Dookie by Green Day

Released in February 1994, Dookie is the catchy, energetic sucker punch that propelled the pop-punk band Green Day into the musical big leagues and launched the careers of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool. The album was a runaway success both critically and commercially and is the band’s best-selling album to date. Along with the Offspring’s Smash, Dookie is recognized as one of the earliest examples of punk’s acceptance into mainstream music culture in the mid-nineties.

In just under 40 minutes, the album tears through 15 total songs (if you include Tre Cool’s secret track “All by Myself”) including well-received hits like “Welcome to Paradise”, “Longview”, “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around”. Technically the third studio release by the Bay Area trio, Dookie was Green Day’s major-label debut and their first widespread commercial success. The album was released by Reprise Records and recorded in September and October 1993 at the music recording studio Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. It was Green Day’s first paring with producer Rob Cavallo, who went on to produce multiple platinum-selling albums with the band including Insomniac, Nimrod, American Idiot, and Bullet in a Bible. Dookie’s iconic cover art was drawn by the East Bay artist and musician Richie Bucher and features familiar scenes and characters from Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California.

For many, Dookie is more than just a great album - it defines the cultural moment that grunge and alternative nineties rock gave way to a wider punk-pop movement. Credited by Rolling Stone with bringing punk to national and international audiences, the album was a massive success and sold over 20 million copies worldwide. In 1995, Dookie won Green Day the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and went on to earn the band nine MTV Video Music Awards.

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