In 1993, alternative rock was still ruled by the brooding sounds of what we once called grunge: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, et cetera. Released in February 1994, Green Day’s third album—and first for a major label—was like a glass of cold water in the face. First off, it was catchy. Not in an oblique, theoretical way, but in a way that was vibrant, sweet, immediate—it wanted to please. Second, it understood the special process of combustion by which angst becomes humor.
Here were songs about panic attacks (“Basket Case”), poverty (“Welcome to Paradise”), and mind-destroying boredom (“Longview”) that felt not just familiar, but funny. If it was punk, it was punk not in the style of Sex Pistols but Ramones: guys whose anger was neutered by their own hilarious incompetence, whose smarts were evident in how effortlessly they played dumb. Even the album’s sober moments (“She,” “When I Come Around”) had a directness that made them feel ordinary, routine: These weren’t tortured artists mapping the rim of existential despair; they were regular dudes, walking around, hoping to burn off a little nervous energy.
Within a year, the band had gone from sharing a basement near the UC Berkeley campus (you can still see it in the “Longview” video) to sharing a Grammy—a shift that set them on the path to becoming the rabble-rousing arena act they are now, more in tune with artists like Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen than Dead Kennedys. (The tradeoff proved bittersweet: Purists from the Bay Area punk scene they’d helped nurture and grow wrote them off as sellouts; a piece of graffiti on the wall of the legendary Berkeley DIY space 924 Gilman Street read “Billie Joe Must Die”—all this despite the band’s sound staying pretty much the same throughout.) Snotty, charming, and lighthearted, Dookie was the album that put alt-rock’s feet back on the ground.
Tracklisting
- Burnout (2:07)
- Having A Blast (2:45)
- Chump (2:54)
- Longview (3:59)
- Welcome To Paradise (3:45)
- Pulling Teeth (2:31)
- Basket Case (3:01)
- She (2:14)
- Sassafras Roots (2:38)
- When I Come Around (2:58)
- Coming Clean (1:35)
- Emenius Sleepus (1:44)
- In The End (1:46)
- F.O.D. (2:49)
- (silence) (1:20)
- All By Myself (1:38)
Apple Music
Videos
Burnout
More Videos
- Having a Blast
- Chump
- Green Day - Longview [Official Music Video]
- Green Day - Welcome To Paradise [Live]
- Pulling Teeth
- Green Day - Basket Case [Official Music Video]
- Green Day - She (Official Audio)
- Sassafras Roots
- Green Day - When I Come Around [Official Music Video]
- Coming Clean
- Emenius Sleepus
- In the End
- F.O.D.
- All by Myself
Release Images
Release Information
| Key | Value |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia URL | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dookie |
| Format | Vinyl LP Album Reissue |
| Label | Reprise Records |
| Catalog Number | 9362-49869-5 |
| Notes | Includes printed insert. Track B2 titled “Sassafras” on label. Tracks B7.2 and B7.3 are unlisted. Green sticker on front: The 1994 breakthrough album. For the first time on vinyl in over a decade. BECAUSE SOUND MATTERS 1-468284 (K1) Inlay: 1994 WB Music Corp./Green Daze Music, admin. by WB Music Corp. ASCAP except “Welcome To Paradise” © 1991 WB Music Corp./Green Daze Music, admin. by WB Music Corp. ASCAP. Lyrics Reprinted by Permission. © 2008, 1994 Reprise Records. Back cover: Reprise Records, a Warner Music Group Company. © ℗ 2008, 1994 Reprise Records for the U.S. and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the U.S. Made in the E.U. Labels: WB Music Corp./Green Daze Music admin. by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) © ℗ 2008, 1994 Reprise Records Made in the E.U. |
| Discogs URL | Green Day - Dookie |