1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours [Remastered] - Green Day > Reviews > Here's How It All Started...

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Average
Value for Money

Advantages:	A classic Green Day album
Disadvantages:	Certainly not their best  -  a few weak tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

OK, one last Green Day album! Due to a strange twist of fate, it’ll be Green Day’s first album that I’m reviewing last! 1,039 / Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, as strange a name as it may seem, was made up from the songs that appeared on the EPs 39/Smooth, Slappy, Flipside “The Big One” and 1,000 Hours. See, now the name makes sense! The album was released in 1990, making it 14 years old at the time of writing. One thing worth nothing, is something that most people wouldn’t notice – at the bottom of the back cover, “*knowledge by Op. IV.” is scribbled. Most people would probably ignore it, but it seems to me that “Op. IV.” is probably referring to the band Operation Ivy, which I think is one of Mike or Billie Joe’s side bands or former bands.

1 – At The Library
A nice punky song to get the album kicking off. Some good guitar work – seems like two were used on this recording, so was probably dubbed over later. It’s about a girl Billie Joe met… at the library!

2 – Don’t Leave Me
This song is pretty cool and catchy – sounds like a classic punk song from the 70s. Another well written Green Day song.

3 – I Was There
This song was written by “John” – presumably John Kiffmeyer, alias Al Sobrante, Green Day’s first drummer. It’s a pretty good song, if it was written by a drummer!! Nice catchy chorus and well-worked vocals.

4 – Disappearing Boy
Great intro – must have taken some practise! Unfortunately, this track on my CD seems to be scratched, as it jams after 8 seconds, so I can’t say much more about this one!!!!!

5 – Green Day
This song was written when the band were called Sweet Children. Al Sobrante (see above) scribbled Green Day on his jacket, and that’s why it became the band name. Good song, just a shame it’s about drugs!

6 – Going To Pasalacqua
One of the strongest songs on the album for sure. A very catchy one and good to sing along to. If you listen very carefully at the start, just before Billie Joe sings “here we go again” he actually says it (or someone else does) very very quietly, just before. God I’m sad!

7 – 16
Great intro, and a pretty damn good song. It’s all about growing up and getting older. Not the strongest song on the album, but still good if you give it a chance.

8 – Road To Acceptance
Another one of the weaker songs – could have a better intro, and definitely is not the best song they’ve ever done. Possibly one of the worst.

9 – Rest
A nice slow intro, which progresses into quite a slow, spooky song. Not one of their most memorable tracks, but a nice addition to the album

10 – The Judge’s Daughter
A good classic punk song. It’s pretty original compared to the other songs on the album, and is definitely up there with the best on the CD.

11 – Paper Lanterns
A nice noisy bit of guitar feedback for an intro, and another generic punk song kicks in. Nonetheless, it’s still a good song. As far as the songs on this album goes, this one would be just above average.

12 – Why Do You Want Him?
My favourite track on the album. Billie Joe wrote this song when he was just 10 – the first song he ever wrote. It’s aimed at his mum, in reference to a new boyfriend of hers, who Billie Joe thought was a complete scumbag as he kept upsetting her, but she just kept going back. For a 10 year old, this is one damn good song! A lovely piece of Green Day memorabilia, what with being the first song God ever wrote :-)

13 – 409 In Your Coffeemaker
Billie Joe wrote this after putting 409 in his teacher’s coffee machine. I think 409 is the American equivalent of WD40 (someone please let me know!). A nice powerful punk song.

14 – Knowledge
This is the “Op. IV” song referred to earlier. The intro is certainly different… jazzy guitar riffs, then the vocals and bass and drums come in, and it’s all pretty laid-back and funky, and makes a big change from the regular Green Day style. If I’m not mistaken, there’s some piano in the background there!!! DEFINITELY not a Green Day song ;-)

15 – 1,000 Hours
One of the good songs on the album – very effective and powerful. It’s sort of dark punk (hey, there’s a new genre!), and a very good track.

16 – Dry Ice
Good pure melodic punk song – more tight guitar riffs and vocals in unison. It sounds like a punk remake of a 60s-style song, and is pretty good!

17 – Only Of You
Nothing new here – more cleverly formulated power chords and a punky love song. Still, it’s one of the better ones on the album, and is certainly catchy.

18 – The One I Want
A bit to similar to Only Of You – not enough of a difference to come just after it. One the weaker songs on the album, and could do with quite a bit of work. Not really very memorable at all.

19 – I Want To Be Alone
A nice funky intro, and it all kicks off pretty well. Another great catchy song that you just want to sing along to. A good track to end the album off on - a nice solid punk song to finish on, and it’s adios for another album!

Not Green Day’s best album, but it’s still part of the Holy Grail, being their first major release. The version I reviewed was the original version, so obviously the recording quality wasn’t fantastic. However, the album has been re-released within the past month or two, and has been digitally remastered and reworked to sound better. I think one or two tracks may have even be completely re-recorded.

It’s an album which all Green Day fans must have, but I wouldn’t recommend it as an “entry-level” album. It’s certainly got its own appeal, and is a good album, but it does have a few weak and unmemorable tracks. With their later releases, such as Warning, or even Dookie, after listening to the album once or twice, you could sing or hum a few lines of any randomly selected song on the album, from memory. On this album, the songs are all a bit too similar and weak to do so, with the exceptions of Going To Pasalacqua and Why Do You Want Him?.