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Kerplunk!
a white picture (with some green added in) of a teenage girl wearing a flower shirt holding a smoking gun.
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 17, 1991 (1991-12-17) [1]
RecordedMay – September 1991
StudioArt of Ears, San Francisco, California
Genre
Length
  • 33:58 (original album)
  • 42:10 (CD version)
Label
Producer
Green Day chronology
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
(1991)
Kerplunk!
(1991)
Dookie
(1994)

Kerplunk (stylized as Kerplunk!) is the second studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on December 17, 1991, by Lookout! Records. Kerplunk was Green Day's last independent release on the Lookout Records label, and was also the first album to feature Tré Cool on drums. Kerplunk officially includes only 12 tracks, but the versions released on CD and cassette also include the four tracks from the Sweet Children EP. One of those tracks is a cover of The Who's " My Generation". Green Day guitarist and singer Billie Joe Armstrong stated in a 2021 Vulture magazine interview that Kerplunk is his favorite album, describing it as "kind of autobiographical". [4]

Music

Kerplunk's sound has been described as punk rock, [5] [6] [7] [8] pop-punk, [9] [10] and indie rock. [11]

Artwork

Kerplunk was banned from certain stores because of the cover art. [12] The cover features a mostly white picture (with some green added in) of a 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.

Release

The album sold 10,000 copies its first day and became Lookout!'s biggest-selling release. [13] After debuting it 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 Bookmobile and headed east. Green Day developed a fan base on the east coast by way of the determined grassroots efforts of lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong. The opportunity paid off, as album sales reached over 50,000 copies. Along with the successful live shows, major labels took notice of Kerplunk's sales. As a result, many labels 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).

In August 2005, Green Day pulled the album – as well as all of their other material released through the Lookout! label – due to unpaid royalties. [14] It was reissued on CD by Reprise Records, who Green Day has been with since leaving Lookout!, on January 9, 2007. In Europe, the album was released by Epitaph Europe, and it has remained in print. It was reissued on vinyl on March 24, 2009, by Reprise Records. 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. In November 2017, to coincide with the band's second official best-of compilation, Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band, a music video was released for "2000 Light Years Away". As of November 2013, Kerplunk has sold more than 1,000,000 copies in the United States and more than 4,000,000 copies worldwide.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [15]
Alternative Press [16]
Christgau's Consumer Guide (2-star Honorable Mention) (2-star Honorable Mention) [17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music [18]
Pitchfork8.5/10 [6]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide [19]

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." [15] Pitchfork Media states "All in all, it's a magnitude better than its predecessor and only a hair behind the follow up." [6]

In December 2007, Blender magazine ranked the album number 47 on their "The 100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums Ever" list. [11]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Billie Joe Armstrong, except "Dominated Love Slave" by Tré Cool; all music is composed by Green Day, except "2000 Light Years Away" by Green Day, Jesse Michaels, Pete Rypins and Dave "E.C." Henwood

No.TitleLength
1."2000 Light Years Away"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"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
Total length:33:58

All lyrics are written by Billie Joe Armstrong, except where noted; all music is composed by Green Day, except " My Generation" by Pete Townshend

CD & cassette bonus tracks ( Sweet Children EP)
No.TitleLyricsLength
13."Sweet Children" 1:41
14."Best Thing in Town"2:03
15."Strangeland" 2:08
16." My Generation" ( The Who cover) Pete Townshend2:19
Total length:42:10

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes. [20]

Green Day

Production

  • Andy Ernst – producer, engineer, mixer
  • Green Day – producers
  • John Kiffmeyer – executive producer
  • John Golden – mastering
  • Chris Applecore – cover art, disc
  • Pat Hynes – artwork
  • Thadicus – art direction

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom ( BPI) [21] Gold 100,000^
United States ( RIAA) [22] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Egerdahl, Kjersti (2010-01-01). Green Day: A Musical Biography. ABC-CLIO. ISBN  978-0-313-36597-3.
  2. ^ Spitz, Marc (2006). Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day. ISBN  9781401302740.
  3. ^ "Green Day – Kerplunk!". Epitaph Records. Archived from the original on September 16, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  4. ^ Jenkins, Craig (April 22, 2021). "The Best and Most Misunderstood of Green Day, According to Billie Joe Armstrong". Vulture. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  5. ^ Carter, Emily. "Green Day: Every album ranked from worst to best". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Green Day: 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours/Kerplunk | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". Pitchforkmedia.com. 2007-01-19. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-02.
  7. ^ Krovatin, Chris. "Green Day's Kerplunk! Is An Unspoiled '90s Punk Gem". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  8. ^ Stegall, Tim (January 18, 2021). "THESE 15 ALBUMS FROM 1991 LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR PUNK AS WE KNOW IT". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  9. ^ "50 Greatest Pop Punk Albums". Rolling Stone. November 15, 2017. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  10. ^ "THE BEST 100 POP-PUNK ALBUMS: 40-21". Rock Sound. August 16, 2018. Archived from the original on February 2, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Blender's 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever". Stereogum. 2007-11-14. Archived from the original on 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  12. ^ "Ranking: Every Green Day Album from Worst to Best". Consequence of Sound. October 7, 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-12-16. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  13. ^ Spitz, Marc (2006). Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day. New York: Hyperion. p.  76. ISBN  1-4013-0274-2.
  14. ^ Punknews.org. "Lookout! downsizes, scales back plans for the future". www.punknews.org. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  15. ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "Kerplunk! Review". AllMusic. Rovi. Archived from the original on March 14, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
  16. ^ Raub, Jesse (22 June 2010). "Green Day: Kerplunk". Alternative Press. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  17. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. p. 123. ISBN  9780312245603.
  18. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN  978-0-85712-595-8.
  19. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David, eds. (2004). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p.  347. ISBN  9780743201698.
  20. ^ Kerplunk liner notes. Retrieved 2011-10-13
  21. ^ "British album certifications – Green Day – Kerplunk". British Phonographic Industry.
  22. ^ "American album certifications – Green Day – Kerplunk". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links