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 | Green DayInsomniac1995 Reprise 
 Review by: ChemicalWarfare See others by this writer Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on July 6th 2001
Green Day were at the height of their fame in 1995. They had just become the biggest punk band ever. Grunge was on it's last leg. The corporate alternative Indie/college Rock wave was officially stopped by the punk revival. Warped tour had just been founded. All the punk bands were still riding high from 94. Green Day was atop the charts with JAR and constantly touring everywhere. They were now the kings of hard rock at the moment and it was actaully quite a load to bear for ab and that started off at Gillman and playing basements. It was actually a pretty crappy time for the band. The crowds got bigger, the shows got more intense and the pressure increased. Expectations were high for the next album. When Insomniac came out it hit 2 (The highest Green Day ever got) To some critics it was Dookie 2, others said it was an appropriate follow-up. The fans loved it. What many don't know is Green Day was on the verge of breaking up in 1995. (The end of the Insomniac tour would even be cancelled due to physcial and mental exhasution months later) Billie Joe was actually sufffering Insomnia(hence the name) internal conflicts were building up in the band, and recent marriages were putting strain on the band and the popularity didn't help much. It's pretty noticeable. If you look into the deeper meanings of the songs you'll notice there all angry, miserable lyrics about drugs, apathy, hate, and ill-feelings. BUT their packaged as nice sounding little anthems with catchy hooks, chugging riffs, and an upbeat sound. Many people didn't even notice the songs were so disenfranchised angstriden tunes until years later. Only a few songs caught on with the general public. (Brain Stew and Walking Cntradiction were big hits) so a few hailed the album as a failure. It actually was a HUGE step lyrically for Green Day supassing the more of the bratty songs and cheesy pop tunes on earlier work. Songs like "Panic Song" "Walking Contradiction" and "Jaded" look inside and give suprisingly ugly portraits of oneself. "86" and "Westbound sign" talk of past mistakes and how you can never go back. Songs like "Brat" (I'll just wait for mom and dad to die and get my inheritance) and "Stuck With me" and "Babs uvula who?" lash out against others and taunt physical violence, while "Tight Wad Hill" and "Geek Stink Breath" tell stories of rotting junkies looking for a fix. It doesn't lack on the catchy side, all of Green Day's musical trademarks are still there, as fast and catchy as ever. Many fans consider this the best of Green Days work(As do I) and I think this album and showed the steps of seriousness to their music. Though later work would even be more mature sounding. With all said and done. Insomniac is a perfect testament of a band on the verge of breakdown, an album that can't be recreated, showing what fame actually will do to you. Listen to this before you peg Green Day as ungrateful millionaires that got the "Easy road." They paid their dues, and even after they got famous, they still didn't get it easy. People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
one of thier bestest. This is among the best albums I own. The sound - angry, fast, well-produced melodic pop-punk - is quite unique and I still really haven't heard anything else like it. The lyrics on the album are amazing and put to shame everything else Billie Joe has written (particularly on American Idiot). Anyway, some trivia and some corrections to the above: Greenday Kicks But man!!!!! Greenday Roc's!!!!!! It was great!!!!!! fuck, i 4got 2 rate it again oh fuck. 4got 2 rate it, srry, u guyz rock, greendayz r kingz of punk, the most awesumme eva, when i thought american idiot wuz kwl, i hadnt herd their older stuf, and its wikked, awesom mind blowing punk like neva b4, man, bi the way, i got banned from puzzle pirates a few months ago, and im tryin 2 find sum of mi net frndz, mi username on puzzle pirates was samee mi email iz taimur.samee@gmail.com, so if u hav amy comments on greenday, music reccomendations or ur 1 of mi net frndz, drop me a line, dont spame me plz tho, mi mom & dad wil kill me, cya around, mi bruthaz and sisterz in the world of rock This and Kerplunk! are Green Day's best work. The fact that it didn't get much recognition is just due to MTV's "flavor of the month" state of mind. Songs like "Bab's Uvula Who?" and "Panic Song" and "Tightwadd Hill" are great songs. Fun fact: Winston Smith, the guy who did the cover art, also did art on a few Dead Kennedys albums (Frankenchrist and In God We Trus, Inc.). Second best Green Day cd besides Dookie which may be one of the best punk cds ever. I love how fast, intense and aggressive this cd is. Full of angst, not the typical teenage girl/boy angst. But actual feelings of inadacuacy. Great CD. I can't believe that Stuart and the Avenue isn't more popular, that's one of my favourite songs ever. i think that this is the best Green Day album yet. The songs are harder, somewhat faster, and to me more catchier. It may not one of their most popular albums, but music wise, its the most genius album they have recorded yet. This album is more of an acquired taste as far as GD goes. It took me a while to get used to it. It has many great songs such as Stuck with Me and Geek Stink Breath. However there are a few tracks that are not some of my favorites. A great album none the less. This album is so far the heaviest album greenday has made... I think it's an awesome album,it just showed that green day it's just not the typical poppunk band,i think this probably one of the heaviest pop punk albums of all time,i love this album and its worth every cent. i listened to this albulm for the first time in ages 2day, which gutted me cause i'd forgotton how good it was. didnt have the instant 'wow' factor of dookie but it has grown me(its on my left shoulder) ha ha I bought this one on vinyl cuz it was on sale and i have to expand my vinyl collection and I even dig it... Dookie is a fun album, even though I don't really like the voice of the singer... This one is way better, even though I still don't like the singers voice... Good lyrics... Greenday made great pop-punk... Whatever you punkwannabes keep saying about selling out... Good music can't be killed by money! this is the best green day album, and easily the only one worth 5 stars. it's still pop-punk, but with an edge sharper than a razor blade. they've never done anything as deep and intense as this record, before or after.- fathead Good point, everyone always gives shit on here a 5. I think most bands only make 1, maybe 2 albums in their careers worthy of a 5. For Green Day its "1039 SOSH". Some could argue "Dookie" for a second 5. The only thing I didn't like about this album was the inconsistancy in its theme. It seemed they tried to cram too much thought and feeling into one album. Worth owning though. I always liked the apethic tone of this album, different from the three previous albums. Plus that "Geek Stink Breath" video made alot of the little Dookie kids run away. This is the best album Green Day has done thus far. It's always been my favorite. on a scale out of 1 to 10 this gets 1000. I too think Heavy Petting Zoo and Into the Unknown were good albums(Maximum RnR and No Substance were ones that sucked), but both were not 5 stars. I guess thats what the guy is saying. Most people dont like those albums and theres no reasons to make a review of something the majority of people are gonna bash and abuse. I think thats what he meant. Oh well Insomniac is good. The only Green Day Album I still lisen to. I think most albums people review are five star albums, thats why they review them. Nobodies going to review NOFX "Heavy Petting Zoo" cause we know that was a load of shit, why beat a band when its down. Who's gonna review a bands worst work? Who'll review Bad Religions "Into the unknown" or Clash's "Cut the Crap." Nobody wants to review a piece of crap. This was a good Green Day album. Therefore it gets 5 stars. i agree with that guy who gave this 3 stars...all the fuckin reviewers give everything 5 stars...let's hear a little bit more criticism... When I first picked up this album, my friend told me that the woman on the front is supposed to resemble Billie Joe's wife???? I didn't get it. This album, like every other Green Day record, is amazing. It shows sooo much growth from Dookie! Both lyrically and musically the band took a huge step with Insomniac and I'm glad they did. Tunes like "Stuart and the Avenue," "Panic Song," and one of my fave Green Day tunes, "Westbound Sign," all make for a great album. On a side note, I'm almost positive that I read a Billie Joe comment that said that the album title came from his son Joey keeping him up all night. I dunno but in any case, a great CD. This sucks Awesome review, got me in the mood to listen to this CD again and reminded me how much I love Green Day. The album wasn't called insomniac beacause of bille joe's condition. They decidided to call it that after Winston Smith (the guy who did the art work)came in and gave them the finished piece, and when they asked him how long he worked on it he told them that he had been up for 3-4 days straight working on it. So they changed the name to honor him for not sleeping. |
