Since the early '90s, Bay Area trio Green Day has been one of the most celebrated and successful bands
in the world, growing from an energetic and snarling pop-punk group into an increasingly melodic and stylistically adventurous act and infiltrating the mainstream early in the process. From the start, the band took notes from the anarchic attitudes and loud, fast, snotty approach of jittery late-'70s punk acts like the Jam and Sham 69, but elevated their blasting sound with pop elements like catchy hooks, tightly arranged song structures, and Beatlesque vocal harmonies.
Formed in 1987, by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist
Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool, they were originally called Sweet Children, but changed their name before their first release. 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).
Throughout the early '90s, Green Day continued to attract a cult following, which only gained strength with the release of their second album, 1992's Kerplunk. The underground success of Kerplunk led to a
wave of interest from major record labels, and the band eventually decided to sign with Reprise. Dookie, Green Day's major-label debut, was released in the spring of 1994. Thanks to MTV's support of the initial single "Longview," Dookie became a major hit. The album continued to gain momentum throughout the summer, with its second single, "Basket Case," spending five weeks on top of the American modern rock charts. At the end of the summer, the band stole the show at Woodstock '94, which increased the sales of Dookie.
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. As they soldiered through the ensuing decades, Green Day matured without losing any of the lawless attitude they'd built their sound on, reaching a career peak with 2004's American Idiot (a sociopolitical rock opera and Grammy-winning international success).
2004's American Idiot, an aggressive rock opera that became a surprise success -- a chart-topper around the world, a multi-platinum Grammy winner, and easily the best-reviewed album of their career. Green
Day reveled in the album's success, hitting numerous award shows and performing as part of Live 8 in July 2005. That fall saw the release of Bullet in a Bible, a concert album that documented the trio's expansive Idiot live show. Over the years, Green Day expanded their sound to include nods to glam rock, soul, and larger-than-life arena rock, taking the time to make such detours as 2020's Father of All..., but they also found sustenance in their pop-punk, as indicated by 2024's rousing Saviors.
01. GREEN DAY - KERPLUNK! 1991
Green Day's second full album was the perfect dry run for the band's later assault on the mainstream, containing both more variety and more flat-out smashes than previous releases had shown. With Tre Cool now firmly in place as the drummer, the lineup was at last settled, and it turned out Cool and Mike
Dirnt were a perfect rhythm section, with the former showing a bit more flash and ability than John Kiftmeyer did. Together the two throw in a variety of guitarless breaks that would later help to define the band's sound for many -- warm and never letting the beat go. As for Billie Joe Armstrong, his puppy-dog delivery and eternal switching between snotty humor and sudden sorrrow was better than ever, as were his instantly memorable riffs.
Green Day – Kerplunk!
Label: Lookout! Records – Lookout 46, Lookout! Records
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: Jan 17, 1992
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk
TRAXS
01. 2000 Light Years Away 2:24
02. One For The Razorbacks 2:30
03. Welcome To Paradise 3:30
04. Christie Road 3:33
05. Private Ale 2:26
06. Dominated Love Slave (Lyrics By – Tre) 1:41
07. One Of My Lies 2:19
08. 80 3:39
09. Android 3:00
10. No One Knows 3:39
11. Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? 2:44
12. Words I Might Have Ate 2:32
BONUS TRAXS
13. Sweet Children 1:41
14. Best Thing In Town 2:03
15. Strangeland 2:08
16. My Generation (Lyrics By – The Who) 2:19
LINE - UP
Guitar, Vocals – Billie Joe Armstrong
Bass – Mike Dirnt
Drums – Al Sobrante (tracks: 13 to 16), Tre Cool (tracks: 1 to 12)
ONE OF MY LIES LYRICS
When I was younger, I thought that the world circled around me
But in time, I realized I was so wrong
My immortal thoughts turned into just dreams of a dead future
It was a tragic case of my reality, yeah
Do you think you're indestructible, and no one can touch you?
Well, I think you're disposable, and it's time you knew the truth
'Cause it's just one of my lies
Well, it's just one of my lies
And all I wanna do is get real high
Well, it's just one of my lies
Why does my life have to be so small, and death is forever?
And does forever have a life to call its own?
Don't give me an answer, 'cause you only know as much as I know
Unless you've been there once, well, I hardly think so
Do you think you're indestructible, and no one can touch you?
Well, I think you're disposable, and it's time you knew the truth
'Cause it's just one of my lies
Well, it's just one of my lies
And all I wanna do is get real high
Well, it's just one of my lies
I used to pray at night
Before I laid myself down
My mother said it was right
Her mother said it too
Why?
Flac (16/44) Size: 308 MB
02. GREEN DAY - DOOKIE 1994
Dookie produced five hit singles for the band: "Longview", "When I Come Around", "Basket Case", a
re-recorded version of "Welcome to Paradise" and the radio-only single "She". The album has garnered considerable acclaim, from its release to present day, winning a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1995 and being ranked No. 193 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. As of 2014, Dookie is the band's best-selling album with more than 20 million copies sold worldwide.
Green Day – Dookie
Label: Reprise Records – 9362-45529-2
Format: CD, Album, Repress, Stereo
Country: Europe
Released: 1999
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk, Alternative Rock
TRAXS
01. Burnout 2:07
02. Having A Blast 2:44
03. Chump 2:54
04. Longview 3:59
05. Welcome To Paradise 3:44
06. Pulling Teeth 2:30
07. Basket Case 3:03
08. She 2:14
09. Sassafras Roots 2:37
10. When I Come Around 2:58
11. Coming Clean 1:35
12. Emenius Sleepus (Words By – Mike Dirnt) 1:43
13. In The End 1:46
14.1. F.O.D. 2:49
14.2. (silence) 1:19
14.3. All By Myself 1:38
LINE - UP
Guitar, Vocals – Billie Joe Armstrong
Bass – Mike Dirnt
Drums - Tre Cool
NOTES
Track 14.3 is a hidden track starting 4:08 into track 14.
"All by myself" isn't titled on the release.
BURNOUT LYRICS
I declare I don't care no more
I'm burning up and out and growing bored
In my smoked out boring room
My hair is shagging in my eyes
Dragging my feet to hit the street tonight
Drive along these shit town lights
I'm not growing up, I'm just burning out
And I stepped in line to walk amongst the dead
Oh, apathy has rained on me
And now I'm feeling like a soggy dream
So close to drowning, but I don't mind
I'll live inside this mental cave
Throw my emotions in the grave
And hell, who needs them anyway?
I'm not growing up, I'm just burning out
And I stepped in line to walk amongst the dead
I'm not growing up, I'm just burning out
And I stepped in line to walk amongst the dead
Dead.
Flac (24/96) Size: 875 MB
03. GREEN DAY - INSOMNIAC 1995
The Berkeley pop-punks’ 1995 album Insomniac served as the band’s highly anticipated fourth release
overall and follow-up to their breakthrough major label debut Dookie from the year prior. With Insomniac the group took everything that was great about its predecessor, i.e. its simplicity, hooks, lack of pretension and disdain for authority, and upped the ante with darker motifs and heavier songs. It resulted in yet another quality collection of uncompromising punk rock with breakneck drumming, pounding bass, catchy riffs and snot-nosed vocals.
Green Day – Insomniac
Label: Reprise Records – 9362-46046-2
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: Oct 9, 1995
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Punk
TRAXS
01. Armatage Shanks 2:16
02. Brat 1:43
03. Stuck With Me 2:15
04. Geek Stink Breath 2:15
05. No Pride 2:19
06. Bab's Uvula Who? 2:08
07. 86 2:47
08. Panic Song (Words By – Mike Dirnt) 3:35
09. Stuart And The Ave. 2:03
10. Brain Stew 3:12
11. Jaded 1:30
12. Westbound Sign 2:13
13. Tight Wad Hill 2:01
14. Walking Contradiction 2:31
LINE - UP
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums
PANIC SONG LYRICS
Ready for a cheap escape
On the brink of self-destruction
Widespread panic
Broken glass inside my head
Bleeding down these thoughts of anguish
Mass confusion
Well, the world is a sick machine breeding a mass of shit
With such a desolate conclusion
Fill the void with... I don't care
There's a plague inside of me
Eating at my disposition
Nothing's left
Torn out of reality
Into a state of no opinion
Limp with hate
Well, the world is a sick machine breeding a mass of shit
With such a desolate conclusion
Fill the void with... I don't care
I wanna jump out
I wanna jump out
I wanna jump out
I wanna jump out
Flac (24/96) Size: 805 MB
04. GREEN DAY - AMERCAN IDIOT 2004
The story of St. Jimmy has an arc similar to Hüsker Dü's landmark punk-opera Zen Arcade, while the music has grandiose flourishes straight out of both Queen and Rocky Horror Picture Show (the '50s
pastiche "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" is punk rock Meat Loaf), all tied together with a nervy urgency and a political passion reminiscent of the Clash, or all the anti-Reagan American hardcore bands of the '80s. These are just the clearest touchstones for American Idiot, but reducing the album to its influences gives the inaccurate impression that this is no more than a patchwork quilt of familiar sounds, when it's an idiosyncratic, visionary work in its own right.
Green Day – American Idiot
Label: Reprise Records – 48777-2, Reprise Records – 2-48777
Format: CD, Album, Enhanced, Cinram Olyphant
Country: US
Released: Sep 21, 2004
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Punk, Alternative Rock
TRAXS
01. American Idiot 2:54
02. JESUS IN SUBURBIA 9:08 (9:08)
2.I. Jesus Of Suburbia
2.II. City Of The Damned
2.IIII. Don't Care
2.IV. Dearly Beloved
2.V. Tales Of Another Broken Home
03. Holiday 3:53
04. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams 4:21
05. Are We The Waiting 2:43
06. St. Jimmy 2:55
07. Give Me Novacaine 3:26
08. She's A Rebel 2:00
09. Extraordinary Girl 3:34
10. Letterbomb (Vocals, Guest – Kathleen Hanna) 4:06
11. Wake Me Up When September Ends 4:46
12. HOMECOMING 9:19
12.I. The Death Of St. Jimmy
12.II. East 12th St.
12.III. Nobody Likes You (Words By – Mike Dirnt)
12.IV. Rock And Roll Girlfriend (Words By – Tré Cool)
12.V. We're Coming Home Again
13. Whatsername 4:14
LINE - UP
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums
WITH
Rob Cavallo - Piano
Jason Freese - Saxophone
AMERICAN IDIOT LYRICS
Don't wanna be an American idiot
Don't want a nation under the new mania
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindfuck America
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alienation
Where everything isn't meant to be okay
In television dreams of tomorrow
We're not the ones who're meant to follow
For that's enough to argue
Well, maybe I'm the faggot, America
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda
Now everybody, do the propaganda
And sing along to the age of paranoia
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alienation
Where everything isn't meant to be okay
In television dreams of tomorrow
We're not the ones who're meant to follow
For that's enough to argue
Don't wanna be an American idiot
One nation controlled by the media
Information age of hysteria
It's calling out to idiot America
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alienation
Where everything isn't meant to be okay
In television dreams of tomorrow
We're not the ones who're meant to follow
For that's enough to argue
I know the name Green Day - not the music. I was always very skeptical -perhaps a prejudice ? I'll check it out. Thank you
ReplyDeleteWith N. Merryweather i also know what's good and there are quite a few of them.
Now something very special:
Do you know the label BRIGHT CARVINGS ? This label releases ultra rare acetates that are incredibly expensive if you want to buy them. HANS POKORA from Vienna, one of the world's biggest collectors is 80% behind this project. He provides the material. He is a very good friend of Erwin, by the way. You can only buy them as lps. Luckily i'm at the source and can get the lps relatively cheaply.
I'll be picking up half a dozen of them ( forward) which i know are very good (!) and the postage is free anyway...the releases are still continuing. In a word, IT'S A MUST FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN 60 S PSYCHEDELIC AND EARLY 70'S.
Just a quick word about THE FUGS since you mentioned them. I can't talk at length about THE FUGS now; that's a long chapter in itself. Erwin is a Fugs specialist one of his absolute top bands and the guy knows everything about the band.
Just a personal memories:
I met Ed Sanders at an event in Germany in the 90's. I wanted to talk to him about Fugs. He in tears wanted to talk about everything but not over the Fugs haha... I also remember that he really liked a woman and tried to get her attention and i was surprised at how clumsy and insecure he was..