Track Listing

1. Armatage Shanks
2. Brat
3. Stuck With Me
4. Geek Stink Breath
5. No Pride
6. Bab's Uvula Who?
7. 86
8. Panic Song
9. Stuart and The Ave.
10. Brain Stew
11. Jaded
12. Westbound Sign
13. Tight Wad Hill
14. Walking Contradiction

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5994 in Music
• Published on: 1995
• Released on: 1995-10-10
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Severely Underrated!
After Green Day released Dookie in 1994 to massive critical and commercial success, they took a slightly different route on their next record in 1995, turned up the amplifiers and came with a more-fierce, buzzsaw like attitude reminiscent of the glory days of punk rock. Green Day strums harder, sings louder and hammers home the same message as Dookie but in a much different fashion. Many people will dismiss this album because of the lack of the standout singles that Dookie had, but this is arguably a more complete effort and one of the strongest of their career.

Another slice of goodness
Punk purists love to whine about Green Day, bemoaning the group's "commercial" sound, juvenile lyrics, and general mid-90s chart success. To which I reply: shut the hell up. Green Day's music may not be for the ages, and Billie Joe Armstrong (their guitarist, lead vocalist, and chief songwriter) may not be a genius, but their music is still some of the best stuff to hit the charts in the 90s. Their songs were fun, catchy, soaked in attitude and backhanded humor, with plenty of crunchy power chord hooks and unforgettable choruses. Sure, a few trillion awful bands followed in their wake, but should we really blame these guys for the actions of their imitators? I say, burn your Good Charlotte discs and get back to cranking Green Day.

Insomniac, the group's fourth album (and the follow-up to the deservedly successful Dookie) serves up fourteen gobs of mouthwatering pop-punk goodness. Sure, it's all pretty derivative- Billie Joe has obviously been paying very close attention to his Ramones records- but it sounds fantastic. If this had come out in 1977, we'd all be hailing it as a classic (albeit a somewhat minor one). Sadly, I guess I'm forced to do everybody's hailing for them. It really is a shame: I wish that more people would give a good listen to the snotty bounce of "No Pride," or the rip-roaring (and just plain awesome) putdown that is "Stuart & The Ave." "Armatage Shanks" boasts a hell of a pop hook, and "Brat" sounds just plain bratty. "Stuck With Me" is an instantly memorable outcast anthem, and "Panic Song" features a great tension-and-release structure.

There's just so much fantastic stuff here- if anything, it's better than Dookie. Ignore the negative hype and give it a shot.

10/10
This cd represents Green Day at a great point in their careers. Perhaps second only to Dookie, this cd rivals Dookie at times with its catchy song after song after song. Every song on this cd is good. Best songs are Geek Stink Breath, Brain Stew, and Walking Contradiction as well as Armatage Shanks. Green Day sounds perhaps more refined here than on Dookie. EVERYONE NEEDS THIS CD, BOTTOM LINE. It is a must must must have for fans of 90s music or Green Day in general. Terrific replay value and it never gets old to listen to. This cd will blow you away how good it is.