Green Day - Kerplunk LP+2x7"

With Tre Cool now firmly in place as the drummer, the lineup was at last settled, and it turned out Cool and Mike Dirnt were a perfect rhythm section, with the former showing a bit more flash and ability than John Kiftmeyer did. Together the two throw in a variety of guitarless breaks that would later help to define the band's sound for many - warm and never letting the beat go. As for Billie Joe Armstrong, his puppy-dog delivery and eternal switching between snotty humor and sudden sorrrow was better than ever, as were his instantly memorable riffs. The metal-strength chug that always informed the band's best work isn't absent either - check out Armstrong's opening riffing on "Christie Road." the whole thing starts with a note-perfect bang - "2000 Light Years Away" is the absolute highlight of the group's premajor-label days, with a great chorus and classic yearning lyrics. It got buried in the wave of Dookie's success a bit, but one other number didn't - "Welcome to Paradise," also a standout on that album, appears here in it's original form. Rob Cavallo punched up the radio-friendly sound on the latter take, but even here it's a treat and a half - quick, rampaging, and once again with a great stop-start chorus to spare. This vinyl version is on pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

1 2000 Light Years Away
2 One for the Razorbacks
3 Welcome to Paradise
4 Christie RD
5 Private Ale
6 Dominated Love Slave
7 One of My Lies
8 80
9 Android
10 No One Knows
11 Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?
12 Words I Might Have Ate