Stop me if you've heard this one before, but I'm an opinionated student who needs money. I've been a...
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but I'm an opinionated student who needs money. I've been a bit annoyed about two things recently:
1) People taking my opinions way too seriously and leaving long-winded irate comments in response.
2) People...
Member since:11.11.2000
Reviews:110
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Judging by the artwork of the cover and inlay material alone, you might be forgiven for expecting this album to be yet another unlistenable, repetitive punk/grunge monstrosity, as so many other post-Nirvana punk bands have produced. It is a credit to its' authors that 'Dookie' is some way above this, certainly a little more intelligent than I expected.
A notably anarchic, disaffected tone continues throughout the album, most prominently in the angst-ridden (and therefore typical of Green Day) lyrics to 'Having A Blast' and 'Chump'. Powerful guitar riffs and pounding drums do little to dissipate this. 'Dookie's' primary strength lies in its' lyrics, something which cannot be said of the work of most other punk groups. The best lines have simple yet effective rhythms, often ignoring the convention of rhyme to achieve a lyrical balance more pleasing to the ear, less forced. Thankfully it is also largely devoid of screams, whoops and yelling. In terms of content the songs predictably concern hate, bitterness and anger, but can often be well balanced with a relieving dose of good humour, such as 'Longview,' a witty and typically depressing ode to masturbation.
However when the darker tones are allowed to go unrestrained it is to the album's detriment. The resultant sound is bitter, loses its' subtlety of lyric and degenrates into paranoid mumblings accompanied by wild guitar thrashings. The tail-end of the album goes this way: "Coming Clean" and "Emenius Sleepus" are notable low-points.
But when the balance between humour and bleakness is achieved, the product is extremely entertaining, particularly in the singles, 'When I Come Around' and 'Basket Case'. It is a shame that this quality of music is not sustained.
'Dookie' is essential listening for punk/grunge fans. At some times the music could probably be described as the zenith of this particular genre. However, Green Day sadly fail to completely escape from the least attractive trapping of this genre: unnecessarily intrusive music which serves no particular end other than to communicate an unconvincing feeling of anger. It sounds harsh, but at times 'Dookie' is as guilty of this as other albums by less accomplished artists. That said, for its' moments of brilliance, 'Dookie' can be a wholly entertaining album for anyone to listen to.
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This is one of my favourite albums, but I agree it would be much better if the quality of Basket Case, She, Safaris Roots and When I Come Around (which are interestingly all together) was sustained throughout. Excellent opinion, Timmy.
jamiemchale 04.03.2001 21:15
Nice opinion - I'd agree that they could do better with the album - It does have some low points - But it is a very good album for the genre that it is in - I'd give it another star....
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...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: This CD reminds me that even *I* can write better songs. Disadvantages: I would rather open up a CD case to find fecal excrement inside than listen to this one.
Sarah_B 01.05.2002 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Dookie - Green Day
Nov 14th, 2000
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