Dookie
is the third studio album and the major label debut by American punk rock band Green Day. The album was the band's first collaboration with producer Rob Cavallo. Released on February 1, 1994 through Reprise Records, Dookie
became a worldwide commercial success, reaching number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 and charting in seven countries. The album helped to propel Green Day into mainstream popularity, amid claims from the punk rock community that the band had "sold out".
Dookie
produced five hit singles for the band: "Longview", the re-recorded "Welcome to Paradise", "Basket Case", the radio-only single "She" and "When I Come Around". s of }} 2008 [], Dookie
is the band's best-selling album, with over 15 million copies sold worldwide. It is Green Day's only diamond album. Dookie
won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1995.
|
DOOKIE TICKETS
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Background
Following the underground success of the band's second album
Kerplunk
(1992), a number of major labels became interested in Green Day.
[1] Representatives of these labels attempted to entice the band to sign by inviting them for meals to discuss a deal, with one manager even inviting the group to
Disneyland.
[2] The band declined these advances until meeting producer and
Reprise representative
Rob Cavallo. They were impressed by his work with fellow
Californian band
The Muffs, and later remarked that Cavallo "was the only person we could really talk to and connect with".
Eventually, the band left their
independent record label Lookout! Records on friendly terms, and signed to
Reprise. Signing to a major label caused many of the band's original fans from the independent music club
924 Gilman Street to regard Green Day as
sell-outs.
[3] [4] The club has banned Green Day from entering since the major label signing.
Reflecting back on the period, lead vocalist
Billie Joe Armstrong told
Spin
magazine in 1999, "I couldn't go back to the punk scene, whether we were the biggest success in the world or the biggest failure [...] The only thing I could do was get on my bike and go forward."
[5]
Recording and production
Rob Cavallo was chosen as the main producer of the album, with
Jerry Finn as the mixer. Green Day originally gave the first demo tape to Cavallo, and after listening to it during the car ride home he sensed that "[he] had stumbled on something big."
The band's recording session lasted three weeks and the album was remixed twice.
Armstrong claimed that the band wanted to create a dry sound, "Similar to the
Sex Pistols'
album or first
Black Sabbath albums."
[6] The band felt the original mix to be unsatisfactory. Cavallo agreed, and it was remixed, at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley California.
Armstrong later said of their studio experience, "Everything was already written, all we had to do was play it."
Writing and composition
Much of the album's content was written by Armstrong, except "Emenius Sleepus" which was co-written by Armstrong and
bassist Mike Dirnt, and the hidden track, "All By Myself", which was composed and written by
drummer Tré Cool. The album touched upon various experiences of the band members and included subjects like
anxiety and
panic attacks,
masturbation,
sexual orientation,
boredom, and former girlfriends.
The single "
Longview" had a signature bass line that bass player Dirnt wrote while under the influence of
LSD.
[7] He originally forgot much of it, but the remembered portions were included in the song. Armstrong stated that the song was mainly about boredom, masturbation, and smoking cannabis, as evident in some of the lyrics ("When masturbation's lost its fun/You're fucking breaking").
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"
Welcome to Paradise", the second single from
Dookie
, was originally on the second studio album by the band,
Kerplunk
. The song was re-recorded, with a less grainy sound for
Dookie
.
The song never had an official music video, however, a certain live performance of the song is often associated as a music video. The video is located on Green Day's official website.
[8]
The radio-only single, "
She", was written by Armstrong about a former girlfriend who showed him a feminist poem with an identical title.
In return, Armstrong wrote the lyrics of "She" and showed them to her.
She later moved to Ecuador, prompting Armstrong to put "She" on the album. The same ex-girlfriend is the topic of the songs "Sassafras Roots" and "Chump".
Another song, "Coming Clean", deals with Armstrong's coming to terms with his bisexuality when he was 16 and 17 years old.
[9] In his interview with
The Advocate magazine, he says that although he has never had a relationship with a man, his sexuality has been "something that comes up as a struggle in me".
The hit single "
Basket Case", which appeared on many singles charts worldwide,
[10] [11] was also inspired by Armstrong's personal experiences. The song deals with Armstrong's anxiety attacks and feelings of "going crazy" prior to being diagnosed with a
panic disorder.
The music video was filmed in an abandoned mental institution.
The final single, "
When I Come Around", was again inspired by a woman, though this time being about Armstrong's wife, then former girlfriend, Adrienne. Following a dispute between the couple, Armstrong left Adrienne to spend some time alone.
The video featured the three band members walking around
Berkeley and
San Francisco at night, eventually ending up back at the original location. Future touring back up guitarist,
Jason White, made a cameo in the video with his then-girlfriend.
Billie Joe Armstrong wrote the song "In The End" about his mother and her boyfriend (similar to
Why Do You Want Him). He is quoted saying: "That song is about my mother's husband, it's not really about a girl, or like anyone directly related to me in a relationship. In the End's about my mother."
[12]
Album name and art
The name of the album is a reference to the band members often suffering from diarrhea, which they referred to as "liquid dookie", as a result of eating spoiled food whilst on tour. Initially the band were to name the album "
Liquid Dookie
", however this was deemed "too gross", and so they settled on the name "
Dookie
".
The cover art is an illustration by Richie Bucher, which depicts bombs being dropped on people and buildings. In the center, there is an explosion, with the band's name at the top. Armstrong has since explained the meaning of the artwork.
| “
| I wanted the art work to look really different. I wanted it to represent the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
| ”
|
The back cover on early prints of the CD featured a plush toy of
Ernie from
Sesame Street
, which was airbrushed out of later prints for fear of litigation.
Some rumors suggest that it was removed because it led parents to think that
Dookie
was a child's lullaby album or that the creators of Sesame Street had sued Green Day.
Release
Upon its release,
Dookie
charted in seven countries. The album peaked at number two on
Billboard 200 in the United States
, and was a success in several other countries, peaking as high as number one in New Zealand;
[14] the lowest peak in any country was in the United Kingdom at number 13.
While all the singles from the album charted in a few countries, the hit single "
Basket Case" entered the top 10 in the United Kingdom and Sweden. Later in 1995, the album received a
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, with "Longview" and "Basket Case" both being nominated for a
Grammy.
Throughout the 1990s,
Dookie
continued to sell well, eventually receiving
diamond certification [15] in 1999; To date
[],
Dookie
has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and remains the band's best-selling album.
[16]
Reception
The album was well received by some critics, with
Allmusic describing
Dookie
as "a stellar piece of modern punk that many tried to emulate but nobody bettered".
[17] In 1994,
Time
claimed
Dookie
as the third best album of the year, but the best rock album of 1994.
[18] The
New York Times
, in early 1995, described the sound of
Dookie
as, "Punk turns into pop in fast, funny, catchy, high-powered songs about whining and channel-surfing; apathy has rarely sounded so passionate."
[19]
However, many other music critics, and even some other mainstream bands, claimed the band had sold out for signing to a major label, and called them "watered down punk imposters".
The
New York Times
, while complementary on the album's overall quality, noted that Dookie's
pop sound only remotely resembled
punk music.
[20] The band did not respond initially to these comments, but later claimed that they were "just trying to be themselves" and that "it's our band, we can do whatever we want".
Dirnt claimed that the follow up album,
Insomniac
, one of the band's hardest albums lyrically and musically, was the band releasing their anger at all the criticism from critics and former fans.
Since its release,
Dookie
has featured heavily in various "must have" lists compiled by the music media. Some of the more prominent of these lists to feature
Dookie
are shown below; this information is adapted from Acclaimed Music.
[21]
| Publication
| Country
| Accolade
| Year
| Rank
|
| Kerrang!
| United Kingdom
| The Kerrang! 100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die [22]
| 1998
| 33
|
| Classic Rock & Metal Hammer
| United Kingdom
| The 200 Greatest Albums of the 90s [23]
| 2006
|
|
| Robert Dimery
| United States
| 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
[24]
| 2005
|
|
| Rolling Stone
| United States
| Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
[25]
| 2003
| 193
|
| Spin Magazine
| United States
| 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005 [26]
| 2005
| 44
|
| Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
| United States
| The Definitive 200 [27]
| 2005
| 50
|
* denotes an unordered list
Dookie
tour
Immediately following the release of
Dookie
, the band embarked on an international tour, beginning in the United States, for which they used a
bookmobile belonging to
Tré Cool's father to travel between shows.
An audience of millions saw Green Day's performance at
Woodstock '94 on
Pay-per-view, helping the band attract more fans. This event was the location of the infamous
[28] mud fight between the band and the crowd, which continued beyond the end of Green Day's set.
[29] During the fight, Dirnt was mistaken for a fan by a security guard, who tackled him then threw him against a monitor, causing him to injure his arm and break two of his teeth.
[30]
The band also appeared at
Lollapalooza and the
Madison Square Garden charity event, where Armstrong performed the song "
She" naked.
[31] Having toured throughout the United States and Canada, the band played a few shows in Europe before beginning the recording sessions for the subsequent album,
Insomniac
. During the tour, Armstrong was quite homesick. His wife,
Adrienne Armstrong, whom he had married shortly after the release of
Dookie
, was pregnant during most of the tour, and Armstrong was upset about being unable to help and care for her. Being away from his family during the
Dookie
tour, and the following tours for the next few albums, eventually caused the band to temporarily break up.
Track listing
All tracks written by
Billie Joe Armstrong (lyrics) and
Green Day (music), except where noted.
#"Burnout" – 2:07
#"Having a Blast" – 2:44
#"Chump" – 2:54
#"
Longview" – 3:59
#"
Welcome to Paradise" – 3:44
#* A re-recording of the song that originally appeared on 1992's
Kerplunk
#"Pulling Teeth" – 2:30
#"
Basket Case" – 3:03
#"
She" – 2:14
#"Sassafras Roots" – 2:37
#"
When I Come Around" – 2:58
#"Coming Clean" – 1:34
#"Emenius Sleepus" (
Mike Dirnt, Green Day) – 1:43
#"In the End" – 1:46
#"F.O.D." – 5:46
#* Contains the
hidden track "All By Myself" (
Tré Cool)
Personnel
- Billie Joe Armstrong – vocals and guitar (percussion on "All By Myself")
- Mike Dirnt – bass guitar and backing vocals
- Tré Cool – drums, percussion (vocals and guitar on "All By Myself")
- Rob Cavallo – producer
- Green Day – producer
- Jerry Finn - mixer
- Neill King – engineer
- Casey McCrankin – engineer
- Richie Bucher – cover artist
Chart positions
Album
| Chart
| Peak position
| Certification
| Sales
|
Billboard 200 | 2
| Diamond
| 10,000,000+ [32]
|
UK Albums Chart | 13
| 3x Platinum [33]
| 900,000 [34]
|
| Swedish Top 60 [35]
| 3
| -
| -
|
New Zealand | 1
| -
| -
|
| Australia [36]
| 4
| -
| -
|
| Finland [37]
| 5
| -
| -
|
| Switzerland [38]
| 6
| -
| -
|
Singles
| Year
| Song
| Peak chart positions
|
US Mod
| US Main
| UK
| SWE
| NZ
| FRA
[39]
|
| 1994
| "Longview"
| 1
| 13
| 30
| —
| —
| —
|
| 1994
| "Welcome to Paradise"
| 7
| —
| 20
| —
| 21
| —
|
| 1994
| "Basket Case"
| 1
| 9
| 7
| 3
| 21
| 35
|
| 1995
| "She"
| 5
| 18
| 16
| —
| —
| —
|
| 1995
| "When I Come Around"
| 1
| 2
| 27
| 28
| 4
| —
|
Notes
- Ultimate Albums: Green Day's "Dookie"
- Title Unavailable
- Green Day Biography
- What Happened Next...
- Top 90 Albums of the 90's
- Billie Joe Armstrong Interview on VH1
- Title Unavailable
- Green Day Music Videos
- Interview with The Advocate magazine
- Green Day single chart history
- UK album chart archives
- Song Meanings
- Billie Joe Armstrong Interview on VH1 explaining cover art
- New Zealand album chart archives
- Diamond Certified Albums
- Dookie Total Sales
- Dookie Review
- The Best Music of 1994
- The Pop Life
- POP VIEW; Has Success Spoiled Green Day?
- List of Dookie Accolades
- Kerrang! - The Kerrang! 100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
- Acclaimed Music - Classic Rock and Metal Hammer 200 List
- Dimery, Robert - ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''; page 855
- The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
- Spin Magazine - 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005
- The Definitive 200
- VH1's VH1 40 Freakiest Concert Moments: #40 Mudstock - 2006
- Wood Stock 1994 Mudfight description
- When I Come Around Facts
- Green Day Tour Notes
- &artist=green%20day&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25
- http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx (Search "Green Day")
- http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx
- Swedish album chart archives
- Austrian Chart Archives
- Finnish Chart Archives
- Swiss Chart Archives
- Green Day French single chart history