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Green Day
Insomniac
Label: Reprise
Genre: Alternative

Rating: 82

On Green Day's last album, Billie Joe Armstrong asked if we had the time to listen to him whine. At that point, the trio was just some cult favorite from the Bay Area, so why not? Of course, Green Day went on to sling mud at Woodstock and toss hits onto the chart like they were Journey or something. Welcome to paradise, indeed. Well, the big time hasn't spoiled Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, or drummer Tre Cool. "I must insist/ On being a pessimist" Armstrong assures us on "Armatage Shanks," the opening track of Insomniac, Green Day's follow-up to 1994's Dookie. Throughout Insomniac's fourteen speedy tracks, the trio plays its punk rock role to the hilt, mixing Blank Generation anger with Generation X angst. "I was once filled with doubt/ Now it's all figured out/ Nothing good can last," Armstrong offers with a shrug of resignation in "Brat."

Predictably, some of this feels a little odd on Insomniac. Punk nihilism always loses authenticity in these circumstances; when the millions are rolling in, life has to get a little better, doesn't it? But Armstrong is as full of righteous--andself-deprecating--rage as ever, declaring that "There is no progress/ Evolution killed it all" and tapping a personal vein in the closing song, "Walking Contradiction," where he owns up to being rich, fat-headed, and still fixing for a fight. But as on previous Green Day records, Armstrong's vitriol is balanced by energetic and instantly catchy songs. Each tune here is solidly crafted and high-octane, mining familiar pop conventions that are either identifiable--the "Pretty in Pink" riff of "Stuck With Me"--or simply evocative of the group's forebears from both the punk and rock worlds, a list of acknowledged heroes too extensive to list.

Still, Green Day's achievement is what it does with fairly rudimentary arrangements. In all its three-chord glory, the trio never simply grinds 'em out. There's an advanced sense of dynamics in all of Insomniac's songs, with Dirnt's bass lines galloping between Cool's pummel and Armstrong's power chords; in particular, check out the two-minute instrumental salvo that opens "Panic Song." That alone separates Green Day from the rest of the nouveau-punk crowd that record labels are rushing to sign and, frankly, leaves us little to whine about.

Green Day
Nimrod
Label: Reprise
Genre: Alternative
File under: Walking on new grass

Rating: 85

Grown-up punk rock is a contradiction in terms, and a trick nobody has really managed to pull off. Even acts that did diversify and mature--The Replacements, Elvis Costello, or Bad Religion--often sacrificed the snotty energy and righteous anger that fueled their early music and initial personas. Which makes it all the more impressive that Green Day has hit the elusive mark on Nimrod.

With the declaration "there's a drought at the fountain of youth"--a line from the "Stray Cat Strut"-style drinking anthem and first single "Hitchin' a Ride"--Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong sets out, over the course of eighteen songs, to examine the twists and turns that have taken him from a green-haired, phlegm-spitting degenerate to a husband and father who still prides himself on being "your reject all-American," even within the responsibilities of raising a son and maintaining a marriage. The prospect is both comforting and unsettling, a matter of "having the time of my life/ watching the clock tick" as he sings in "All The Time." Armstrong has no use for minutia, however; he makes broad observations and deploys plenty of humor and ambivalence across Nimrod--crucial ingredients that many of his forebears left behind on their way to adulthood. It's easy to laugh as he spouts, "Oh my God I'm turning out like my dad" during "The Grouch," his tongue firmly poking his cheek. Yet at the same time, one can't help but hear the uncertainty in "Scattered" when Armstrong sings, "Open the past and present/ and the future too/ It's all I've got and I'm/ giving it all to you."

Not surprisingly, Nimrod's music reflects a similar growth process, though there's no question that this is a rock-and-roll album--one that frequently blazes with the fury of "Platypus (I Hate You)," "Jinx," "Reject," and "Take Back," all of which would still start 'em slamming on Berkeley's Gilman Street. But Armstrong and his bandmates--bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool--also manage some significant sonic expansion on Nimrod, from the lush, surf-style instrumental "Last Ride In" to the sweet, melodic chug and harmonica licks of "Walking Alone." The bitter kiss-off number, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," is delivered with acoustic guitar and cello (though Armstrong, ever the punk, mutters a quick "fuck" when he twice messes up the beginning), while "King for a Day"--a hilarious sidestep about the virtues of dressing in drag--is N'Awlins by way of Spike Jones, as propelled by the No Doubt horn section. And "Scattered" manages to blend the rhythm of "Welcome to Paradise" from 1994's Dookie with the melody line from America's "Sister Golden Hair." Really.

Of course, Nimrod is no Dookie, which is what doomed Green Day's Insomniac in 1995. But two years later, most of us do want to hear a different story, and Green Day has given us that in spades. Not only does this bode well for the trio, but it's also a welcome sign that punk rockers can grow up without growing old.

Green Day
Warning
Label: Reprise
Genre: Alternative
File Under: From punk kid to punk parent

Rating: 55

Even a punk has to grow up, and over the past couple of years, we've witnessed, shall we say, the maturing of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and his compatriots. There were weddings, babies, houses, etc., and seeing as that's nothing unusual, it seems unfair to criticize the members of Green Day for, well, living their lives. But in the time since Billie Joe and Co. contemplated the weightier matters of life in an acoustic format on 1997's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," the band has been supplanted in the snot-nosed-punk-antics department by bands like Blink-182 and others.

So what are these punk daddies left to do? On Warning, the San Francisco trio attempts to maintain some degree of punk bravado, but their hearts just don't seem to be in it anymore. Some of the songs are jangly pop ditties, such as "Deadbeat" and "Church on Sunday" (the latter of which preaches compromise, an adult concept perhaps, but not one that will likely resonate much in the mosh pit). Elsewhere, the guys rail against authority (yawn) on the title track, a chunky rocker that sounds like it's something from the catalog of Billy Joel, not Billie Joe.

Green Day's attempts to broaden its musical horizons are mixed. "Misery" is a Kurt Weill-like waltz adorned with mariachi horns and thick surf guitar lines. It's an odd combination to say the least. "Macy's Day Parade" is an evocative acoustic number, but it's spoiled slightly by the too-sweet string arrangement in the background.

Other bands have managed to grow up in public and survive. Green Day still seems to be finding its way on Warning. Certainly they're headed in the wrong direction on "Minority," when Billie Joe claims, "I want to be the minority." Sorry, man — you were there once, and singing about it made you a star. But you can't go back now. It's time to move the band forward, not look back in feigned anger.

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Andy Alty

Punk Rock Palace

ENGLAND

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