Kerplunk (album)
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| Studio album by Green Day | ||||
| Released | January 17, 1992 | |||
| Recorded | May–September 1991 | |||
| Studio | Art of Ears Studios, San Francisco | |||
| Genre | Punk rock | |||
| Length | 33:58 (vinyl version) 42:09 (CD/Cassette version) |
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| Label | Lookout | |||
| Producer |
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| Green Day chronology | ||||
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Kerplunk is the second studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released on January 17, 1992 through Lookout Records.[1] Kerplunk was their last release on Lookout Records and was also the first album to feature Tré Cool on drums. The album has gone on to be among the best selling independently released albums of all time. After debuting the album to their fans in the Berkeley, California area and receiving much approval from the critical 924 Gilman Street crowd, the band packed up in a cramped, converted Book Mobile and headed east. The band developed a fan base on the east coast behind the touring support of grassroots promotor, Jak Werz. The risk paid off as album sales reached over 50,000 copies. Along with the albums sales and the successful live shows, major labels took notice of Kerplunk's phenomenal popularity, as a result, many approached the band. Green Day realized that they had outgrown their record distribution capacity with Lookout! and eventually signed with Reprise Records. With Reprise, Green Day recorded and released their next album Dookie (1994).
The album officially includes only 12 tracks, but the versions released on CD and cassette also include the 4 tracks from the Sweet Children EP. One of those tracks is a cover of The Who's "My Generation". The song "Welcome to Paradise" was re-recorded for Dookie.
Like Dookie, Kerplunk was banned from certain stores because of the cover art. The cover features a mostly white picture (with some green added in) of a high school girl with a gun that has been fired. On the back cover, there is a boy lying on the ground with a gunshot wound on his back.
As of November 2013, Kerplunk had sold 1,000,000 units in the United States and 4,000,000 units worldwide.[2]
In August 2005, Green Day pulled the album, as well as all of their other material released through the label, from Lookout! due to unpaid royalties.[3] It was reissued on CD by Reprise Records, who Green Day has been with since leaving Lookout!, on January 9, 2007.[4] In Europe, the album was released by Epitaph Europe, and has remained in print. It was reissued on vinyl on March 24, 2009 by Reprise Records and includes a reissue of the Sweet Children EP.[5]
There were no official singles released from the album, although "2000 Light Years Away" and "Christie Road" were released as mock-up singles in a Green Day singles box set entitled Green Day: Ultimate Collectors.
Reception[edit]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| Robert Christgau |  [7] |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.5/10)[8] |
| Rolling Stone |  [9] |
AllMusic regards Kerplunk as the "perfect dry run" for the band's later mainstream appeal, saying it contains "both more variety and more flat-out smashes than previous releases had shown."[6] Pitchfork Media states "All in all, it's a magnitude better than its predecessor and only a hair behind the follow up."[8]
In December 2007, Blender magazine ranked the album number 47 on their "The 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums Ever" list.[10]
Track listing[edit]
All lyrics written by Billie Joe Armstrong, except where noted, all music composed by Green Day, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "2000 Light Years Away" (music composed by Green Day, Jesse Michaels, Pete Rypins and Dave "E.C." Henwood) | 2:24 |
| 2. | "One for the Razorbacks" | 2:30 |
| 3. | "Welcome to Paradise" | 3:30 |
| 4. | "Christie Road" | 3:33 |
| 5. | "Private Ale" | 2:26 |
| 6. | "Dominated Love Slave" (lyrics written by Tré Cool) | 1:42 |
| 7. | "One of My Lies" | 2:19 |
| 8. | "80" | 3:39 |
| 9. | "Android" | 3:00 |
| 10. | "No One Knows" | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" | 2:44 |
| 12. | "Words I Might Have Ate" | 2:32 |
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Total length:
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33:58 | |
| Bonus tracks (CD & cassette only) | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 13. | "Sweet Children" | 1:41 |
| 14. | "Best Thing in Town" (lyrics written by Armstrong and Mike Dirnt) | 2:03 |
| 15. | "Strangeland" | 2:08 |
| 16. | "My Generation" (lyrics and music written by Pete Townshend; originally performed by The Who) | 2:19 |
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Total length:
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42:09 | |
Personnel[edit]
Green Day
- Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar, drums on "Dominated Love Slave"
- Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
- Tré Cool – drums, lead vocals and guitar on "Dominated Love Slave"
- Al Sobrante – drums on bonus tracks "Sweet Children", "Best Thing in Town", "Strangeland" and "My Generation"
Production
- Andy Ernst – producer, engineer, mixer
- Green Day – producers
- Al Sobrante – executive producer
- John Golden – mastering
- Chris Applecore – cover art, disc
- Pat Hynes – artwork
- Thadicus – art direction
References[edit]
- ^ Spitz, Marc (2006). Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day.
- ^ Grein, Paul. "Week Ending Aug. 8, 2008: Taylor Swift Returns (Comments by Paul Grein)". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ Punknews.org | Lookout! downsizes, scales back plans for the future
- ^ Amazon.com: Kerplunk: Music: Green Day
- ^ Green Day Reissuing 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk!
- ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "Kerplunk! Review". AllMusic. Rovi. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Green Day". Retrieved June 19, 2011.
- ^ a b "Green Day: 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours/Kerplunk | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchforkmedia.com. 2007-01-19. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
- ^ Rolling Stone (p.81) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Things came together on KERPLUNK: Drummer Tre Cool joined the band, the tunes got very catchy, and major-label stardom followed..."
- ^ "Blender‘s 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever". Stereogum. 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
- ^ Kerplunk liner notes. Retrieved 2011-10-13
External links[edit]
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