the inconsequential 'Song of The Century, which is put apart from the acts). The 3 acts detail the story of Christian and Gloria, two renegades trying to survive in an increasingly corrupt modern world, but in terms of music, the structure allows Billie Joe Armstrong to write 3 different 'Album closers' and also to extend the album's length without it feeling as draggy and overstuffed as it otherwise would. 

'Heroes and Cons' is opened in style with '21st Century Breakdown', a multi-part suite similar to 'Jesus of Suburbia' (Though not as good.) with great backing vocals and enough variety to hook the listener in. 'Know Your Enemy', 'Christian's Inferno' and 'Before The Lobotomy' exemplify two of the biggest flaws of the album - It's over-full of similar sounding tracks and some of the lyrics are a bit rubbish. 'Know Your Enemy' and 'Christian's Inferno' are overly repetitive and contain several edgy, vaguely political lines ("Don't be blinded by lies"), while 'Before The Lobotomy' starts well but soon turns into a pop-punk by numbers piece that doesn't stand out. Sandwiched between these though is the fantastic 'Viva la Gloria!' which is a dramatic introduction to the character of Gloria, and the final track of part one, 'Last Night On Earth' is also a great Beatles-esque track to finish the first section of the album on.

Due to containing what I would call the 3 worst songs on the whole album,'Heroes and Cons' is easily the worst 'act' of the album, and 'Act II - Charlatans and Saints' is clearly the best. It starts off with the fantastic trio of 'East Jesus Nowhere', 'Peacemaker' and 'Last Of The American Girls', with the first having some of the best real-world criticism in any Green Day as it aims at the Church, and also containing one of the best choruses on the album. 'Peacemaker' is a spanish-inspired creation that helps to break the monotony of power chords and distorted guitars, while 'Last of The American Girls' is pure pop, with a thudding bassline from Mike Dirnt making it one of the best stand-alone songs on the disc. This opening is followed by 'Murder City', another catchy tune before the final two piano led tracks, 'Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)' and 'Restless Heart Syndrome'. The former stars off intriguingly before unfortunately developing into another unmemorable, if not bad punk song. 'Restless Heart Syndrome' has a reputation as being a bad Green Day song, but I would argue it's one of the best moments on the album, as it builds up from it's piano-led beginning into an operatic climax. It sounds like nothing Green Day have ever done before or since.

'Act III - Horseshoes and Handgrenades' comes at a point where you don't really feel like you need any more songs on the album, making the opening title track and 'The Static Age' harder to get through than they should be - 'Horseshoes' being the most energetic, raw thing on the LP and 'The Static Age' being another catchy pop-rock jam. '21 Guns' is by far the biggest single here, and stands as one of the most well-known Green day songs in general, all for good reason. The acoustic guitar verses leading into the "boom-boom-tssh" power of the chorus all under a message of disarmament is one of the most compelling and memorable songs on the album - if only you didn't have to get through an hour of other songs to get to it. 'American Eulogy' is unremarkable until about half way through when out of nowhere Mike Dirnt turns up on vocals and the chorus completely changes. The end of the song, when the two choruses run at the same time is maybe the best individual minute of music on the album. The final - and for real this time - track is 'See The Light', which ends the plot on an ambiguous but upbeat note and is also a late showcase for Tre's pounding drumming.

Overall then, '21st  Century Breakdown' is an overlong collection of songs which are largely good. The frustrating thing is that if the album was cut down to being 11 or 12 tracks in length it would not only be a really great album, but would likely have seen much more love from fans. As it is, it doesn't deserve the hatred it gets, and if this is what's turned you away from the album then make sure to give it a try.

8/10

Green Day - American Idiot Review

Few rock albums in the 21st century have been as successful and ingrained into society as Green Day's 2005 masterpiece 'American Idiot'. The creation of the rock-opera was born out of demo tapes for Green Day's planned 7th album, 'Cigarettes and Valentines' being stolen. Rather than re-record these songs, the band decided to work on a more ambitious project which ended up as 'American Idiot', which currently has it's own broadway musical, has sold 15 million copies and even has a movie being produced based on it's plot. But how good is the album itself? Due to how much experience I have with the album and the amount of depth in each song, I'm taking this one track-by track:

American Idiot

The opening title track certainly does a great job of opening the LP, with it's signature riff maybe being the most recognisable Green Day have ever come up with. It stands alone from the rest of the album with it's overtly political themes aimed at Bush's America and paints a picture of a pacified country that does nothing but follow what the media tells them. It's brevity and rigid verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure makes the next track even more surprising than it already is...

Jesus Of Suburbia

This track is the 9-minute behemoth of 'Jesus of Suburbia', widely considered to be Green Day's best ever song (along with several others we'll get to), with it's 5 distinct parts that are all equally amazing. The song starts off with 'i. Jesus of Suburbia' which introduces the main character of the plot, Jesus, a lower-middle class adolescent frustrated in America. Here, Billie Jones Armstrong also shows what you can do with just two power-chords. 'ii. City Of The Damned' builds upon this character along with the best of the 3 distinct hooks of the song. This transforms into 'iii. I Don't Care' which has a brilliant shout-along hook of "I don't care if you don't care!". The bombast quietens down to become 'iv. Dearly Beloved', a sweet acoustic guitar ballad that quickly morphs into the final section: 'v. Tales of Another Broken Home' which brings the track back up to the epic high of the opening track. When consumed whole (as it should always be), it gives a great idea of Jesus' character and just sounds incredible. For me it stands with 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'Paranoid Android' as a multi-part song in a league of it's own.

Holiday/ Boulevard of Broken Dreams

The second overtly political song on the album after the opener and one of the big singles, this is a rip-roaring criticism of Bush with another instantly recognisable riff. This is followed by the biggest song of Green Day's career, the number 2 charting, pop-culture ingrained 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'. With it's shuddering tremolo opening and acoustic guitar led verses before exploding into a heartbreaking yet uplifting chorus and hellish outro, it's easy to see why so many latched onto it and helped it sell 5 million copies worldwide.

The middle of the album

Tracks 5-10 are all great songs that work extremely well in the context of the album, as they set up and contain many of the characters and events of the plot. 'Are We the Waiting' is a stadium-ready anthem that goes extremely well with 'Blvd. Of Broken Dreams', and this transitions into the blistering punk of 'St. Jimmy', which introduces Jimmy as an anarchist criminal leading a revolution. This is followed by acoustic-led 'Give Me Novacaine', which has one of the best hooks on the LP. 'She's a Rebel' and 'Extraordinary Girl' both work together to introduce whatsername, who is leading a parallel revolution to St.Jimmy but one which is based on love rather than hate. 'Rebel' has one of the biggest earworm melodies on the album and 'Extraordinary Girl' has another great riff. The middle of the album ends with 'Letterbomb', which covers whatsername leaving Jesus behind a failing revolution.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Another of the most recognisable songs in Green Day's discography and the most heartbreaking, 'September' has 3 different meanings. In the context of the album it represents Jesus' depression at being left by whatsername, but more sadly also represents the death of Billie Joe Armstrong's father and the 9/11 twin tower attacks. It has survived as the commemorative anthem of these attacks, which has only made the song harder to listen to over the years. The solo is enough to make anybody cry.

Homecoming

The second of the massive 9 minute+ tracks on the album, 'Homecoming' is less cohesive but as a trade-off is even more experimental than 'Jesus of Suburbia'. It starts with 'The Death of St. Jimmy', which does what it says on the tin and describes the death of the revolution, and after an interlude this is demonstrated in 'East 12th St.'. Now Jesus has given up on being a revolutionary as spends his time filling paperwork in an office. The frustration builds up until Mike Dirnt steps up to lead vocals on 'Nobody Likes You', which matches 'I Don't Care' for sing-a-long potential before bursting into the absurd, Tre Cool led 'Rock and Roll Girlfriend', taking the form of a letter form St. Jimmy to Jesus filled with jazzy, ludicrously upbeat instrumentation. The suite ends with 'We're Coming Home Again', itself in two distinct halves, the first being pop-perfection if only for 4 lines, while he second is a marching beat, mission statement of a triumphant return that would have ended the album on a high - but Green Day had one more trick left...

Whatsername

With it's palm muted guitars and dry drumming, 'Whatsername' is a gut-punching moment of sobriety as Jesus remembers sadly whatsername and then bursts into anger and tearfulness at the last moments when he can't contain the sadness anymore. It's depressing in a very different, more personal way than 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' and ends the album with one of it's most potent lines: "Forgetting you, but not the time."

So all in all, 'American Idiot' is a masterpiece, where every song is incredible and yet also works as part of a cohesive whole. Arguments about whether it's better than 'Dookie' are irrelevant - the albums are so different they may as well be made by different bands. 'American Idiot' changed the way political music could break into the mainstream and made Green Day bigger than ever, and all deservedly so. 

10/10

Green Day - Warning Review

'Warning' is very much the underrated Green Day album. It rarely surfaces in conversations about the band, none of the singles are usually put among their biggest hits or best songs and the album was comparatively unsuccessful in terms of sales. It's a shame, since it may just be one of Green Days all-time best albums.

Many people see 'American Idiot' as the first 'pop' Green Day album, but 'Warning' is arguably even more pop-inspired, as the trio wanted to maintain success in a world where nu-metal and post-grunge were (unfortunately) far more popular than punk. This evolution is shown clearly on the opening title track, with it's extremely simple riff, which is also mirrored completely by Mike Dirnt's less forceful than usual bass and accompanied with more casual drumming from Tre Cool. Many people list this as one of the worst Green Day songs, which I understand - The song is incredibly repetitive and overly simple - but I still love the chorus. 

 Undoubtedly much better is 'Blood, Sex and Booze', the second song the band has written about BDSM and (as much as I love 'Dominated Love Slave), is the better of the two. 'Church On Sunday' and 'Castaway' are two of the all-time catchiest, brightest Green Day songs with upbeat guitars and lyrics that vary from uplifting ("Today is the first day of the rest of our lives") to strangely happy ("I'm a castaway"). Sandwiched between them is 'Fashion Victim', which has some savage insults in the lyrics and is the first sign of pop-punk on the album.

'Misery' has an appropriate name, as the song is difficult to listen to due to several factors. It's one of the more experimental Green Day songs, musically and lyrically, but neither risk pays off. The accordion and venetian guitars are interesting for about a minute but then get boring, and Billie Joe Armstrong's lyrics are depressing and strangely dark ("They found him in a cadillac, bludgeoned with a baseball bat."). 'Deadbeat Holiday' is better, although it doesn't stand out particularly, being similar in sound and theme to 'Castaway' but not quite as good. The album gets properly back on track with 'Hold on', which benefits from a harmonica riff and a nice chorus. 'Jackass' is brilliant too, with it's earworm melodies filling every second of the song - but then the album kicks it up a notch.

The final 3 tracks on 'Warning' are the 3 best songs on the album and is the strongest end to any Green album. 'Waiting' feels like a direct precursor to 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' except it makes you feel awesome instead of heartbroken, complete with a convincing false ending. 'Minority' should probably have been in the front half of the album, but is easily the biggest sing-along chorus and simply the most fun song on the disc. It's the perfect 3 minute pop single, and also signifies the beginning of Green Days anti-government songs. From this soaring high, the album collapses to a subdued low with the acoustic guitar-led 'Macy's Day Parade'. It's one of those songs which gets me every time, although I can't really describe why. I think it's the combination of Armstrong's serious vocals, the circling acoustic riff and the lyrics that tackle hope and completion ("Now I know, it's all that I wanted.")

When looking at Green Day's discography it's clear that 'Warning' is important - it set the band up in a great position for their second bout of huge success in 2005 and is simply a really great pop-rock record that is sorely and unfairly overlooked.

9/10  

Green Day - Nimrod Review

'Nimrod' is 20 years old this year, but it sounds like an album that could be released today. It's Green Day's fifth album and shows the trio slowly wading into the more 'pop' side of pop-punk, a transformation they would complete with their upcoming albums. 'Nimrod' was purposely created to be a little more experimental than 'Insomniac', corresponding with Green Day's irritation at being catapulted into the global spotlight - but as we know from artists such as Miley Cyrus and Kid Cudi, we know that experimental doesn't always equal good, so how does 'Nimrod' hold up?

Well, it certainly starts off well. The opening two tracks are both slight evolutions from 'Insomniac', with 'Nice Guys Finish Last' being more developed and longer than the average track from that album, but otherwise sounding very similar and having Billie Joe Armstrong's signature adolescent character studies. The LP's lead single, 'Hitchin' a Ride' starts off with a tiny violin solo showing the first example of an instrument on a Green Day song that isn't electric guitar, bass or drums. The meat of the track is also brilliant, with a 'Brain Stew'-esque riff that builds and especially a great drum performance from Tre Cool.

'Brat' is decent, and despite the typical instrumental shows off the newfound talent Armstrong has discovered for hooks in even his album deep cuts. This is showcased brilliantly on what I see as the first 'modern' Green Day song, 'Redundant'. It's a chugging, unbelievably catchy and surprisingly emotionally affecting, and is easily one of the best songs on the album. 'Scattered' is more of the same with melodic verses, even if it sounds like the template for every terrible children/teen-based pop-punk theme tune. Less good is 'All the Time', which fails to really stand out amongst all of the more interesting songs surrounding it.

'Worry Rock's melody sounds like a brilliantly corrupted Christmas song, and 'Platypus (I Hate You)' is ironically more punk than anything Green Day have ever released - other than the insane, incomprehensible 'Take Back' which features Armstrong giving a grimy, spit-filled growl on the chorus. 'Uptight' is another pop-(punk) jam with rattling verses and a sing-along chorus, before the album is confusingly paused by 'Last Ride In'. An instrumental that sounds like a surf-rock cover of a western movie soundtrack might have been alright if it was short, but it stands as the longest song on the album at 4 dreary minutes. 

'Jinx' and 'Reject' sounds like some of the weaker 'Insomniac' tracks, whereas 'Haushinka' is a hellish fusion between the aforementioned 'Insomniac' tracks with a mediocre pop hook not helped by some strange lyrics ("This girl has gone far away" is hardly a memorable line to constantly repeat.). Things get back on track with the harmonica filled 'Walking Alone', which isn't amazing but the harmonica makes it stand out clearly. 'King For A Day' also stands out because of it's bizarre horn section. It's usually seen as one of the most divisive Green Day songs, especially with it's lyrics about cross-dressing, but as far I'm concerned the weirder the better! To date, it's one of the most unique and funny creations Green Day have come out with.

Then, the big single. The REALLY BIG single. 'Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)' has a reputation as being overplayed during end-of-year proms and for being 'lame'. In the context of 'American Idiot', it seems obvious that Green Day would make a slower, acoustic ballad, but it's hard to overstate just how different this song was for Green Day - and it's success as a single was likely what inspired their shift towards pop-rock. As someone writing from the UK, I had never heard this song before I became a fan of Green Day so I can appreciate it for what it is: A beautiful, heartbreaking yet uplifting anthem that comes out of the blue at the end of an energetic, punchy album. But wait! There's one track left, and it's the incredible 'Prosthetic Head'. Believe it or not, this is probably my favourite song on the album, with it's backing vocal drenched chorus and verses that showcase Mike Dirnt's consistently great bass work and a guitar riff that will be stuck in your head if you only hear it once.

All in all, 'Nimrod' is a really great album with some songs that fall below par. Despite these, the good heavily outweighs the bad and the album is easily the most experimental Green Day album, and is certainly worth a listen from any self-respecting pop-punk fan.

8/10

Green Day - Insomniac Review

It was October 10 1995, and fresh off of the success of 'Dookie' only a year and a half previously, Green Day were already about to release the follow-up album, 'Insomniac'. It's a strange album when looking back at it in the context of Green Day's discography because it progresses some of Green Day's elements while regressing on others, but overall is a decent if not amazing follow up to the legendary 'Dookie'.

Opening track 'Armatage Shanks' quickly demonstrates the biggest problem with with the album as a whole - It sounds like 'Dookie' in every single aspect. The songs still consists of mainly of 3 or 4 distorted power chords repeated over Mike Dirnt's thundering bass and Tre Cool's rapid drumming, as Billie Joe Armstrong sings lyrics about how much of a loser the narrator is. This is very much the same on following track 'Brat' as well as 'No Pride', 'Stuart and The Ave' (which has a nice hook at least.), 'Jaded', 'Westbound Sign' and finally, 'Tight Wad Hill'. Individually these songs are decent enough but hearing them all together is too much, and has given me a headache several times due to the sheer force of every song, sometimes with no break in between. 

A problem the album lacked commercially is the lack of clear singles. Of course you don't need to have an obvious pop song on your album for it to be good - just look at 'Kid A' by Radiohead or 'To be Kind' by Swans - but if you're listening to Green Day you want to ideally be singing along for a large portion of the album, hence why their catchiest albums 'Dookie' and 'American Idiot' are their most popular. The first song to hint at this is 'Stuck With Me', which has a decent chorus and was the second single after the track which follows it on the album, 'Geek Stink Breath'. Personally, it's hard to understand why this was chosen as the lead single for the album, as although the chorus is very obviously a chorus, the melody sounds a bit rubbish and is the only song on 'Insomniac' I would call annoyingly repetitive.

Anyway, enough negativity! 'Bab's Uvula Who?' is a great, catchy song that also has a cool trick of ending nearly every line with "I get myself all wound up" without it getting annoying. This is followed by my favourite of the Green-Day-formula songs that clog up so much of the album, '86' with it's bitter lyrics targeting the clubs that banned them and the fans that shunned them after their major label signing. 'Panic Song' has got an amazing bass-led intro that does unfortunately devolve into power-chord madness; at least it works a bit in the framing of the song, as it's about having a panic attack.

The best song on the album, and the one which has rightfully survived longest is 'Brain Stew'. It starts off with a sparse but powerful power chord sequence which comes as a shock after 20 minutes of very loud, dense layers of music. Even better are the lyrics, which are full of some of the strongest imagery in any Green Day song ("My feels like they're gonna bleed... Dried up and bulging out my skull"), and are appropriately delivered by a desperately tired sounding Armstrong. All in all it's the perfect soundtrack to those nights where you maddeningly can't sleep even when you feel too tired to actually do anything.

The final track is 'Walking Contradiction', which is the only song on the album to feel like a development of the big hit singles from 'Dookie', with a laser sharp focus on hypocrites and the best hook of the album. All in all, 'Insomniac' is a decent album, but it certainly feels like a step back from 'Dookie'. It retains many of the aspects of the admittedly great deep cuts from the 94' classic without making much progression or transferring many of the qualities that made songs like 'When I Come Around' and 'Basket Case' so potent. Nonetheless, it does a good job as the infamous album-after-mainstream-success, and while it probably didn't create many new Green Day fans it wouldn't have disappointed those who were already there.

7/10

Green Day - Dookie Review

1994 is famously a year where alt-rock ruled - Many of the best albums released in that year game-changing and inspirational alt-rock classics. Weezer's self titled debut, Nine Inch Nails' 'Downward Spiral' and the album that kicked punk-pop into the mainstream - Green Day's 'Dookie'.

Despite the trio of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool being labelled as sell-outs by a large chunk of their fans for signing to a major label for the release of the album, there is no obvious change in sound from their previous 1991 effort 'Kerplunk', as demonstrated by the explosive first 3 tracks. 'Burnout' opens the album with the message that Armstrong is "Not growing up, just burning out", under power chords and pounding drums that certainly don't sound as exhausted and tired as the narrator. 'Having a Blast' tackles one boy's fantasies of going out in a suicide-bomb where he kills all of his enemies, perfectly demonstrating the frustrated humour that the lyrics hold on every track. This trio is completed with 'Chump', an short angry punk track that is the first of several on the LP to function as a hate-track towards an enemy of the narrator - although in this case the rival hasn't even met the fuming vocalist.

The outro to 'Chump' starts to show glimmers of Mike Dirnt's fantastic bass-work, which is showcased in his best ever bassline on the song that this outo transitions smoothly into - the legendary 'Longview'. Other than having the most well known rock bassline of the 90s other than maybe 'Come as You Are', the song has lyrics musing over masturbation with an explosive, headbanging chorus; pretty much the perfect Green Day song. 'Welcome to Paradise' is a marginally improved version of the 'Kerplunk' song, which would doubtlessly be great for the vast majority of new fans who hadn't heard it before (It's still a great song.), but it doesn't really feel as fresh as the rest of 'Dookie', if only for me personally.

'Pulling Teeth' is a sugary breather between 'Paradise' and before the emblem-of-the-90s itself: 'Basket Case'. This was the song that made Green Day a force to be reckoned with, it was a radio smash in the US and was their first top 10 hit in the UK. Even today, it is still considered by most to be their signature song. With it's instant vocal hook of "Do you have the time... To listen to me whine", and subsequent 3 minutes of accessible pop-punk perfection and with the biggest sing along chorus they created until at least 2005 it's clear to see why it defined it's genre.

'She' manages to avoid being overshadowed through it's quiet verse/ loud chorus dynamic and triumphant backing vocals from Mike Dirnt that even overtake  Armstrong's on the hook. 'Sassafras Roots' is a smaller scale track written by Dirnt and is the closest thing to a love song on the album. Then the final monolith of the album, 'When I Come Around', which bursts through it's simple but iconic guitar riff and bassline. In terms of pure melody it's the highlight of the disc and even has a cool little solo. The song was another huge hit, peaking at number 1 of the US Alternative singles chart.

The next 3 songs are short and vicious, showcasing Tre Cool's breathless drumming. 'Coming Clean' is a study on Armstrong's sexual confusion, 'Emenius Sleepus' is one of the aforementioned hate-tracks, as is 'In The End' - the latter also having an awesome moment of instrumental silence that is the musical equivalent of a-car-shooting-off-a-ramp-and-hanging-in-the-air-for-a-second-before-crashing-back-to-the-road-at-breakneck-speed in the chorus. The closing track 'F.O.D' is the most hateful of all the tracks, although it certainly doesn't initially seem like that from it's quiet, acoustic guitar and lyrics that sound like typical sad-but-polite breakup speak BUT THEN the distortion pedal drops and the gang vocals start and Cool's machine gun percussion kicks off, and it ends the album perfectly in an outburst of long held angst. ('All by Myself' is also tacked onto the end and is really quite charming but also a joke song sung in a silly voice by Cool.)

It seems crazy that an album named after diarrhea could ever bring punk back into the mainstream, but just a single listen to 'Dookie' shows why it was so successful - It's catchy, cohesive and full of energy, as well as huge singles that have maintained popularity up to the present. A true classic.

10/10

Green Day - Kerplunk Review

Armed with a new drummer and a comprehensible album title, Green Day emerged at the end of 1991 with the album that would bring them the first taste of success - 'Kerplunk'.

The album starts off with '2000 Light Years away', which I see as the first 'proper' Green Day song, as it has all of the features that initially made the band so popular: An obvious and catchy hook, Mike Dirnt's bass at the forefront of the mix, Tre Cool's energetic drumming, A fast-but-not-too-fast pace and lyrics from Billie Joe Armstrong that are as relatable as you can get (As long as you're a teenager.). 'One For The Razorbacks' is the same in all of these aspects but is different enough to avoid a '1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours' style pop-punk mush.

'Welcome to Paradise' is the most popular song from 'Kerplunk', since it was good enough to also be included on Green Day's mainstream breakthrough album 'Dookie' in 1994, and it's easy to understand why. With one of the most memorable opening lines in Green Days discography ("Dear Mother can you hear me whining?") and the catchiest chorus on the disc, it's the best Green Day song up until this point in their career.

'Christie Road' is sadly another example of Green Day not really knowing how to handle a slow song, and while there's nothing wrong with 'Private Ale' it also doesn't really stand out in the context of the whole album. Much more likely to grab your attention for better or for worse is 'Dominated Love Slave', which is usually listed as one of Green Day's worst ever songs. It's a Tre Cool led, spaghetti western sounding novelty track about BDSM, which your tolerance for will rely on how funny you find silly voices. Despite this, it has a surprising amount of re-listenability for such a silly song.

The album gets back on track with 'One Of My Lies', a song with one of the biggest sing-a-long hooks on the album and a great ending, even if the verses are Green Day by-numbers. '80' gives 'Welcome to Paradise a run for the best song of Green Day's first two albums, and similarly the melody of the chorus was deeming catchy enough to appear on 'Dookie' as part the verses of 'When I Come Around'. 

'Android' and 'Who Wrote Holden Caulfield' are both great pop-punk jams with some of the funniest lyrics on the album (discounting 'Dominated Love Slave' obviously) and memorable hooks, but the real treasure lies between them in the form of 'No One Knows', which shows Green Day finally nailing a slower song due to it''s chugging riff and deep-for-1991-Armstrong lyrics. Album closer 'Words I might have Ate' is in many ways a precursor to 94's 'F.O.D' as both show how to end an LP well with a quieter song that builds up. 

Tacked onto the end of every copy of 'Kerplunk' is the 'Sweep Children' EP, which is more raw and breathless than it's parent album. In brief, the title track is a little clunky, I love 'Best thing in town', but don't think it's particularly great, 'Strangeland' is similarly filled with strange vocal flairs and doesn't have a clear structure of hook and the cover of 'My Generation' is unnecessary and throwaway.

Minus the EP, 'Kerplunk' is a really great pop-punk album and with the removal of only a small number of tracks would be almost as good as 'Dookie'. If you're a Green Day fan who hasn't heard this album I strongly recommend you check it out!

8.5/10

Green Day - 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours review

Back in 1988 a small American Punk-band made up of three adolescents had created an EP under the name 'Sweet Children'. However, two weeks before it's release frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer John Kiffmeyer decided to change their band name to 'Green Day'. The EP itself was '1,000 Hours' and was released through the label Lookout records, who were ready to turn this group of 16-year olds into something big. 28 years later and Green Day are one of the biggest bands on the planet - but how did they get there?

'1,000 Hours' makes up one of four sources of songs for what is essentially Green Day's debut album. '39/Smooth' is the actual debut album, and makes up the first 10 songs of the disc, but the other 9 are the band's second EP 'Slappy', '1,000 Hours' and a track from a compilation. The album is essentially a look at the origins of Green Day - although perhaps not a lot else.

The album starts off well with 'At the Library', 'Don't Leave me' and 'I was There', a trio of raw pop-punk anthems that Green Day would soon become famous for. They're all filled with energetic drumming, prominent bass work and distorted power chords with sing along choruses. 'Disappearing Boy' is more of the same although is one of the songs here to feature some noticeably strange vocal delivery from Armstrong that we arguably haven't heard since. Next is 'Green Day'. which once again is quite similar to the rest of the album (You might see a pattern here.) and is only really notable for being a song named after the band.

'Going to Pasalacqua' showcases the background vocals provided by Dirnt, something which has stuck throughout Green Day's discography up until 2005. '16' stands out a little from the songs around it due it's slightly quieter and less shouty tone, but addresses the same lyrical themes as much of 1,039' - growing up and the pressures that come with it. 'Road to Acceptance' is the same, if it wasn't obvious from the title and once again doesn't particularly stand out.

'Rest' is the worst song on the album and one of the worst Green Day songs in general. It's an obvious attempt to make a 'slow song' for variety's sake, While this should be welcome on an album as breathless as this, 'Rest' is too slow, meandering and empty-feeling. The original album section of the disc ends with 'The Judge's Daughter', which is one of the better punk tracks. The 'Slappy EP' section begins with the pretty decent 'Paper Lanterns', which has one of the more memorable hooks of the album.

'Why Do You Want Him?' was apparently the first song written by Armstrong (when he was 14.) and as such I can forgive the predictable rhymes, and the tune is actually surprisingly good otherwise, as well as being an interesting look at the very start of Green Day. '409 in Your Coffeemaker' is unremarkable, and is followed with a cover of 'Knowledge' by punk band Operation Ivy - The songwriter from this band, Jesse Michaels, even contributed cover art for the album! The cover of 'Knowledge' isn't amazing but decent enough to justify a place on the disc.

To round off the album, '1,000 Hours' and 'Dry Ice' are loud mid-to-fast tempo punk pop by numbers, with 'Only of You' being a more accurate portrayal of what Green Day would soon become known for, with melodic, breathless verses and vaguely harmonising backing vocals. All 3 of these songs are squarely focused on one simple topic - girls - which is continued in the final track of the EP 'The One That I Want'. The final track of the whole album is 'I Want To Be Alone', which was contained on a compilation, and is a good end to the album, with a more obvious hook and structure.

Overall, the album is exhaustingly full, at 56 minutes with very little variation in structure, sound tempo or lyrical content. As such, many of the songs merge into each other and so although 'Rest' is the only individually bad song on the album, the LP is only really for those who are interested in Green Day's origins.

5/10