Green Day: Dookie
When Kurt Cobain took his own life in April 1994, it was feared that the mainstream recognition of alternative rock music had been struck a death-blow. Certainly, the industry was never the same again, but Green Day were one of the first bands to make a mark on the post-Nirvana world of rock. Dookie was their major label debut, and is packed wall-to-wall with memorable songs. Labelled, somewhat wrongly, as ’skate punk’, Dookie owes as much to the likes of the Who and the Ramones as their Californian contempararies such as NOFX and Rancid. The short, catchy songs are definitely in the punk style, with lyrics concerning everyday issues, held together with simple but effective melodies. Longview is an eloquent description of couch potato boredom, while Welcome to Paradise (rerecorded and a little more polished than the original Kerplunk! version) is a song any newcomer to university or college could relate to.
