Dookie (1994)
The music here is solid, carrying them over the hump on several songs that combine interesting/fun lyrics and rocking music. Elsewhere the attitude is still there but the material stretches a bit thin.
(“Longview”, “When I Come Around”)
Grade: B
Insomniac (1995)
A bit of a letdown after ‘Dookie’, this album boasts my favorite Green Day song in terms of both music and lyrics in “Walking Contradiction”. Downright tedious in some places, at least the bad songs aren’t any longer than the keepers. I just wish the keepers were more worth keeping.
(“Walking Contradiction”)
Grade: B-
2010: More consistent than I thought.
Grade: B
4/13/16: Hey, that was pretty good. And you can rid your worries with it.
Nimrod (1997)
Continuing the falloff after ‘Dookie’, it makes one almost think that ‘Dookie’ was a fluke- that these guys really ARE just a mediocre punk/pop ripoff. None of the songs here could stand next to their best so far. “Good Riddance (time of your life)” may be a reaching out to the pure pop world, and it worked, but where do they go from here? Their forte is power pop/punk, and here’s hoping they return to it in style before it’s too late and “Good Riddance” becomes more than a bit ironic.
Grade: C
International Superhits! (2001)
I didn’t have much of an urge to get their last studio album, ‘Warning’, after the decline from ‘Dookie’ to ‘Nimrod’. But I was presented with a chance to listen to this, their (and I quote) “International Superhits!”, and I couldn’t say no. I was mildly surprised that until the very end, there wasn’t a SINGLE bad or even mediocre song on the darn thing. 1-17 out of 21 were all listenable and, at least to an extent, enjoyable…some more than others of course, but who am I to quibble with 17 decent songs on one album?? Number 19 isn’t bad, either. Yikes…I don’t know how they did it, but this looks like a great album. Talk about making the most out of your talent and your past successes. ‘Dookie’, their best album IMHO, is a B. This, culled from ‘Dookie’ and each of their other albums (and a soundtrack), is A- range. Finally, a Greatest Hits album that really IS all the hits, and all the music by the group that you’ll probably ever need.
(“Longview”, “Brain Stew/Jaded”, “Walking Contradiction”)
Grade: A