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Insomniac

Green Day

Reprise Records

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1. Armatage Shanks
2. Brat
3. Stuck With Me
4. Geek Stink Breath
5. No Pride
6. Bab's Uvula Who?
7. 86
8. Panic Song
9. Stuart and the Ave.
10. Brain Stew
11. Jaded
12. Westbound Sign
13. Tight Wad Hill
14. Walking Contradiction

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Not just one of the best modern punk albums, one of the best of all time!

Although "Dookie" is always considered the best Green Day album, to me "Insomiac" is DEFINITELY just as good, if not BETTER. On "Insomniac", Green Day gives us the bratty attitude, heavy power chords, catchy vocal melodies, energetic drumming and powerful basslines that make these 33 minutes a true punk classic.

The music on this album is a bit heavier than "Dookie" and it's overall a bit more in-your-face, but with that comes a big slab of unforgettable songs that you can basically listen to all the way through and never get bored with. This album has spawned the popular songs such as "Geek Stink Breath" with its heavy chugging guitar riffs, the metal-influenced headbanger "Brain Stew" which feels like the entire song is one big breakdown...in a good way!, the very fast and very punk "Jaded", and the semi-sarcastic, semi "I don't care" attitude of "Stuck With Me".

Those songs right there capture Green Day in their prime, but even beyond that we get even more. "Aramtage Shanks", the opener, reminds me quite a bit of "Burnout", the first song on "Dookie". "Brat" is one of my favorite old Green Day songs with a very catchy vocal melody throughout the chorus. "86" is another sing-a-long with a really cool overall vibe to it. "Panic Song" has a frantic opening bassline and a long, really well-written intro. The rest of the songs all fit in together really well and flow nicely, making it an overall conscice and smooth album.

"Insomniac" is definitely one of the best albums of punk in the last 20 years, and is far too underrated for its own good. With that being said, I hope all reader will go to the store, pick it up and crank it in your room, your car, wherever. "Insomniac" is Green Day at their best! Thanks for the time, and peace.

Green Day's best album, BY FAR

This album is truly Green Day's best and most punk album ever. This album has more bratty punk attitude than even their indie releases. I bought this album originally on cassette when it came out in 1995 and wore it out. I eventually purchased the cd when I got a cd player and still have and listen to it today (proof that cds really don't wear out if you take good care of them). Altogether, I have been listening to this album for 14 years and it still sounds just as good as the day I bought it. We've all heard Brainstew/Jaded and Geek Stink Breath, but other great songs include Brat, No Pride, Stuart and the Ave., Stuck With Me, hell, the whole album is great. This album is a far cry from American Idiot/21st Century Breakdown. It includes none of the rock 'n roll opera shtick, just good, old-fashioned sing along punk anthems with tons of swearing and no parental advisory label. As a side note, the cover art is really cool too and folds out as a poster, revealing that the chick on the cover is really not playing guitar at all, but is actually holding a gun to a sleeping man's head.

Could it be? Is this better than Green Day's Dookie?!

With Insomniac, Green Day took everything that was great about Dookie, and amped it up to the next level, much like Weezer's transition from the Blue Album to Pinkerton. It's darker, sure, but they found a way to take the sound of Punk-Rock and make it something so much more. The passion behind this album is intense, and sorely underrated.

I tried thinking of the key tracks, but really, it's easier and shorter to list off the forgettable ones. Every single song on this album stands out except, for me, the Panic Song and Stuart and the Ave. Other than that, this album is solid gold. If you're a punker looking for some inspiration with your band, or just want to hear something great that you'll be playing non-stop for days, this album is essential. It's also great to start off with as a new Green Day fan.

No rest for Insomniac!

Green Day, one of the greatest bands of the past 15 years. Their major label debut, Dookie, released in 1994 took the reigns of punk-rock and brought it to a brand new audience who was experiencing it for the first time, and what an awesome experience it was, and still is. One thing about Green Day is that their sound is thrilling and unpredictable, they seem to always take their sound to a new level, leaving the previous elements in place but adding a whole bunch of new ones to make the sound heavier, or faster, or happier, but whatever it is, it's oustanding work. With Dookie, the band rocked with a bit of a lighter tone and many of the songs seemed to connect very well with youth, such as Longview, Basket Case and When I Come Around to name a few. The entire album seemed to flow extremely well and it was relentless with its catchy rhythms and fast, heavy guitar lines. Enter 1995, enter Insomniac! This record is the band's heaviest and hardest work, with many of the songs featuring a very punk oriented sound, while not sacrificing any of the catchy hooks that made Dookie such a success. Insomniac is a severely underrated album in my opinion and I believe it challenges Dookie for Green Day's finest work, but the band has put out such a strong catalog of material that it's hard to choose just one album out of the bunch to crown as their top album. Here is a song by song breakdown of the album.

1. Armatage Shanks 9/10- A very strong lead-off track, this song sets the tone for the rest of the record for sure. Fast and catchy, you'll be singing along in no time.

2. Brat 10/10- A very amusing song about a young man wishing to get his parental inheritance any way possible. Although it's a very short tune, it's so fast and incessantly rhythmic that 1:30 will seem like way less. Great, great tune.

3. Stuck With Me 8.5/10- The first few listens I wasn't sure about this song, but it became one of my favorites after a while. It's a very strong song with a strong rhythm, nice.

4. Geek Stink Breath 10/10- One of my top three tracks on this album. This was a single and had a very memorable video with a young man getting a tooth pulled by a dentist. This track hits like a freight train and is probably their most punk song they've ever released. Highly highly recommend this one.

5. No Pride 9.5/10- Maybe the catchiest song on the album, it's interesting how Longview and Geek Stink Breath are both track 4 on their respective albums and seem to be the heaviest tracks, and Welcome to Paradise and No Pride have a similar relationship of being the catchy catchy tune to follow. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Dig this tune!

6. Bab's Uvula Who 10/10- Another one of my top three. It's so fast and heavy that you can't help but like it. This song is vintage Green Day and really demonstrates their sound well.

7. 86 9.5/10- There's no return to 86! The memorable chorus line talks about Green Day's past and they really don't have too many songs like this one. A very melodic and catchy way for Green Day to go back to their roots.

8. Panic Song 9/10- I really, really like the long intro where a different instrument is added every few seconds. This Green Day song is truly one of a kind, there isn't any other song like it.

9. Stuart and the Ave. 8/10- This is a decent tune for sure, it's not my favorite, but it's still a pretty strong track. The song keeps getting better as it goes.

10. Brain Stew 10/10- Everybody probably knows the 10 note guitar line, and the famous lyrics about Billie Joe's inability to get any shut-eye. This song is just so good, it almost defines the album.

11. Jaded 10/10- Speedy, catchy punk, very fun song to listen to and a great follow-up to Brain Stew.

12. Westbound Sign 8.5/10- Maybe I shouldn't make a judgment about this song because I haven't listened to it enough times to be sure, but I really liked what I heard.

13. Tightwad Hill 9.5/10- A great lead-up to the grand finale. The bridge in the middle of the song is outstanding.

14. Walking Contradiction 10/10- The crowned jewel of Insomniac! Probably the best tune on the album, it will be in your head for hours after just one listen. The lyrics are so cleverly written and the music video is hilarious.

Insomniac is a fantastic album, highly recommended!

Another slice of goodness

Punk purists love to whine about Green Day, bemoaning the group's "commercial" sound, juvenile lyrics, and general mid-90s chart success. To which I reply: shut the hell up. Green Day's music may not be for the ages, and Billie Joe Armstrong (their guitarist, lead vocalist, and chief songwriter) may not be a genius, but their music is still some of the best stuff to hit the charts in the 90s. Their songs were fun, catchy, soaked in attitude and backhanded humor, with plenty of crunchy power chord hooks and unforgettable choruses. Sure, a few trillion awful bands followed in their wake, but should we really blame these guys for the actions of their imitators? I say, burn your Good Charlotte discs and get back to cranking Green Day.

Insomniac, the group's fourth album (and the follow-up to the deservedly successful Dookie) serves up fourteen gobs of mouthwatering pop-punk goodness. Sure, it's all pretty derivative- Billie Joe has obviously been paying very close attention to his Ramones records- but it sounds fantastic. If this had come out in 1977, we'd all be hailing it as a classic (albeit a somewhat minor one). Sadly, I guess I'm forced to do everybody's hailing for them. It really is a shame: I wish that more people would give a good listen to the snotty bounce of "No Pride," or the rip-roaring (and just plain awesome) putdown that is "Stuart & The Ave." "Armatage Shanks" boasts a hell of a pop hook, and "Brat" sounds just plain bratty. "Stuck With Me" is an instantly memorable outcast anthem, and "Panic Song" features a great tension-and-release structure.

There's just so much fantastic stuff here- if anything, it's better than Dookie. Ignore the negative hype and give it a shot.