Dookie Turns 30

Three kids from California had released two solid punk albums on Lookout Records and were on the brink of something big. They signed with a major label that made their early fans call them sell-outs. On this day 30 years ago, Green Day released the album Dookie. It propelled Green Day into the mainstream. Dookie should be appreciated for what it really is - not a punk rock album, but a pop-punk masterpiece that influenced so many bands to this day.

Kicking off with “Burnout” a fast, hook filled two minutes track with a fantastically punk opening line: “I declare I don’t give no more”. They blaze right into “Having a Blast” which might be the theme to making this album.

Listening to this after many years, what I’m drawn to the most is the fantastic bass playing from Mike Dirnt. His playing drives so many songs with fire and energy. Take another listen to “Chump” which leads directly into the first single with its fantastic bass line opening, “Longview”. 

Intense boredom rules on the song that builds to a fury where we all “bit our lips and close our eyes”. That energy stays on throughout the next song, “Welcome to Paradise”. The lone track from their previous album to be re-recorded. This tongue-in-cheek ode to their humble surroundings was a huge hit.

Showing their more melodic side, the band throws in the Beatle-esque “Pulling Teeth”. The song carries one of the biggest themes of the album, love and self-loathing.

Along the lines of self-loathing and anxiety is the fantastic “Basket Case”, a pop-punk anthem that lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong said is an anthem about panic and anxiety. But you’re looking for comradery and for someone to acknowledge your insanity.

If there’s one song that pushes Green Day beyond the pop-punk that shows up on 99% of this album, it comes later with the song “When I Come Around”. It was the fourth single off of Dookie and dealt with the theme of a turning point in a relationship. 

The rest of the way is a string of bops under two minutes. My favorite of the bunch is “Emenius Sleepus”. The only song off the album written by bassist Mike Dirnt. “In the End” (which isn’t quite at the very end) really lays the punk vibes, then it’s time to fuck off and die, with the song “F.O.D”.

Dookie produced five hit singles, won them a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album and has sold over 8 million copies. Not very punk, right? But what it does is that it serves as a fantastic reminder of fun in music. So go appreciate what a bunch of young, snot-nosed punks did - Produced a near perfect album.