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I think it's different in that it is a standard punk album, and an angry one. The previous three all have poppier/softer stuff on them, vary more and are much less aggressive than the average punk album. Insomniac is the only Green Day album where they were in a really pissed off mood and wanted to show it, it was like "we'll show you how punk we can be". There's no other Green Day album that sounds like it and I value that in itself. Plus (it being Green Day) there is some different stuff on there, Panic Song as @DookieLukie mentions, and the almost heavy metal thing they did with Brain Stew. The pace is kept up throughout but there's super fast songs and more melodic ones, angry ones, depressed ones, sarcastic ones, and lots of different subjects covered. I find it a really interesting and awesome album.

OK, lets see if I can explain the way I see it. In the early 90's, way back when I was young, grunge was really popular. The music tended to be heavy and the lyrics angry. It was almost like living in a constant state of fuck the universe. Kurt Cobain was freakin' God, he was angry, he was cool, he was hot. Then he committed suicide and that sent so many people into a tailspin. Around the same time, a little album named Dookie came out. These guys were young and dorky, but kind of cute, just like everyone else. The album was upbeat and they weren't talking about how angry they were, they were talking about how they were so lonely they jerked off, how they were scared about moving out of their parents house, they were scared because they were falling in love for the first time. They were just like the rest of us. It was a relief to know that you weren't alone. You started to feel good about yourself again. Then they are coming out with their next album and you are so anxious to hear it. This time it is angry and you can't sleep, your teeth are falling out, you're having panic attacks. What the hell happened to my sweet, dorky boys???? It came off as them trying to be something they were not, or Dookie was something they were not. Most of you are looking at it as an album. A really good punk album. To me, it is different. Many of you are emotional about AI, how that helped you when you were young. Dookie is similar for me and Insomniac just felt like a let down. OK, soliloquy over. @WhiteTim I still love you babe

Sorry about that . I mean, Billie was openly pissed off and miserable in interviews and on stage at the time and the whole band has always been very open about how much all those things that happened to them affected them and how it influenced the album. It's subjective to an extent but I don't see any reason to think they weren't being truthful.

I understand you point, Scattered, and by the way, love your description about how you felt about Dookie. But I think your own argument refutes the idea that they weren't trying something different with that album. They were. It's an album that's different that what they done before, in mood (as you said, it's more angrier and dark) and also in music (it's faster, it has some experimentations in panic song, brain stew). And I don't think that it was forced at all. It's perfectly fine that someone don't like the vibe, the mood of Isomniac. But I can't agree that they were trying to be something they were not. I think the album is an honest expression of all the things they were living at that time, with the drugs, little children waking them up all night, rejection after the sucess of dookie, stress and tiredness after they became so huge and all the new obligations that come along. As I see it, in Insomniac they experiment and change things, and try different things way more than, for instance, RevRad, which is basically a mix of all the styles Green Day develop throughout their career. Ps: Forgive me if my english is not that good, i'm from Brazil.

I think there's people who like the punk side of Green Day, and others who like the arena rock side. As a fan of lots of different punk bands, Insomniac sticks out to me as a great punk record from Green Day.

I don't think the world needs another Insomniac but I consider it a great album and I'm very glad they've done such a punk record. It's just awesome that the same band who did Jaded is the same band that recorded songs like Last Night On Earth or Ordinary World. What makes me like Green Day is that they their records have some variety. There's Insomniac, there is Warning and there's 21CB and all the albums in between and what makes their discography so awesome is watching this evolution. The punk album just had to happen.

Right, in that case I'm with you! Seeing it that way at the time or thinking it comes across that way on the album I totally get. Only wanted to dispute whether it was actually the case, seems that's not what you were saying though

Reading and watching interviews from that time is strange. I do believe they were being truthful but the way they, especially Billie, acted was disconcerting. It was as if someone turned a switch and they turned from guys who joked all the time to The Angry Punk Band™ and it's almost scary to look at. I mean, the way Billie got angry at the interviewers or the other times he would say all kinds of depressing stuff about being too old and whatnot. It must have been a pretty weird time.

Again, you are looking at it in hindsight. You are reading the interviews in the future and with the knowledge of what happened in their lives. They had a certain persona after Dookie and then that persona was very different with Insomniac. If you only have two points in time to compare something, and those two points in time are very different, which one do you believe? I'm not saying that they were not being truthful. I was simply saying how it appeared to me at the time of release. Have you ever seen the film It's A wonderful Life? I know I watch it several times every Christmas. At the time of the release it was considered a commercial and artistic failure. It did not break even until well after it's initial release and it was used as proof that Frank Capra could no longer make feel good movies that made money. Now it is considered a classic and one of the best films ever made. My mother wasn't fond of that film because she was prejudiced by the critics reviews and the fact that there were films considered much better released at the same time. As years go by those prejudices are reduced and people can look at the film with an open mind. My feelings for Insomniac are similar. I know how I felt the time it was released and it is tough for me to get rid of those feelings, even with more knowledge.

I'm not trying to convince you to like it more or to feel differently about it. I just dispute that it was forced/fake when it's really clear to see from what happened to them, what they've said and how they've acted that it wasn't (although I do see how it could be perceived that way only from listening to the albums).

Neither album was something they were not, they just went through changes as people. When they wrote Dookie they were single guys living in a shitty basement and hanging out with the local punks. When they wrote Insomniac their lives had completely changed, married, kids on the way, suddenly well off and famous, and rejected by the friends and local scene they'd loved with all their hearts which they felt extremely sad and bitter about. I get that if you heard Dookie and wanted more it wouldn't have been what you were hoping for, but they went through massive life changes so it's natural that it was reflected in their music.

Well, everybody have their own favourites but Insomniac is actually a good album. At first I couldn't get into but after having my music taste broadened I really like the more heavier sound of it and talking about the album overall many songs are Dookie styled but are introspective too. I've also seen at times some complaining about the 'mumbling' kind of vocals in Insomniac, I'd say they are still better. My favourite is AI and next comes Dookie. EDIT: AI> Revolution Radio> Dookie

I think it's both those things . If you watch/read interviews from around that time (or even just newer ones where they talk about that time) they really were deeply affected by their huge lifestyle changes and being "cast out" by the community they loved, and you can see how genuinely pissed off Billie was performing those songs. It was a snarky "nyah nyah we're punk" response (along with some pretty dark stuff in those lyrics) but I do feel it was a genuine response.

Yep, Insomniac to me is one of the greatest punk albums ever made, it could easily stand up to any traditionally considered classics.

holy crap the camera must have spontaneously combusted after taking that picture...

can you imagine if we did? what a boring world.

Wow I've just realised it wasn't "Down with the moron majority" but "Down with the moral majority" in Minority.

For me, Insomniac is perfect. I like all the songs, and think it's a great album. It's really surprising find out that many people don't like it.

Reject is a very underrated Nimrod song. As is Protethic Head. Of all the naughty songs on Nimrod, Protethic deserves more love.

I see that the video for BOBD now has over 100million hits on YouTube - it has had a load of hits recently. However, as good as the AI songs are, I wish more people would watch some of the other videos such as Redundant, Waiting, Walking Contradiction, etc, etc.

me too If you don't look at the intro, the chorus is AB and the verse is EB, OK so 3, but two in each section

Dookie had angry songs as well Chump and Having A Blast are angry songs

I've said this before and will say it again. Some things just have to come at the right time for you to appreciate them. I discovered Insomniac in my early teens. I could relate to the anger and confusion it is about and I still love it because it still resonates with me on some level. I might not like it the way I do if I first listened to it now.

Insomniac is a good album (I don't dislike any GD album), but it isn't one of my favourites...... I prefer to listen other GD albums. My top 5 albums are American Idiot, Dookie, Nimrod, Revolution Radio and 21st Century Breakdown/Warning (I couldn't decide between these two albums).

And more importantly

I've grown to love Insomniac (did not love it at first) but I think if I were a fan during the 90s when it came out I might have been disappointed with it. It really doesn't hold a candle to Dookie

Panic Song

I agree, it is a very good punk album. However, one of the reasons I love this band is that they are always changing things up a bit, trying something just a bit different than they have done before. I just think that Insomniac is the only album where they did not do that. They purposely wanted to create a punk album, and that is great. I just enjoy something more than the standard 3 chord power chord songs for an entire album.

I'd be pretty happy if they didn't perform any Insomniac songs for any shows I ever attend  Walking Contradiction is my favourite song on Insomniac because I actually understand what he's singing. It still doesn't rank in my top 30-50 songs though What are you two guys' favourite album?

Sure it is, listen to that bass work, and the lyrics too. Utter genius.

Going to be thinking of this guy every time I listen to that song now Appropriate as he has some excellent songs on the same subject

Amazing live performance! Somewhat even on par with the studio version, Billie's vocals are sounding really good and didn't knew Mike is a Motorhead fan. I liked the part where Billie and Mike smiled at each other, they have definitely still got it. I've liked all the performances by far, the tour is gonna be solid, hope they come here.

Yeah, it's the same article from the NY Times, it was posted a few weeks ago

Green Day fans will never agree on a best album

Insomniac is a great punk album.

Agreed. I like Brain Stew and Walking Contradiction, but I don't enjoy the album anywhere near as much as I enjoy the other albums.

I love you. And I agree 100%

Prosthetic Head is my fave Nimrod song actually.

Both are fucking brilliant, Reject especially.

Another one

I wasn't ready for this.

So many cool pics of the guys around at the moment - I think this one is from the Fillmore show I'm sure someone said to me once that Billie could look in different directions with each eye lol!

This photo is just so...

I'm going to list the songs by albums because I can't decide what order to put them in 39 Smooth: At The Library Kerplunk: 2,000 Light Years Away, Christie Road, Welcome to Paradise Dookie: Burnout, Longview, She, Basketcase, When I Come Around Insomniac: Brain Stew Nimrod: Nice Guys Finish Last, Hitchin a Ride, Scattered, Good Riddance Warning: Warning, Minority American Idiot: American Idiot, JOS, Holiday, BOBD, WMUWSE 21st Century Breakdown: 21 Guns, 21st Century Breakdown, East Jesus Nowhere Trilogy: X-Kid Rev Rad: Somewhere Now, Bang Bang, Rev Rad, Outlaws, Still Breathing, Too Dumb to Die, Ordinary World I've listed 32 songs above, I've covered all the eras, and there's no KFAD!

First couple times I heard St. Jimmy I thought the line "King of the forty thieves, I'm here to represent..." was "Gay unreportedly, no need to represent."

A bit of an oldie, but I was looking for it for a long time in good quality AND in color