LADY GAGA once told NME GREEN DAY’s Dookie (1994) was the first album she ever bought; “I just wanted to lick the pages from the booklet! That particular album, I mean, it is iconic.”. Now Dookie’s booklet-licking goodness celebrates its 30th anniversary, it’s only right we dive into what makes the album so iconic.
Dookie came at a time when things needed rearranging. Much like one’s guts after a bout of the diarrhoea from which this album draws its name. Grunge was the pinnacle of the mainstream with the likes of NIRVANA dominating the airwaves morning ‘til night. It could be argued spiralling mental illness had become a content farm for media corporations at this juncture… we won’t jump down that rabbit hole just yet. With Dookie, the mainstream jumped from the depression of Kurt Cobain to the anxiety of one Billie Joe Armstrong (vocal/guitar).
Photo Credit: Ken SchlesA source of the displacement would come with GREEN DAY’s signing to a major label: Reprise Records. Not wholly due to new distribution factors. Rather it would come from the visceral reaction of Berkeley, California’s prolific punk scene. Notably fanzine Maximumrocknroll and iconic venue 924 Gilman Street. After playing a show at the club in September 1993, GREEN DAY would be banned from the venue altogether. Yet Armstrong would later reflect as Kerrang!’s Stevie Chick wrote: “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.”.
Now labelled “sell outs” and exiled from the scene they once called home, despite ensuring previous label Lookout! Records retained 100% of the rights to previous Kerplunk (1991) and 39/Smooth (1990), GREEN DAY entered the studio with Rob Cavallo and were exposed to a whole new world. Prior to Dookie, the most time the band had spent recording was three days for Kerplunk. Thrust into the mahogany realm of Fantasy Studios and confronted with change, anxiety hoisted a barrier in the way of Armstrong, Mike Dirnt (bass), and Tré Cool (drums) reaching their full potential. After a night at a Mexican bar with Cavallo, despite Cool not being of legal age, GREEN DAY came back with fresh yet tentative vigour and set to work.
Recording sessions for Dookie would last three weeks. Admittedly this would be due to the material already being written, the trio just needed to turn up and play. Yet Armstrong would insist on recording his vocals with urgency; tracking 17 songs in two days. One of these would be the single Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), though this wouldn’t see the light of day until 1997’s Nimrod. What emerged from those recording sessions were 14 which culminated in arguably one of the most vital records within the punk rock genre.
It’s not just the raw sonic freshness which makes Dookie so relatable. It’s the content itself. The ease Armstrong had in bearing all not only with sensitive subjects like Pulling Teeth’s domestic violence but the mundanity of chronic masturbation was unparalleled. Slipping from lyrics such as “I better tell her that I love her/ Before she does it all over again” to “I’m so damn bored, I’m going blind/ And loneliness has to suffice” is what makes Armstrong an incredibly underrated lyricist. This was a band brashly talking about every facet of mental health long before it was acceptable to today’s standards.
Though not all the material has aged well. Having A Blast comes from the perspective of a mentally ill young man who plans to kill himself, and others, with the use of explosives. While it wasn’t seen as an issue at the time and society allowed the idle fantasy to slip by, this wouldn’t be the case some five years later. After the events of the Columbine Massacre in 1999, Having A Blast is undoubtedly an uncomfortable listen if allowed to be.
There was some controversy surrounding the trio’s third album but we’ll get to that in a moment. Dookie released to critical acclaim. Basket Case’s ability to speak to those also addled with panic disorder paired with When I Come Around’s perspective on relationships saw GREEN DAY catapulted into the stratosphere. Rolling Stone’s Paul Evans would pen; “They’re convincing mainly because they’ve got punk’s snotty anti-values down cold: blame, self-pity, arrogant self-hatred, humor, narcissism, fun.”. New York Times’ Joe Pareles would proclaim “apathy has rarely sounded so passionate”, and in a retrospective review for Billboard, Chris Payne would praise the band’s “sugary, almost bubblegum choruses”.
Photo Credit: Catherine McGannSo why the controversy? The answer comes in two words: Woodstock ‘94. As future Heavy Music History pieces will bring to light, Woodstock hasn’t always been the peace and love it is synonymous with. On August 14 1994, GREEN DAY would miss a day of Lollapalooza to play the iconic festival. Imagine a rock festival where it’s rained for the past three days. AEROSMITH, JOHNNY CASH, and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS are billed. Then three Californian upstarts saunter on stage and open with Welcome To Paradise. A bright ditty about undesirable living conditions which is sung with a smile. Members of the crowd, unimpressed with both the irony and the punk rock they were being subjected to, cast clumps of mud on stage. Chaos would ensue with mud slung between band and audience, Dirnt being tackled by security and breaking two teeth (whilst still playing we might add), and Armstrong mooning the crowd upon exit. As a result of the festival being broadcast to millions worldwide via pay-per-view, album sales would sky rocket.
Dookie would go on to sell 20 million copies, achieving Diamond Certification via the Recording Industry Associations of American (RIAA). It would debut at number two on the Billboard 200 and chart in the top ten world wide. In 1995, GREEN DAY would walk away with the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album. Retrospectively, it has been placed on countless best album lists including Rolling Stone’s three iterations, as well as the publication hailing it as the Greatest Pop-Punk Album.
Artists like LADY GAGA and BILLIE EILISH alongside bands like MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE and SUM 41 have heralded Dookie as the album of a generation. Reflecting on the album with Christina Saraceno of Rolling Stone in 2001, Armstrong would state “They still hold the same relevance that they did and that’s good ’cause ultimately you want your songs to stand the test of time.”. Three decades later, Dookie is just as refreshing and urgent as it was back then and that is a legacy many only dream of having. With a 30th Anniversary Edition box set having been released on September 29 2023 and a tour commemorating both this and the 20th anniversary of American Idiot (2004) taking place this year, the gloomy stoner who simply wanted acceptance and acknowledgement is still received with open arms.
Dookie was originally released on February 1st, 1994 via Reprise Records.
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