Green Day led a mid-90's punk revival that helped make punk music more mainstream than at any point in the past. After many critics of the band had written them off as irrelevant to current popular music, the trio came roaring back in 2004 with American Idiot, the biggest album of their career and one of the biggest albums by anyone to be released in the decade.
- 1,039 - Smoothed Out Slappy Hour (Lookout) (1991)
No one could predict the future success of Green Day from the release of their first album. There are many of the classic elements of the band present, but there are few truly memorable songs.
- Kerplunk (Lookout) (1992)
Things started to come together for Green Day on their second album. The songs are fun and energetic, and this album includes the classic "Welcome To Paradise."
- Dookie (Reprise) (1994)
The group's major label debut broke them into the big time. It reached #2 on the album chart and included the top 10 radio hit "When I Come Around." The adolescent humor coupled with melodic punk thrash inspired a wave of imitations. Review available.
- Insomniac (Reprise) (1995)
Green Day's followup to their chart breakthrough stayed close to the previous album's blueprint. The result was a bit of staleness. The album was another #2 hit, but it failed to produce any mainstream hits leaving the band to look like a one hit wonder on the pop charts.
- Nimrod (Reprise) (1997)
After the intensity of public focus prompted by their previous two albums, Green Day took a year off before heading back into the studio for this album. The band experimented more with their sound and frequently veered off the punk pop path. The results were varied. The album just grazed the top 10, but it did include "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)," a ballad that nearly broke into the pop radio top 10.
- Warning (Reprise) (2000)
Following a 3 year gap, Green Day released possibly the most unabashedly pop-oriented album of their career. Warning reached #4 on the album chart and launched the singles "Minority" and "Warning" into major modern rock hits that also got some adult radio airplay.
- American Idiot (Reprise) (2004)
The world was unprepared for this album. Setting out initially, according to vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong, to create something bigger like Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," the trio ended up with a full rock opera. This album touched a nerve in an America becoming weary of the Iraq War and George W. Bush's presidency. By a year later it was still producing hit singles and powerful videos. The album was a #1 hit and "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" just missed the top of the singles chart, stalling at #2. Review available.
