Kerplunk!
a white picture (with some green added in) of a teenage girl wearing a flower shirt holding a smoking gun.
Studio album by
Green Day
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 4 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, citing 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 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 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 where noted

No.TitleMusicLength
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 (Armstrong, Dirnt, Sobrante), except where noted

CD & cassette bonus tracks (Sweet Children EP)
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
13."Sweet Children"  1:41
14."Best Thing in Town"
  • Armstrong
  • Dirnt
 2:03
15."Strangeland"  2:08
16."My Generation" (The Who cover)Pete TownshendPete 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 CertificationCertified 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 2008-09-16. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  4. ↑ Jenkins, Craig (April 22, 2021). "The Best and Most Misunderstood of Green Day, According to Billie Joe Armstrong". Vulture. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  5. ↑ Carter, Emily. "Green Day: Every album ranked from worst to best". Kerrang!. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "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!. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  8. ↑ Stegall, Tim (2021-01-18). "THESE 15 ALBUMS FROM 1991 LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR PUNK AS WE KNOW IT". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  9. ↑ "50 Greatest Pop Punk Albums". Rolling Stone. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  10. ↑ "THE BEST 100 POP-PUNK ALBUMS: 40-21". Rock Sound. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  11. 1 2 "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. 2016-10-07. Archived from the original on 2017-12-16. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  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. 1 2 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.
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