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Nimrod's 14th anniversary


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Nimrod was released as Green Day's 5th studio album in 1997, 14 years ago today. The album reflected a progressive period for the band as they came to terms with rejection from their local East Bay punk scene and dealt with the pressures of parenthood.

The album itself demonstrated creative progression, with the most musically diverse array of songs heard on a Green Day album to date. From the signature ballad of Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), to the 'in your face' hardcore punk of Platypus (I Hate You), and the drag-party tune King For A Day, this album is a great example of Green Day's early ventures to push their musical boundaries. It also saw the addition of string and horn arrangements (cue the bumble bees). Billie Joe has jokingly referred to this period, together withInsomniac, as Green Day's "metal years."

The album was recorded May to July, 1997, with producer Rob Cavallo. It's gone on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide. Hitchin' A Ride, Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), Redundant and Nice Guys Finish Last were released as singles from the album.

Nimrod's diversity is further demonstrated through it's non-singles. We have some of Billie Joe's most open and honest lyrics in 'snot-nose' punk of The Grouch, Take Back & Reject. Scattered and Worry Rock provide some more of the melodic sound that is Green Day's speciality. It was also an early example of Green Day venturing in to longer, story based songs, with the intertwining Jinx/Haushinka. Last Ride In offers a first instrumental track for the band, which almost acts as a 'surfy' interlude for the album. It would probably be fair to say that this album is one of the more challenging listens in Green Day's catalogue, with the variety of the music taking you on quite a trip.

Of course, it's difficult talk about Nimrod without properly acknowledging Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). The song has gone on to be probably Green Day's most well known, being picked up most notably for the finale for American sitcom Seinfeld. Billie Joe later said that this song was written around the time of Dookie, so it's appearance on this album conveyed a willingness to take risks and move away from the traditional 'punk-rock' song structure Green Day had mostly employed to date.

The Nimrod era was something of a return to form for the band, from a touring perspective particularly. After exhaustion brought a premature end to their Insomniac tour, Green Day came back after a 2 year break re-energized and put in some of their most ferocious and fun performances to date. This was demonstrated early on with their infamous album launch in-store show at Tower Records in New York, where anarchic scenes saw Billie Joe encouraging the crowd to "start a riot" - what a nimrod!

Please join us in our tradition of listening to the album front to back some time today, and leave us your thoughts on the album and the impact it's had on you.

Smoothed Out:

"My first memory of Nimrod is blasting it full volume in my mum's car on the way home from buying it in town, I'll never forget my mum's face when King for a Day came on But the defining moment for me has to be singing along to Good Riddance with her and being able to share my love for Green Day with my family has made my memories all the more special."

Katarina:

"Nimrod is the first (Green Day) album I bought with my own money. I remember listening to it after I got home, I thought it was something I never heard before. Such an amazing record. Even though I love every single song by Green Day, I still think Nimrod is my favorite album. Starting with Nice Guys Finish last, even the start makes me all excited to hear what's coming next. Hitchin' a Ride, Redundant, Uptight, Haushinka, Reject, Good Riddance.. and the rest of course. Every time I listen to the record again, I notice new things about the songs I hadn't heard before. Makes me fall in love with the music even more. That happens to me with every Green Day record btw, the music gets better/gets more.. Idk the right word.. depth (I guess?), well, let's just say it gets more finking awesome the more I listen to it."

Bryony Isabella:

"The sheer diversity of the songs on this album is what makes it so great. Whatever mood you're in, you can stick Nimrod on and you'll find something to suit your mood; be it sad and slow with Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) or bile-filled hate with Platypus (I Hate You), there are no dull moments in Nimrod."

The Ballad:

"The first time I listened to Nimrod it was in the middle of summer when I was 11. I had just gotten new blinds in my room and they were really blue and when the light went through them the room had a weird bluish tint. I'd just sit in my room all day and relax listening to Nimrod. It is definitely the chillest GD album in my opinion. I always think of the color blue when I listen to Nimrod now."

Tony:

"This is probably
my
most important Green Day album. It came out when i was 16, an impressional adolescent with music becoming a bigger influence in my life. Nimrod became a permanent fixture in my CD player for a solid year or 2, and i have memories of coming home from school and blasting "Nice Guys Finish Last" on full blast almost every day, letting out my frustration and angst of the day. I also got the see the band live for the first time on the Nimrod tour, at V98 festival in England. I was blown away by their passion and energy on stage, and have been hooked since!"
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Nice idea Tony! :)

My first memory of Nimrod is blasting it full volume in my mum's car on the way home from buying it in town, I'll never forget my mum's face when King for a Day came on :lol: But the defining moment for me has to be singing along to Good Riddance with her and being able to share my love for Green Day with my family has made my memories all the more special.

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Did we do something similar for Warning when that anniversary came up? Was I totally zoned out and not paying attention? I would have written pages about that album, I love it so much.

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Nimrod is the first (Green Day) album I bought with my own money. I remember listening to it after I got home, I thought it was something I never heard before. Such an amazing record. Even though I love every single song by Green Day, I still think Nimrod is my favorite album. Starting with Nice Guys Finish last, even the start makes me all excited to hear what's coming next. Hitchin' a Ride, Redundant, Uptight, Haushinka, Reject, Good Riddance.. and the rest of course. Every time I listen to the record again, I notice new things about the songs I hadn't heard before. Makes me fall in love with the music even more. That happens to me with every Green Day record btw, the music gets better/gets more.. Idk the right word.. depth (I guess?), well, let's just say it gets more finking awesome the more I listen to it.

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Did we do something similar for Warning when that anniversary came up? Was I totally zoned out and not paying attention? I would have written pages about that album, I love it so much.

I don't think we did unfortunately. Save it for next year! :)

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The sheer diversity of the songs on this album is what makes it so great. Whatever mood you're in, you can stick Nimrod on and you'll find something to suit your mood; be it sad and slow with Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) or bile-filled hate with Platypus (I Hate You), there are no dull moments in Nimrod.

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The first time I listened to Nimrod it was in the middle of summer when I was 11. I had just gotten new blinds in my room and they were really blue and when the light went through them the room had a weird bluish tint. I'd just sit in my room all day and relax listening to Nimrod. It is definitely the chillest GD album in my opinion. I always think of the color blue when I listen to Nimrod now. :happy:

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This is one of the more under-rated albums from Green Day. It has great songs, well-thought out lyrics, and fun songs that are frequently played live. I first remember getting Nimrod at a garage sale a couple years ago, just buying it so I had a CD copy. When I first discovered Green Day, and I first time I heard Nimrod, that was when it appeared as something that could become one of my favorite albums in the future. Though it never did, it has always been one of my favorites, behind Kerplunk and 21st Century Breakdown.

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All I have to say about Nimrod is:

TAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE BUUUUUAAAAAAAAAACKK, TAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE, BUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAACK, TAAAAAAAAAAAKE.

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First time I listened to this album I knew there was something about it. It's my favourite Green Day album (first album I bought on vinyl as well), mainly because of the difference between the songs, you'll be listening to the acoustics of Good Riddance and then a song like Take Back. It also has a song on there for whatever mood you're in. It's a great album and I'll definitely be listening to it today and recommend everyone else does as well!

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When I got Nimrod I took it with me when my mom and I went to the doctor's office. When Platypus came on I was scrambling to change it so she wouldn't hear it. I couldn't change it before she noticed, so of course she wanted to hear. She knew all the words. Apparently her friend used to love that song and played all the time. My mom didn't know who it was until then. Of course I joined in when the shock wore off.

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Nimrod is one of my favorite Green Day albums.Differences between songs,for example Time Of Your Life and Platypus,is what makes it awesome.I can listen to Nimrod all the time! :D My favorite songs are Scattered,King For A Day,Time Of Your Life,Platypus.Take Back is awesome too haha :D

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What can I say? I love it, I remember that when I was around 10 years old, I used to blast it out and I loved to scream out loud "SHIT!!!" on Hitchin' a ride, it was an adrenaline rush :lol: great, great album! various and complete, undoubtably an artwork.

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I love every single song of this album! Thank's so much for it. It's helping me getting through everday :) It's so wonderful even my 8 year old cousin loves it :D

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I actually didn't even buy this album until a month ago. :lol: This album has never jinxed me and I always have the time of my life listening to it all the time, even when I'm felling uptight none of the 18 tracks ever seem redundant to me. :)

/endlamepuncoon

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what a mother of an album. I just love the range of the songs, from platypus to good riddance and everything in between. i have fond memories of giggling mischievously to all the bad words in the grouch that i wasnt supposed to be listening too.

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Nimrod has such a great vibe throughout the album. I still think prosthetic head is one of there most underrated songs.

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Nimrod was the first record od Green Day that I bought. For me it's got a kind of magic. I think it's caused by songs' diversity.

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I wish I had discovered this album sooner. I unfortunately didn't listen to this album until I discovered American Idiot, and then worked my way backwards. I think this album would have been such an eye opener to me, because then I would have found it when I was really "discovering" the kind of music I liked, and it wouldn't have taken me so long to figure it out. The diversity in this album makes it applicable to any part of my life.

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this album is so so special. I love it. There's a song on it for every mood.

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I actually didn't even buy this album until a month ago. :lol: This album has never jinxed me and I always have the time of my life listening to it all the time, even when I'm felling uptight none of the 18 tracks ever seem redundant to me. :)

I laughed. :P

It's not my favourite album, but this album has many awesome songs that you just love listen to over and over again. My personal favourite is Platypus, because I love fast speedy songs. As many people have said, this is a very underrated album; like Warning.

This is the album I listen to if I wanna rock out :P

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Ah, this album is so good in every way. Just the incredible diversity of all the songs, but the way that they all work and are alble to fit together well on the same album is just amazing. I can remember getting this album in 2006 and having it going in the car with my mum all the time. My favourite songs on this album would have to be Scattered, Hitchin a Ride, Prosthetic Head and Nice Guys Finish Last.

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