Kerplunk
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Kerplunk | |
Release date: | December 17, 1991 (original) January 17, 1992 (CD re-release) January 9, 2007 (Reprise reissue) |
Length: | 33:58 (vinyl version) 42:09 (CD/cassette) |
Record label: | Lookout! Records (1991) Reprise Records (2007) Epitaph Records (EU) |
Producer: | Andy Ernst Al Sobrante (exec.) |
Mixer: | Andy Ernst |
Kerplunk is the second album by Green Day. It was first released on December 17, 1991 through Lookout! Records. Kerplunk was Green Day's last release on an independent label and also the first album to feature Tré Cool on drums.
Kerplunk went on to become one of the best-selling independent albums of all time. Major labels took notice of the album's phenomenal popularity, and 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 third album, Dookie, which became a landmark album of the 1990s.
The album officially includes 12 tracks, but the CD and cassette re-releases also include the entire Sweet Children EP as bonus tracks.
A number of stores at the time refused to stock Kerplunk because of its front cover, which features an illustration of a high school girl holding a smoking gun. The back cover features a boy with lying down with a gunshot wound on his back.
In August 2005, Green Day pulled this album, as well as all of their other material released through Lookout! due to unpaid royalties. It was reissued by Reprise Records on January 9, 2007. In December 2007, Blender Magazine ranked Kerplunk at #47 on their "100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums Ever" list.
As of November 2006, Kerplunk has sold 699,001 units in the US, and over 4,000,000 worldwide.
The album, like most of Green Day's early output, is tuned a half-step down from standard to E♭ tuning (except "Words I Might Have Ate", which is in standard).
Track list[edit]
All lyrics written by Billie Joe Armstrong unless otherwise noted.
- "2000 Light Years Away" - 2:24
- "One for the Razorbacks" - 2:30
- "Welcome to Paradise" - 3:30
- "Christie Road" - 3:33
- "Private Ale" - 2:26
- "Dominated Love Slave" (Tré Cool) - 1:42
- "One of My Lies" - 2:19
- "80" - 3:39
- "Android" - 3:00
- "No One Knows" - 3:39
- "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield" - 2:44
- "Words I Might Have Ate" - 2:32
Bonus tracks (CD/cassette only)[edit]
- "Sweet Children" - 2:41
- "Best Thing in Town" - 2:03
- "Strangeland" - 2:08
- "My Generation" (Pete Townsend/The Who) - 2:14
Personnel[edit]
Green Day[edit]
- Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar, writing, drums ("Dominated Love Slave")
- Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
- Tré Cool – drums, percussion, lead vocals/guitar/writing ("Dominated Love Slave")
- Al Sobrante – drums, percussion (Sweet Children EP), executive producer
Production[edit]
- Andy Ernst - producer, mixer, engineer
- John Golden - mastering
- Chris Applecore - cover art, disc
- Pat Hynes - artwork
- Thadicus - art direction
Tracks | "2000 Light Years Away" · "One for the Razorbacks" · "Welcome to Paradise" · "Christie Road" · "Private Ale" · "Dominated Love Slave" · "One of My Lies" · "80" · "Android" · "No One Knows" · "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" · "Words I Might Have Ate" |
Sweet Children EP (CD & cassette) | "Sweet Children" · "Best Thing in Town" · "Strangeland" · "My Generation" |