Fundamentally there isn’t a tremendous shift between Green Day’s early releases and Dookie. Tre Cool took over on drums and the band made the jump to a major label, resulting in slightly better production quality, but at their core its still the same Green Day that rocked Gilman Street a few years earlier. Billie Joe Armstrong lost none of his spark, still spitting out lyrics that celebrate juvenile rebellion, the joys of being a slacker, and all the other fundamentals of punk rock. Tre Cool fits the void left by Kiffmeyer as snug as anyone could, providing the same pixy-stick energy that made Green Day’s first two albums such unparalleled fun. And Mike Dirnt complements both his bandmates wonderfully, providing harmony to back up Armstrong and giving Cool’s rhythm section a little more bounce.
If anything happened to Green Day when they moved to a major label, it’s that they got a little older and, though they’d never admit it, a little wiser. Dookie doesn’t really try to be anything more than it is. Whereas 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours had a minor tendency to extend songs longer than necessary, Dookie isn’t afraid to keep it simple, quick, and a little bit stupid. Songs like “Coming Clean” and “Emenius Sleepus” are simple affairs that barely count as songs, but they share space with well thought out, focused tracks like the classic “When I Come Around” and “Chump”. Dookie isn’t that much of a leap in sound or scope for Green Day, and most of the growth comes in their fan base. Regardless, Dookie ends up being one of the pivotal albums both in Green Day’s catalog and in the path of punk rock (Fall Out Boy and Blink 182 both owe their success to some degree to Dookie’s release).
Green Day – When I Come Around [iTunes] (YSI)
==TJ==
Filed under: Album A Day | Tagged: Album A Day, Green Day
