99. Green Day - Dookie

Back when Dookie came out, I was only vaguely familiar with Green Day. I dismissed them as another pop punk band that was going to ruin the reputation of punk music and didn't bother with them. Then came this album and suddenly Green Day was all over the radio. I resisted the call of the catchy songs until about a year later, walking through an outdoor flea market with my daughter, who was about five years old at the time. She reached up to a display of cassettes and said "DOOKIE! Mommy, buy me Dookie! Please!" It was pretty obvious she had been influenced musically by her uncle, because she did not learn the name of that album from me.

When your kid is standing in the middle of a very crowded market screaming for dookie, you do the only logical thing. You buy it for her, and bite your tongue on the "this is not punk rock" lecture that would be lost on a five year old who only wants to sing When I Come Around.

She played that cassette endlessly and I learned to appreciate Green Day for what they are: Catchy, simplistic rock music with punk rock roots and pop sensibilities, sung by a guy who sounds like he a nose full of snot. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It wouldn't be until much later in the band's career when someone would point out that they are the Taco Bell of punk rock. But that's another review, later on.

My daughter still has that Dookie cassette, by the way.
Official site

Favorite song: She