Green Day - Kerplunk! - 1992 (iTunes - Amazon)
You know what you notice on Kerplunk? Mike Dirnt. Yeah, I forgot about him completely on the band's first album. But, he's right there, all prominent and shit on 2000 Light Years Away, the opening track.
One for the Razorbacks follows and I'm trying to keep in mind that I haven't heard Dookie yet in 1992. It hasn't been written or recorded yet. It's hard, you know, to not compare this record to the monster that would follow, but, from the first two tracks it might as well be the same one. And then, wham, there's the original version of Welcome to Paradise and what I realize is that the band is the same, it's that they were in need of a producer to flesh out the sound and an engineer to help broaden the pallette. Because the song is almost exactly the same.
The songs here are more melodic, as in Christie Road and Light Years, these are kids who have been playing since they were little kids. Tre Cool was drumming for The Lookouts since he was 12. Armstrong and Dirnt have been playing together since they were at least 15. Here they are all about 22. And they sound like accomplished musicians.
Private Ave is more a harbinger to the collection of songs on Insomniac than what was around the corner. And the ridiculous twang punk, more reminiscent of a Bloodhound Gang song, is funnier than that band has ever been and is a memory before it wears out its welcome. With this and "All by Myself" I can't help but wonder what a Tre Cool album might sound like. I imagine it would be goofy and fun but a trifle. Perhaps he's best left to the brilliance of skin pounding.
I can't help but feel there is a certain freshness to this sound even though it's 20 years old, for all intents and purposes and this album, released in 1992, came just 9 years after...Thriller. I don't even know what that means.
For a record made for 2 grand, it's pretty good.
As a bonus, the Kerplunk! CD comes with the Sweet Children ep. Sweet Children was Green Day's original name.
The eponymous track, "Sweet Children", is a punk trifle that in no way points toward what their future might be.
There is also a cover of My Generation. It isn't all that exciting or great. But it does show where, if you pulled the covers back, Billie Joe's head was at. He may be punk, but only in the same way that Townshend was. No wonder they just covered "A Quick One While He's Away". I gotta pick that up....
Grade B
A Side: Welcome to Paradise, 2000 Light Years Away
BlindSide: Christie Road, Private Ave, One of my Lies
DownSide: No One Knows (While I want to love the attempt at something grand, it just falls flat.)
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