Green Day

The happiest punk band in the world. I like their music, but never listened to it enough to recognize each song by title. "Longview" and "Basket Case" I know, of course, and the rare song where they actually mention the title (such as "Walking Contradiction") I can pick out, but for the rest I think of this catchy Green Day beat in my head, and wonder, "Now which song was that?..."

"Dookie"

  1. "Burnout" (2:07)
  2. "Having a Blast" (2:44)
  3. "Chump" (2:54)
  4. "Longview" (3:59)
  5. "Welcome to Paradise" (3:44)
  6. "Pulling Teeth" (2:30)
  7. "Basket Case" (3:03)
  8. "She" (2:14)
  9. "Sassafras Roots" (2:37)
  10. "When I Come Around" (2:58)
  11. "Coming Clean" (1:34)
  12. "Emenius Sleepus" (1:43)
  13. "In the End" (1:46)
  14. "F.O.D." (2:48)
  15. "All by Myself"--unlisted, end of track #14 (1:39)

This CD is a classic, but since my brother was the one who owned it, I never bothered to get my own copy. And once I moved out of his place, I was so tired of the music that it was never a priority to buy. Finally, the Record Trader was unloading a huge stack of used "Dookies", all good condition, at a price range of $6.99 to $1.99. Guess which one I bought. :)

"Insomniac"

  1. "Armatage Shanks" (2:16)
  2. "Brat" (1:43)
  3. "Stuck with Me" (2:15)
  4. "Geek Stink Breath" (2:15)
  5. "No Pride" (2:19)
  6. "Bab's Uvula Who?" (2:08)
  7. "86" (2:47)
  8. "Panic Song" (3:35)
  9. "Stuart and the Ave." (2:03)
  10. "Brain Stew" (3:12)
  11. "Jaded" (1:30)
  12. "Westbound Sign" (2:13)
  13. "Tight Wad Hill" (4:18)
  14. "Walking Contradiction" (2:31)

Since I got Dookie, I figured I might as well pick up this one as well, even though it was $5.99. Mostly the same sound as the previous CD, but with a few change-ups here and there ("Panic Song", for example, starts out sounding like The Who!)

"Nimrod"

  1. "Nice Guys Finish Last" (2:49)
  2. "Hitchin' a Ride" (2:51)
  3. "The Grouch" (2:12)
  4. "Redundant" (3:17)
  5. "Scattered" (3:02)
  6. "All the Time" (2:10)
  7. "Worry Rock" (2:27)
  8. "Platypus (I Hate You)" (2:21)
  9. "Uptight" (3:04)
  10. "Last Ride In"--instrumental (3:47)
  11. "Jinx" (2:12)
  12. "Haushinka" (3:25)
  13. "Walking Alone" (2:45)
  14. "Reject" (2:05)
  15. "Take Back" (1:09)
  16. "King for a Day" (3:13)
  17. "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" (2:34)
  18. "Prosthetic Head" (3:38)

This is the album that shot the band's popularity straight into the stratosphere, thanks in no small part to the lovely acoustic ballad "Time of Your Life". Usually, the "hit" tends to be the least interesting track on the album, but here, the opposite holds true -- there is nothing at all remarkable about the other 17 "happy punk" tunes, sounding totally indistinguishable from everything else they've done on previous albums, with no memorable hooks whatsoever (or, at least, certainly nothing as memorable as "Longview" or "Basket Case".) I guess an exception can be made for the smooth, tropical-sounding instrumental "Last Ride In", but overall, this disc is a complete snoozer.

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