Album Review: Dookie - Green Day

American rockers Green Day are widely recognised on music’s world stage. Regarded by some, as the greatest live act in the world, Green Day have sold 65 million records with eight studio albums which have captured the hearts of fans over the course of the last two decades.

Turn back to 1994 and the band, notorious on the American punk scene, were not huge, chart-topping, rock icons. The trio had, up to then, recorded two studio albums, but 1990’s 39/Smooth and 1992’s Kerplunk had only generated attention without arguably setting the world alight. The latter, however, did become one of the most popular independent albums of the decade, and this prompted interest from major record labels.

The band signed with Reprise Records in 1993, and has remained with the label since. The switch to the larger label however, created unrest in the Green Day fan base, with supporters accusing the band of ‘selling-out’.

Dookie was released on 1st February 1994. It was billed as a monumental masterpiece intertwining alternative rock with their more recognised punk styles. Front man, Billy Joe Armstrong and Bassist, Mike Dirnt had collaborated to form instantly recognisable, addictive riffs and lyrics that are memorable. Tré Cool also conjured some remarkable drum solos, which has become his trademarks throughout future albums. This amazing formula provided successful results in the charts.

By 2008, the 1994 classic sold a huge 15million copies across the world, including over 7.8million copies in their native US. The album also collected a Grammy award, in 1995 for best alternative album and the world’s largest music magazine Rolling Stone listed the CD as the 193rd greatest album of all time. Of the tracks, Basket Case became the band’s figurehead single, and was named as the best punk single of all time by BBC Radio One in 2006. When I Come Around also became a massive hit, charting at number three in the Billboard Hot 100, their highest charting hit in this chart until 2004’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams. This track also topped the American Rock Chart for seven weeks. Other singles include Longview, Welcome to Paradise and She.

The first track, Burnout, is a powerful track to open the album. The lyrics, which are harsh and direct, centre the song on boredom, which is repeated early in this first verse and will see the band attempt to find a cure for boredom during the album as the write about girls, sex and drugs, which are common themes in rock ‘n’ roll along with including the sour theme of death. Having A Blast follows, and Chump concludes with drumming and anti-climax themed through both tracks. Both tracks include dark lyrics. Chump fades into Longview.

Longview is the first single released from Dookie. The song incorporates an iconic bassline, which Mike Dirnt wrote on while on drugs. Lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong stated the song was about boredom, and centred on a character trapped in his home because they are too lazy to do anything.

I got no motivation. Where is my motivation? No time for the motivation. Smoking my inspiration

During this, the second chorus, the character questions his desire in his world, where smoking is the only decent thing to do. It centres on the negative emotions of a character who feels alienated; this has already been echoed in previous tracks on the album.

Welcome to Paradise, has a fast tempo but again has depressing lyrics. The theme is a character who struggles to adapt to a new area. Compared to other singles released from the album, Released into the singles chart, Welcome to Paradise, performed disappointingly, charting 56th in the United States.

Placed in the middle of four of the five singles, is a track entitled Pulling Teeth. The track is about domestic violence, which subsequently affects the choice of the title, and tells a story about a male being injured by his partner. The first line begins with Armstrong declaring his injured state. He then declares the injuries as down to an ‘accident’, and then tells the story on how the treatment is forcing the character to love the female.

Basket Case is the most famous track on the album, and is an iconic Green Day track, often being the song people think of when the band is mentioned. It opens with a question ‘Do you have the time to listen to me whine?’ The track lacks any drumming from Cool until midway through the chorus prior to ‘I think I’m cracking up’. The character portrayed is depressed and lost. He seeks specialist help and expresses problems with relationships and drugs. The guitar riff used is unforgettable.

Track eight, is titled She and is written about and is about one of Billie Joe Armstrong’s ex-lovers. The track takes a relatively simple format, with a verse followed by a chorus, with the guitar solo taking the place of the third verse, but following the same structures of the verses. It resolves around a female who takes advantage of a man who would do anything for her. She was released as a the fifth and final single from the album in the United States, but charted at just 41st and ended their run of consecutive U.S alternative number ones, after the success of Basket Case and When I Come Around. The song that follows this is Sassafras Roots.

The following track is the forth-single release from Dookie, and has the name ‘When I Come Around’. The track has an symbolic riff. The song is about two lost unloved souls that need each other but never realised. The chorus tells of the female

character not having time to search the world around and not having to, because the male, who is her saviour, is closer than she realises.

Coming Clean, Emenius Sleeps, In The End and F.O.D conclude the album.

It took Green Day ten years to emulate the stardom of Dookie, despite the band still releasing moderately successful albums, as neither Insomniac, Nimrod nor Warning sold half as many copies worldwide as the 1994 classic. American Idiot, released in 2004, is yet to surpass the number of copies Dookie sold, but it and 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown did achieve a fate that their Reprise Record debut did not, and accomplished a position at the top of both the United States and United Kingdom charts. But this album quite rightly stands in history not just for establishing the band to the masses of fans they entertain today, but also for producing a classic rock album that will still provide an education to anyone who cares about music.