This album along with the Offspring's Smash brought a sound to the radio I had not heard much of besides a few Ramones' songs. It brought pop punk to the main stream in the mid to late 90s paving the way for bands like Rancid, Blink-182, the Mighty Mighty Bostones, No Doubt, and Jimmy Eat World to get air play. Introduced people to bands like not on the radio such as Screeching Weasel, the Bouncing Souls, NOFX, Operation Ivy, the Lifetime. People turned to Green Day's back catalog which made now defunct Lookout Records one of most successful independent labels of the 90s. Its release resulted in them being labelled sellouts and being ban from 924 Gilman Street where they got their start. It catapulted the band to being one of the main draws at Woodstock 94 and resulted in the signature moment of the festival with a mud fight between the band and the audience.
For me personally, it changed the music I listened to forever and introduced me to a lot of music I still listen today. Grew my CD collection from 20 CDs to over 300 which are still sitting in my basement to this day since being converted to MP3s. Led to me buying 5 guitars killing my interest in video games. The first time I heard Longview, I thought it was a piano playing throughout the song. It shows you how much I new about music before this album was released. My handle is a Green Day reference.
Dookie has gone on to sell 20 million copies. Green Day to date has sold over 85 million albums to date.
Below is an article on the making of the album and it's impact on music in the 90s and 2000s. Read it if you like. Or just join me in feeling old.
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Now Blink 182 was the shit, the last good musical act. Music's David Diehl or something.
90s were a great time for music
Green Day was my kids’ first favorite band. We played American Idiot constantly and it was their first “big” concert when they were 11 or so. They are an awesome live band.
Want to see something good...check out the play “American Idiot.” Probably one of my favorite broadway shows.
As far as Dookie it was a polished version of what punk music in the East Bay sounded like. Of the bands from there at that time they were the most radio friendly. Rancid created some great music around that time too.
Of their albums I probably listen to Insomniac the most which I actually didn't like at first. It had more of an edge to it than Dookie. All the fallout and anger directed to them because they signed to a major label resulted in that album. They were pissed ofc and it showed.
During the Dookie tour their shows were pretty wild. They would antagonize the audience and Bille Joe would play naked. They had a band called Pansy Division opening for them. The crowds didn't take to kindly to them. I don't think they had the equipment to play bigger venues st the time. Or maybe it was the place I saw them because the sound quality was pretty bad. By the time they toured for Insomniac that was all worked out. My ears were ringing the next day after that show because it was so loud.
American Idiot, lol. That brings me back to fall of 2004 when I was beginning of senior year of high school. I remember that day, getting the CD because I wasn't in school for whatever reason and listening with a handful of my buddies in the parking lot during the last period and after school. A bunch of people came over and started listening too, maybe 20 or so.
I listened to that CD so much for a couple yeara. The shelf life of American Idiot seemed as if it lasted forever, it was the predominant "main" music I had playing my car until late 2006 or so.
Homecoming/Whatsername is the best part
But that is a big pile of crap of an article. The writer conflates the trajectory of Bay Area and SoCal punk, which were both musically and chronologically dissimilar and would get you a boot in the shin at the time if you tried to pair them together.
There's also the obligatory, perfunctory grunge references, with no more relevance other than having roughly overlapped on MTV news for a brief time that summer.
Green Day probably had a commerical influence on later pop-punk as far major label appetite. I suspect there aren't a ton of bands that followed in 90s commercial success in that genre that would name Green Day as a big musical influence. Most of the bands that had commercial success in that general sound were LA, Long Beach, and Orange County bands with much more to do with Bad Religion and NOFX musically.
The one tether is the late, great Jerry Finn, who really honed a fantastic sound, mixing a and producing a number of great records during that period. And if you want to hear that come together really nicely on a full fledged grown up record check out the criminally underrated Years of Refusal - Morrissey album.
But that is a big pile of crap of an article. The writer conflates the trajectory of Bay Area and SoCal punk, which were both musically and chronologically dissimilar and would get you a boot in the shin at the time if you tried to pair them together.
There's also the obligatory, perfunctory grunge references, with no more relevance other than having roughly overlapped on MTV news for a brief time that summer.
Green Day probably had a commerical influence on later pop-punk as far major label appetite. I suspect there aren't a ton of bands that followed in 90s commercial success in that genre that would name Green Day as a big musical influence. Most of the bands that had commercial success in that general sound were LA, Long Beach, and Orange County bands with much more to do with Bad Religion and NOFX musically.
The one tether is the late, great Jerry Finn, who really honed a fantastic sound, mixing a and producing a number of great records during that period. And if you want to hear that come together really nicely on a full fledged grown up record check out the criminally underrated Years of Refusal - Morrissey album.
I would assume Social Distortion was on the radio too before Green Day. I just never picked up on them. Most music I discovered during the mid 80s was through my friend and mostly hair metal or Guns N' Roses.
I’m a huge OAR fan, having seen them 40 times. Their lead singer, Marc Roberge, was on the Stern wrap up show last year and they asked him if he regrets coming on late. He said, all the time... Seeing bands with similar sounds, like Hootie, Third Eye Blind, Goo Goo Dolls, Foo Fighters and Dave Matthews still playing enormous venues has them thinking “what if”. I’m not saying OAR is on the same level as those bands, but it was a really great time for music.
It was a fun time with friends goofing around with friends but whew what a terrible concert. Maybe worst music wise I've ever been to and that includes school talent shows. Haha.
I always hated Tom's weird voice more than anything.
Green Day, Foo Fighters, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Wyclef Jean, Soul Coughing, Barenaked Ladies, B-52's, Everclear - and more (from what I remember - I went to a few of the HFstivals and some of the bands blend together, but I think that's it) fun concert.
Green Day closed it out.
There were a lot of killer bands that got a little light shown on them because of it. That was a good thing for some. I never in my lifetime thought I'd hear Rancid or Agent Orange on the radio.
I'm not entirely sure I'd credit Green Day with the pop-punk popularity of the early 2000s, nor the pop-emo popularity either.
Again I'd say NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise and then bands like Texas is the Reason, Christie Front Drive, and Sunny Day Real Estate as bigger influences.
One band which I think had a big influence on early 2000s punk rock which was on the radio was the Lifetime. You hear a lot of what they did on Hello Bastards and Jersey's Best Dancers in certain bands which made it to the airwaves in the early 2000s.
It was a fun time with friends goofing around with friends but whew what a terrible concert. Maybe worst music wise I've ever been to and that includes school talent shows. Haha.
I always hated Tom's weird voice more than anything.