opinions on 1039/smoothed out slappy hours?

[BRA1N_ST3W]

I have never heard anyone talk about this album, but it is their first so it deserves more credit!! What do you guys think about this album?!

[Fuzz]

There are some good songs, but not my favorite album. I prefer the polish of the albums that came after Kerplunk, but I know there are tons of fans out there that love these albums.

[Gonzalo17]

1039 and kerplunk has the BEST songwritting, but a bad demo sound. They should realase an album with modern live versions of songs from these two albums

[BratReject23]

It's a fun record with very good gems. It feels the band's early experince in Music though. I'd rather prefer this album than Kerplunk.

[Nikto66]

I love:

Going to Pasalacqua

I Want to Be Alone

Paper Lanterns

409 In Your Coffee Maker

 

I wish they were all re-recorded during the Dookie sessions with Tre on drums like 409 In Your Coffee Maker was.

 

[nowshesgone]

for compiling the first 3 EPs+I Want To Be Alone it does a decent job, though i wish that they could have managed to sneak in & rerecord the 3/4 of the songs on Sweet Children (Sweet Children, Best Thing In Town, Strangeland)+ maybe throw on Stay as well so IWTBA isnt the only track thats "original" to 1039
Favs for me are...

Green Day, Disappearing Boy, GTP, At the Library, Judges Daughter, Paper Lanterns, Why Do You Want Him?, Knowledge, 409, Dry Ice, Only Of You, and I Want To Be Alone

[Dingle]

On 1/1/2025 at 3:08 AM, Fuzz said:

There are some good songs, but not my favorite album. I prefer the polish of the albums that came after Kerplunk, but I know there are tons of fans out there that love these albums.

The thing is, this was the dawn of the 1990's, a time before Nirvana's Nevermind. Growing up then and living through a punk explosion. 

39/Smooth cost $650 to record which bought a day or so in the studio. Music laid down in one day on a first take, the vocals the day after. GD had nowhere to hide, no studio trickery, nothing to polish or embellish the sound. The album just had the songs nothing more. 

It may sound tinny and hesitant, but for me at that time I'd heard nothing like it. I still love it now every song and lyric.

As stated in the book the History of GD, "there is no band out there like GD" and "39/Smooth is as punk rock record by any estimation."

Should they have taken more time recording the album, worked on improving the sound?

I'll let Billie Joe answer that question. Speaking in Dublin in 2004 he said,

Quote: "I look back at 39/Smooth, and I  honesty think that we would have fucked it up had we had more time or money to do it differently."

I love 39/Smooth  & Kerplunk just as they are when they came out, my life and soul. More valuable than gold.

[Saviour]

I got a copy of this in the late 90s and absolutely loved it back to front. 

The production has aged terribly but it's a product of its time and the speed of recording of the various EPs that make up the compilation. There's a bunch of classics on here.

Their immaturity as songwriters is noticeable, but at the same time fairly strong for basically a trio of angsty teenagers. 

Arguably some of BJAs best guitar work too. 

[berserk]

For me is incredible how some 17years old teenagers could sing, play and write like that. I mean the riffs are so catchy, the vocal harmonies reminds of the Beatles. You could see in 39smooth that they were as a  band special. I tried to find albums from other bands that they recorded at the same age but no one can compete.  

[龑美優]

I honestly love this era of the band. I think all, yes, all of the songs are pretty damn good. As someone who listens to all sorts of music, I genuinely don't get the complaints about the recording quality. People act like it sounds worse most demos do but that just isn't true. They sound like a small.band just starting out but that's exactly the beauty of it. I want more albums with that sound. Few things feel as nostalgic and comfortable.

When I first listened to the album/comp, I didn't like it. I was so used to the band from Kerplunk-Warning that I wasn't initially ready to hear something that different when I was getting into them. It didn't take long for it to grow on my teenage self, especially songs about girls, unrequited love, and feelings of the sort. My young, angsty lesbian self grew really attached to every one of the songs from both the original album and the add-ons for the compilation. I could still sing every lyric without missing a beat, even though I've grown up and married the woman of my dreams.

This is all to say, I quite love everything about 1039/smoothed. Forgive me for my poor English ramblings, I'm sure it's pretty sloppy at the moment.