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Dookie

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Dookie is the third studio album by American punk rock band Green Day, released on February 1, 1994 on Reprise Records. Produced by Green Day, Jerry Finn, and Rob Cavallo, Dookie was a breakthrough for the band, introducing them into mainstream popularity, with many of the songs of the album still played on rock and alternative radio stations. The album was their major label debut, causing controversy among the punk rock community, claiming the band had "sold out."

The album produced many hits for the band, including "Longview", the re-recorded "Welcome To Paradise", Basket Case, and When I Come Around. Dookie was very commercially successful, reaching #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200.[1] It is the band's best-selling album to date, holding a Diamond certification[2], and selling over 15 million copies worldwide.[3] The album went off to win the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1995.

Background

Following Kerplunk!'s underground punk rock scene success, many major labels came to the band to sign them on. Eventually, the band left Lookout! Records on friendly terms, and signed on to Reprise after attracting attention from Rob Cavallo. Signing to Reprise caused many of the band's original, underground punk rock fans to regard Green Day as sell outs.[1][4] Reflecting back on the period, 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] The band went on to record Dookie in studio in merely three weeks.

Writing and composition

Much of the album was written by Armstrong, except for "Emenius Sleepus" which was co written by Dirnt and Armstrong, and the hidden track, "All By Myself", which was composed and written by Cool. The album touched base on various subjects, all of which were experienced by the members of the band. Some of the subjects of the album had to do with anxiety and panic attacks, masturbation, boredom, and former girlfriends.[6]

The album was actually mixed twice, as the final product of the original mix was not satisfying to the band.[7] Armstrong claimed the band wanted to make the album have a dry sound to it, "Similar to the Sex Pistols album or first Black Sabbath albums."[7] After discussing the situation with the Cavallo, who also believed the sound of the album was unsatisfactory, the album was mixed once again.
[7]

The single, Longview, had a signature bass line that bass player Dirnt wrote while under the influence of cannibis.[8] He originally forgot much of it, but what came back to him ended up being in the song. Armstrong state the song was mainly about boredom, masturbation, and smoking cannibis, as evident in some of the lyrics "When masturbation lost it's fun/You're fucking breaking." Armstrong also said[9]:

I guess it was just living in the suburbs in a sort of shit town where you can't even pull in a good radio station. I was living in Rodeo, California, about 20 minutes outside of Oakland. There was nothing to do there, and it was a real boring place.

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"Longview"
Sample of "Longview", the first single from Dookie, which combined memorable bass line with a guitar riff and drums introduced in the chorus.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

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Welcome To Paradise, the second single on Dookie, was originally on the second studio album by the band, Kerplunk!. For Dookie, the song was recorded again, this time with a less grainier sound to it.[7] The song never had an official music video. The not as successful single, She, had to do with a former girlfriend Armstrong had after his relationship with Adrienne (who would later end up marrying Armstrong), who showed him a paper about female empowerment.[7] In return, Armstrong wrote the song and showed it to her.[7] She later moved to Ecuador, causing Armstrong to put the song on the album.[7]

The hit single, "Basket Case", which went on to chart on many albums worldwide, also had to do with Armstrong's personal life. He wrote it about his anxiety, before he was diagnosed with a panic disorder, where he thought he was going crazy.[7] The music video for the song was quite fitting for the meaning of the song, as it took place in an abandoned mental institution.[7]

Album name and art

The name of the album originated from the band members eating food on the road while touring, which had often, or was near, turning bad[7]. This resulted in the members having to take bowel movements, in which most of time, was diarrhea[7]. The band called this Liquid Dookie[7]. After trying to think of an album name, the band decided it would be funny if they named the album Liquid Dookie[6], however, they changed it to be simply be Dookie, as they thought people would find the original name "too gross."[7]

The cover art was an illustration that was made by Richie Bucher. The cover reveled various people and buildings, with bombs being dropped on them. In the center, there is an exposition, with the band's name at the top. Armstrong has since been interviewed to explain what the art meant, saying[10]:

I wanted the art work to look really different. I wanted it to represent the East Bay and where we come from, because there's a lot of artists in the East Bay scene that are just as important as the music. So we talked to Richie Bucher. He did a 7-inch cover for this band called Raooul that I really liked. He's also been playing in bands in the East Bay for years. There’s pieces of us buried on the album cover. There’s one guy with his camera up in the air taking a picture with a beard. He’s this guy Murray that's been around the scene for a long time. He took pictures of bands every weekend at Gilman’s. The robed character that looks like Ozzy Osbourne is the woman on the cover of the first Ozzy album. Angus Young is in there somewhere too. The graffiti reading “Twisted Dog Sisters” refers to these two girls from Berkeley. They're punk rock girls that have been around for years. I think the guy saying “The fritter, fat boy” was a reference to a local cop. There's a ton of weird little references and inside jokes all over that record.

Originally, some early prints of the CD had Ernie from Sesame Street on the back cover.[6] This cameo was airbrushed out of later prints for fear of litigation, although some rumors state 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.[6] After initial pressings, subsequent albums were packaged in brown-backed CD cases.

Release and reception

Rob Cavallo was chosen as the main producer of the album, after the band was looking for one after signing with Reprise. Green Day originally gave the first demo tape to him to listen to, and after listening to it on the car ride home, Rob claimed that "[he] had stumbled on something big."[6] After that, the band went into the studio for a mere three days and finished up the album.[6] Armstrong said "Everything was already written, all we had to do was play it."[6] After those three days, the album was mixed, twice, and eventually was released.

The album charted nicely for the band. Peaking to #2 on Billboard 200 in the United States[1], Dookie was also a success in many other countries. Overall, the album peaked as high as #1 in New Zealand[11], and the lowest peak in any country being in United Kingdom[12]. Most of the singles faired extremely well, too. While all the singles of the album charted in a couple of countries, the hit single Basket Case charted in many countries, and often peaking quite high.

The album was well received by many critics, with AllMusic going as far as saying, "They maintain throughout the record, making Dookie a stellar piece of modern punk that many tried to emulate but nobody bettered."[13] Releasing Dookie also brought in many new fans to Green Day, although making old fans feel as if the band had sold out.[6] The album, however, kept snowballing in sales, and eventually received the Diamond status[2] for sales in the United States, and selling 15 million copies worldwide.[3] To date, the album remains Green Day's most successful, amount of albums sold-wise.

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to Dookie is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net[14]

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Robert Dimery United States 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[15] 2005 *
Rolling Stone United States The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time[16] 2003 193
Classic Rock & Metal Hammer UK The 200 Greatest Albums of the 90s[17] 2006 *
Kerrang! United States The Kerrang! 100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[18] 1998 33
Spin Magazine United States 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005[19] 2005 44

(*) designates unordered lists.

Track listing

All tracks by Billie Joe Armstrong (lyrics) and Green Day (music), except where noted.

  1. "Burnout" – 2:07
  2. "Having a Blast" – 2:44
  3. "Chump" – 2:54
  4. "Longview" – 3:59
  5. "Welcome to Paradise" – 3:44
    • A re-recording of the song that originally appeared on 1992's Kerplunk!
  6. "Pulling Teeth" – 2:30
  7. "Basket Case" – 3:03
  8. "She" – 2:14
  9. "Sassafras Roots" – 2:37
  10. "When I Come Around" – 2:58
  11. "Coming Clean" – 1:34
  12. "Emenius Sleepus" (Mike Dirnt, Green Day) – 1:43
  13. "In the End" – 1:46
  14. "F.O.D." – 5:46

B-sides, outtakes and non-album tracks

  1. "On the Wagon"
    • Originally meant to be the last track on Dookie
  2. "Tired of Waiting for You"
    • A cover of The Kinks, a band that influenced Green Day
  3. "409 In Your Coffemaker" (Unmixed)
    • Originally appeared on Green Day's Slappy EP from 1990, Dookie version released on "Basket Case" CD single had not been completely mixed
  4. "2,000 Light Years Away" (Cavallo & Finn Remix)

Personnel

  • Billie Joe Armstrong – vocals, guitar and percussion on "All By Myself"
  • Mike Dirnt – bass guitar and backing vocals
  • Tré Cool – drums, vocals and guitar on "All By Myself"
  • Rob Cavallo – producer
  • Green Day – producer
  • Neill King – engineer
  • Casey McCrankin – engineer
  • Richie Bucher – cover artist

Chart positions

Album

Chart Peak position
Billboard 200 [1] 2
UK Top 40 [12] 13
Swedish Top 60 [20] 3
New Zealand [11] 1
Austria [21] 4
Finland [22] 11
Switzerland [23] 6

Singles

Year Song Peak positions
US Modern Rock
[24] 		US
Main-
stream Rock
[24] 		UK
Top 40
[12] 		Sweden
[20] 		New Zealand
[11] 		France
[25]
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

  1. ^ a b c d "Green Day album chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-07-16. Cite error: The named reference "billboard" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Diamond Certified Albums". RIAA. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  3. ^ a b "Dookie Total Sales". My Lryics Central. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  4. ^ Guitar Legends. "What Happened Next...." Retrieved on September 26, 2006
  5. ^ Smith, RJ. "Top 90 Albums of the 90's." SPIN. August 1999.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Vh1's Behind The Music: Green Day "Dookie - 1994
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Billie Joe Armstrong Interview on Vh1". Vh1. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  8. ^ Mike Dirnt - Rolling Stone Magazine - 1995
  9. ^ Billie Joe Armstrong - Guitar Legends Magazine - 2005
  10. ^ "Billie Joe Armstrong Interview on Vh1 explaining cover art". Vh1. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  11. ^ a b c "New Zealand album chart archives". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  12. ^ a b c "UK album chart archives". Retrieved 2007-07-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |publiser= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Dookie Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  14. ^ "List of Dookie Accolades". Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  15. ^ Dimery, Robert - 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die; page 855
  16. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-07-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Acclaimed Music - Classic Rock and Metal Hammer 200 List". AcclaimedMusic.net. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  18. ^ "Kerrang! - The Kerrang! 100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". AcclaimedMusic.net. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  19. ^ "Spin Magazine - 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005". Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  20. ^ a b "Swedish album chart archives". hitparad.se. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  21. ^ "Austrian Chart Archives". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  22. ^ "Finnish Chart Archives". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  23. ^ "Swiss Chart Archives". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  24. ^ a b "Green Day single chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
  25. ^ "Green Day French single chart history". Retrieved 2007-07-16.
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