Track Listing

1. Armatage Shanks
2. Brat
3. Stuck With Me
4. Geek Stink Breath
5. Stuart And The Ave
6. 86
7. Panic Song
8. No Pride
9. Brain Stew
10. Jaded
11. Westbound Sign
12. Tight Wad Hill
13. Walking Contradiction
14. Bab's Uvula

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1465 in Music
• Released on: 1995-10-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
If Nirvana burst the dam that kept punk rock at bay in the '80s, Green Day--with their third album, DOOKIE--were the first all-consuming flood to hit the charts. Brandishing old school Ramones and Clash riffs, the Berkeley, CA trio made out like bandits, selling nearly ten million albums, scaling mainstream magazine covers and hijacking rock-festival spotlights from established acts. But judging from the lyrical contents of INSOMNIAC, bringing punk to the malls hasn't been avery satisfying experience for singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong.
Throughout, he rails at the moribund state of youth culture and his place in it, as bassist Mike Dirnt anddrummer Tre Cool speed up this anger to a frenetic pace. The disses fly every which way--at well-to-doers copping poses("Brat"), at girlfriends who just don't understand ("StuartAnd The Ave".), towards the world at-large ("Panic Song"), and, most of all, at himself. As though aware that his band helped make a sacred lifestyle fashionable, Billie Joe demeans his existence in song after song--unable to even sleep inpeace with himself. For the disenfranchised listener, theseare the ABCs of self-hate rebellion.
Judging from the catchiness of his songs, this predicament isn't likely to end soon. "Geek Stink Breath", a heavy, mid-tempo rumble in the manner of the Sex Pistols' "Sub-Mission"; "Panic Song", withits frenzied "Pinball Wizard"-like build-up, and the fired-up, pop fury of "All Wound Up", all embody the very principals that make the punk lessons of 1977 so attractive today: simplicity, hooks, a lack of pretension, and a disdain for authority. On INSOMNIAC, Green Day puts those lessons to use yet again--their platinum nightmares are sure to follow.

Customer Reviews

Green Day At Their Best!!
Wow!!

What an album!!

A sheer thrill to listen too.

In my opinion the real standout album of the band.

Being an old-timer, stuck with the band all my life,

This IS WHAT Green Day are about, pure punk, at its best

The songs, scream out the speakers at you, one HELL of a ride!!

Here are my favourite songs of the album:

86: Catchy, but repetitive...
No Pride: A song with just the right words...
Stuck With Me: Actually quite good, catchy, upbeat.
Westbound Sign: A sad tale, but nevertheless exciting!!
Stuart And The Avenue: PHENOMENAL!! PURE PUNK!! SONG ROCKS!!

Don't take my word for it, at this price, can you go wrong?

An album, slated by so many, but in the eyes of real fans, WOW!!

With this album you wont be able to sleep!!
ok this album was the 4th album i got that was Green Day i dont think that it is as well known as it should be! My favourite song on the album (if i had to choose) would be panic song i love the words to it you can tell how much effort and feeling went into that song and you can feel the hate which he sometimes feels for this world which we can all relate to.When your having one of those days you can relate to this album alot Insomniac is a wicked album and if you dont have it GO BUY IT!!!

How to remember Green Day? 'Insomniac'!
This is Green Day's finest hour. 'Kerplunk' was good but there was something lacking, 'Dookie' was a big commercial success and had some of their most memorable songs on it but 'Insomniac' rips away the pop facade and gets down to the raw punk-powered noise that was always threatening to explode from Green Day but never did. It's just such a shame that they returned to the jaunty, Blink-182-inspiring, pop stylings in further albums 'Nimrod' and 'Warning'. This is how Green Day sound, or should do.

The first two tracks kick off at a blisteringly rapid pace, leaving the listener unaware of what to expect next. What you get is 'Stuck With Me', a slice of slower, more focussed yet unsettlingly unhinged pop. But pop with horrible, sharp, bloody teeth. The same goes for 'Geek Stink Breath' which was their single. A great choice and a finger thrust firmly in the air at those who believed Green Day had sold out with 'Dookie'. It is not single material. It is a grinding dirge with a hidden, almost unnoticeable hook that just keeps dragging you back for more. I don't think that there's a single on the whole album that would have done well in the charts, which is one of the reasons to buy it.

The little two-minute gems keep coming after that, with more vigour and aggression than you can shake a fist at. 'Babs Uvula Who?', '86', 'No Pride', 'Panic Song'. They are all variations on the same theme but inspired variations. This is the album that made Green Day truly great, not in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of the fans. My utmost favourite is the pounding, rolling, driving tune 'Westbound Sign'. It goes at 100 miles an hour but is somehow beautiful. It reminds me of Bruce Springsteen's 'Bobby-Jean', don't ask me why, it just does.

'Insomniac' will definitely keep you up all night but you wont regret it. If you are going to buy one Green Day album, buy this one. It is, without any doubt, the best album they have made to date.