August 1, 2004 - not here anymore, y'all. Sorry 'bout that. No, not really.
August 1, 2004 - not here anymore, y'all. Sorry 'bout that. No, not really.
Member since:16.11.2001
Reviews:122
Members who trust:51
When I was a young, stupid, confused, musically-stunted teenager, I owned a copy of “the Green Day CD” as it was called (they hadn’t released but the one, “Dookie” at the time, and well, let’s be honest: Generation X really isn’t as creative as we’d like to think ourselves to be sometimes. Oh, well.) Needless to say, this album did NOT remain in my collection for very long.
Unfortunately, this stupid-assed recording is STILL extremely popular in my backwards community, so I'm forced to listen to snatches of it all the time. When I'm sitting at a red light, next to someone with a loud stereo system. When my brothers' friends come over and bring their CD collections with them. When I turn on the radio. Anytime I open my ears, it seems like this record is playing, and somebody is playing it loudly. Which is why my memories of why I hate this disc SO much are fresh and up-to-date.
A nifty map pencil sketch of an entire city getting covered in brown piles of dookie (as if you couldn't guess) graces the cover of this disc. Dogs are throwing it. People are getting hit with it. Everyone is getting hit with dookie. (If you’re very drunk, you might feel compelled to STUDY the damned CD cover...that’s about the time my drinking problem ended, really.)
If Green Day can be called “punk,” then I’m the Orgasmic Easter Bunny of Sexual Relations Past. But you can call me Orgasmo. That would be about as fitting as referring to Billy Joe Armstrong, “Tre Cool” and Mike Dirnt as punk rockers.
Let’s see. Why do they think they’re punk?
They play three chords – really fast. They have a nasty attitude. And faked British
accents that sound more like nasal overtures from a half-asleep sufferer of sleep apnea. They incite riots at their concerts and other performances.
Yes, indeed, that MUST be the real definition of punk. Whatever.
The songs on “Dookie” can best be described as fast-paced juvenile delinquency. Remember, they play a few chords, beat on the drums a bit, and do that nasal bit into the microphones. Then they smash their instruments and walk off stage, leaving a riot in their wake. It doesn’t get any better than that on “Dookie” so if you’re used to looking after hyperactive toddlers this might be the album for you as you’ll be used to the childish insanity.
Some of the songs that made it to the record (for some ungodly reason I HATE to think of what they decided NOT to record) would include:
Basket Case. Annoying British accent. Frenetically strummed electric guitar. “Do you have the time to listen to me whine / About nothing and everything all at once?” That would be the long and short of this entire album, frankly: A lot of whining and immature crap that wouldn’t be entertaining in any case, much less at the princely sum of fifteen to nineteen dollars courtesy of your local record store.
Havin’ A Blast. Surprise - This song does not involve whining. Instead, the singer fantasizes about slaughtering people by the masses. “I’m takin’ all you down with me / Explosives duct-taped to my spine / Nothin’s gonna change my mind / I won’t listen to anyone’s last words / There’s nothing left for you to say / Soon you’ll be dead anyway.” I’m sure they got off on being allowed to sing these lyrics, but my God, how much crap can ONE band put on one record before it makes the listener vomit?
She. This is more like an alternative rock track than a punk tune, which surprised the hell out of me. Billy Joe Moron still sounded like he was attempting to remove all eight of his brain cells via his left nostril whilst singing when this was recorded. The song still had childish and non-entertaining lyrics. “She / She screams in silence / A sullen riot penetrating through her mind / Waiting / For a sign / To smash the silence with the brick of self-control.” Maybe they just listened to Nirvana too much and decided to try and sing lyrics that sounded as if they MIGHT be provocative but were really just the aftereffects of an all-night stoner party. Whatever the case, it sucks. Badly.
When I Come Around. Sweet JESUS, if I hear more of that GOD-AWFUL singing I am going to commit suicide. Distinct guitar riff (i.e. it’s not a carbon-copy of the rest of the album but it’s still crap). “Don’t have to search the world around / Cause you know where I’ll be found when I come around” Ugh. This song just plain sucks.
Coming Clean. A whiny-sounding punkish type song about adolescence coming on a bit late. And more whining. “Seventeen and coming clean for the first time / I’ve finally figured out myself for the first time…” Yeah, right.
The hidden track at the end. How cute. They sing about masturbation. “I was alone / I was all by myself / No one was looking / I was thinking of you.” Blah et cetera. Okay. This would be semi-funny if it weren’t for their inane snickering and feminine-like giggling while trying to get out the lyrics, which were obviously the funniest things in the world to these guys. “Oh, DUDE! We’re singing about...DOING IT! With...OURSELVES!” I imagine the conversation to be as they wrote the lyrics for this odd little tune. Beavis & Butthead, eat yer hearts out.
Green Day can be likened to Blink 182 for their immaturity and their disgusting lack of taste. They can be likened to Sum 41 for their stereotypical lyrics and annoying voices – not to mention their stupid, gawd-awful, boring-as-hell videos. Oh yes, and they can also be likened to everyone who has ever tried to take a crap and sing “Yankee Doodle” at the same time but was forced to whistle instead for not being able to remember all the words. They’re that bad.
They can NOT be likened to REAL punk because:
Real punk rockers can generally be found singing about something that does not bore the hell out of me. Let’s face it: Rancid, Operation Ivy, Pennywise, The Sex Pistols, etc. can do SO much better than the nose-picking, crotch-fondling crap that Green Day have come up with.
Real punk rockers don’t act surly and sneer all the time because it makes them look tough. They do it because they’re trying to keep their tight-fitting wifebeater shirts on by sheer willpower alone.
Real punk rockers delve into politics, relationships, and other issues that are genuine cause for rebellion. Instead of sticking with masturbation, mass destruction, and self-aggrandizing whining.
Real punk rockers usually have at LEAST one really good guitar solo. (check out Rancid’s entire “…And Out Come The Wolves” CD if you don’t believe me.)
P.S. I see that I’ll be the first to NOT recommend this product, so I eagerly await the keyboard-assisted tongue lashings from the Ciao community.
P.P.S. If you want to hear some REAL punk, check out “Unity” by Operation Ivy; “Never Mind The Bollocks…” by The Sex Pistols; “…And Out Come The Wolves” by Rancid – you get the idea.
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great review i have given you a very helpful as i think you write some fantastic stuff well done
Come and have a look at my stuff
ill add you to my circle of trust so can you do the same and add me to yours
Thanks and well done again
optimaboy 27.04.2005 08:12
Very one-sided view and very harsh. Dookie is a good album, albeit a little mainstream and poppy. But then its audience is young teenagers (that's when I listened to them anyway) and their angst-ridden, catchy songs are a load better than the boy-bandesque alternatives kids a being pushed at the moment....Busted or McFly anyone?.....I thought not.
Punk had flirted with mainstream attention before--the Clash and Sex Pistols had hits--but ... more
didn't fully advance from the underground until this pure-punk 1994 album. In singing catchy, tight rock & roll tunes--including "Longview", "Welcome to Paradise...
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May 1st, 2002
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