Green Day's Insomniac Album Art
At the tender age of early teenager, I was of the perfect fucking age and attitude for when Green Day's DOOKIE album dropped and blew punk rock into the mainstream.
I was stomping around middle school, full of angst, wanting nothing more than to push my skateboard around and attempt to jump it off shit that was too high to jump it off, read Marvel comics, and draw superheroes. I was already dabbling with punk having stayed up late one night and haphazardly flipping through the 23 channels we had and landing on what later I learned was PUNK TV on public access, a show dedicated to showing punk rock videos and interviews.
Then Dookie showed up and I was like "this is that punk thing I've been seeing," and it was all over for me from then on out.
Having spent the next year or so honing my punk attitude and prowess, cramming in to my teen-addled brain as much punk as I could, the news that a new Green Day album, INSOMNIAC was looming.
I was anticipating that album like nothing else ever.
I rushed home after school and informed my father, politely I'm sure and not loudly, that we needed to go to MEDIA PLAY, the giant pop-culture warehouse that contained music, movies, books, and video games, so I could obtain the new Green Day album.
To his credit, he didn't argue or make me do any chores, he just said "OK," and off we went.
Back in the 1900's my family didn't have a CD player in the car so I had to anxiously cling to the album in the car and imagine what awaited my on the drive home.
Arriving at home I leapt from the car, flew to the basement, cranked open the super cool three-disc CD changer, put it in slot one and hit play.
Out of the speakers poured what would become my favorite Green Day album. To this day it's my favorite and I'm not one of those dorks that's all "their earlier stuff is better," when it comes to any band, I enjoy and consider many Green Day albums among some of my favorite albums, but Insomniac, Insomniac hit just right, and continues to.
It's their snottiest, angsty-iest, most nihilistic, and catchiest if'n you ask me. It's a 90's time capsule of affected teenage angst and dissatisfaction, something that still as an adult, in America in 2022, can't be shaken.
It's a perfect album. 13 Year old me loved it. Middle-aged me loves it.