Issue #70: Green Day – Insomniac

Released:  October 10th, 1995

Recorded:  December 1994 – May 1995

Genre:  Punk, Pop Punk

Record Label:  Reprise

Duration:  32:49

Producers:  Rob Cavallo, Green Day

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Insomniac is One of My Favorites

If you glance at the singles or track listing above, one or two song titles might jog your memory, but for the most part, Insomniac falls into Green Day’s “forgotten camp.”  Previously we were given the widely acclaimed nigh classic Dookie (why couldn’t they have called it something better?), and their next album Nimrod will be forever remembered because of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”  But then Warning came, no one remembered shit, and it seemed like Green Day’s comparatively long 15 minutes was finally up.  And then…American Idiot took the masses by storm.

The trio (later quartet, I think?) has been on a see-saw of success, though I suppose at some point over the last few years they’ve finally established themselves as a viable, long term hard rock band that will continue to live on, album after album, probably regardless of actual quality.  I can certainly see them plodding along like other bands of note, growing increasingly introspective yet markedly less relevant, then eventually tackling political issues that no one under the age of 35 will relate to…it’s a sad story, but I can’t help but imagine the possible when I think of Aerosmith and “Pink” from the late 90’s, or Metallica’s Death Magnetic from a few years back, or hell, even Reznor’s recent work as Nine Inch Nails, which is downright embarrassing.  I mean this whole “triple album but not a triple album”

Alright, so I was getting going on a tangent there that really has nothing to do with Insomniac.  Originally I was merely trying to point out that Insomniac was one of Green Day’s “odd” albums, at least when it came to public recognition.  People criticize the album for sounding too much like Dookie, and I guess I could see that if it was playing in the background, but after really listening to it, I don’t see how anyone could make this mistake.  Ok, that’s not 100% true, but for anyone really listening there is a clear shift.  The music on Dookie is lighter and softer.  The guitars are doing their grinding and whatnot, but take any song on Dookie and pit it against anything on Insomniac, and on the latter they are harder, louder, and heavier.  Is it just  production issue?  Maybe.  Even if it is, it’s still an obvious difference.  Moreover, Insomniac is less of a “fun romp” than its predecessor and more aggressive and downtrodden.

The album is still full of the band’s catchy hooks and high energy rhythms, but the lyrics turn it into something completely different.  There’s a certain amount of angst and frustration on Dookie, though it also touches on less serious “younger” issues, mostly boredom, apathy, some confusion about finding oneself.  On the next record, the guys are decidedly maligned.  I’m surprised that the music was kept so uptempo considering the existential crisis that unfolds on Insomniac.  We’ve got “I must insist / On being a pessimist” in “Armatage Shanks,” and in “Stuart and the Ave.” Armstrong mentions his “rotting existence” before launching into (one of the catchiest choruses of the album), “Destiny is dead / In the hands of bad luck / Before it might’ve made some sense / But now it’s all fucked up!”

Insomniac keeps going at this near suicidal pace: “I’ve got a knack for fucking everything up” (“Bab’s Uvula Who?”), “the world is a sick machine breeding a mass of shit” (“Panic Song”), “control the chaos behind a gun” (“Walking Contradiction”), “I’m on a mission / I made my decision / to lead to a path of self-destruction” (“Geek Stink Breath”)…if I went on, I’d have half of the album’s lyrics typed out.

Musically, Green Day isn’t necessarily approaching these songs any differently  than they had previously, but I can’t help but feel that the drums are being hit harder, the guitars are being strummed in an outright frenzy (“Tightwad Hill” comes to mind especially; it’s got a certain ferocity)…again, I’m in amazement that Armstrong seems so unaffected in his vocal delivery.  “Jaded” is an aptly named singular blast of noise, thrice as fast as anything from the previous record.  And there’s “Brain Stew,” unlike anything else here, but absolutely brilliant.  It chugs along, using silence as much as instrumentation to push forward.  As the song evolves, the chorus becomes a twisted cacophony of palm-muting and pick scraping.

It’s interesting that the simple but infectious melodies didn’t fall by the wayside during this transition.  As I pointed out earlier, “Stuart and Ave.” is quite friendly for such a dismal outlook.  “Armatage Shanks” is equally likable, along with most other songs on the record, including “Stuck with Me,” “Walking Contradiction,” and “Bab’s Uvula Who?”  I’m sure there’s a cultural statement wrapped up in bleak anthems set to poppy, uptempo music (though it does begin to push against the boundaries of heaviness and speed), but I wouldn’t be so brazen as to venture what that statement might be.

Insomniac is the darker, twisted sibling of Dookie, and though the styles may be admittedly similar, Insomniac veers slightly away from pop punk into more mature and more personal waters of misery and disenchantment.  Like several other bands during this series (Nirvana, Weezer), touring and fame took its toll on Green Day.  They were actually having such a tough time with it all that they cancelled the entire European leg of their tour promoting Insomniac.  It’s long been true that pain and dissatisfaction inspires great creativity in individuals; not many artists are known for releasing their most acclaimed records during periods of happiness and stability.  Not that I’m glad anyone has to be miserable to turn out great music, but at least something good is able to come of their hardship.  Dookie will always be the classic remembered for its universal appeal and will probably always overshadow Insomniac because of the sound that it helped to introduce.  But that doesn’t mean that Insomniac is a bad album, and I do enjoy its heavier sound and personal lyrics at times, in much the same way that Dookie’s lighthearted, goofy approach works at others.

Green Day would go on to explore other avenues of music on the following album Nimrod, so Insomniac would really be the last time we’d get to hear the band doing what they became so well known for.  Punk, pop or not, is a tough genre to maintain for more than a few albums; the bands that survive inevitably go on to other pursuits, so I don’t fault the guys for not putting out another three-chord album and this was a satisfying end to this chapter of their career.  In my original take on Dookie, I mention that it and the Offspring’s Smash are often discussed in tandem and also that Smash is a more serious, socially conscious record while Dookie revels in lighthearted self-absorption.  Insomniac actually finds middle ground between the two, mixing in the urgency and intensity of Smash with the focus on the self of Dookie.  Insomniac is not only at home in any respectable collection of pop punk, it also remains a conspicuously strong release in the sub-genre as a whole.

Written by The Cubist

Other albums from Green Day in this series:

• 1994 – Dookie – Issue #18
• 1997 – Nimrod – Issue #84

Back to The Cubist’s 90’s Albums

Written by The Cubist

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