Green Day’s ‘INSOMNIAC’ (1995) – 30 Years Later

Let’s address the elephant in the room right away. I know you don’t consider Green Day punk rock at all. I get it, but I can let people enjoy things. Now we can move on. When I was 11 I saw Green Day for the first time on MTV, I fell face first for them. That same day I convinced my aunt to buy me the album. I was a super fan in an instant. A few months later, Green Day dropped the soundtrack to my life. Insomniac (1995) is an album where every song hits that teenage side of me. I guess you could call it “defining”.

Let’s jump right into this review.

“I have no beliefs, but I believe I’m a walking contradiction” ~Walking Contraditcion

Insomniac is a masterpiece of bratty songs about heartache and everything around you changing. This album meant everything to me because it was so melodically driven. Green Day used all of their quirks to their advantage on Insomniac. The album is an homage to never wanting to grow up. Every song hits in a different bout of catchiness. Whether it is the beat or the chorus; every song matters. 1995 was the perfect time for Insomniac to be released. There was a punk rock revolution swinging back into the world and reaching the kids with Jncos and skateboards. I would know because I was one of them.

There is no denying the importance of the album at the time. While NOFX was hollering hilarious songs, and Rancid was singing about doing drugs in an alley and being homeless, Green Day was on a completely different level. They made it because they worked as hard as they could. The band has always been that way, even if we don’t care for most of their discography. The lyrics don’t relate to anything in particular, they let you piece the songs and their meanings together. Green Day paid their dues and reached people with this tactic. Without them, I would have never been brave enough to express myself the way I wanted.

Dookie opened a door for me in 1994, and Insomniac became my soundtrack. The Insomniac tour was also my first concert with my friends. It was one of my most memorable nights ever. I was a 12-year-old adult. You can’t just make these memories up.

“My mind is set on overdrive. The clock is laughing in my face” ~Brain Stew

The song that stuck the most for me on this album was ’86. Long before I knew the song was about the band being too popular to play at 24 Gilman St. or that Brain Stew was about being on meth, I didn’t have to understand the meaning, I gave it my own meaning to my personal life. I was an angry kid at the time so it wasn’t hard to relate to each of these anthems.

I still listen to this album on a regular basis. The reason is that Insomniac takes me back to an era I will never forget. We all have a soundtrack to stabilize us with good memories. Insomniac is my reason. I never found another album that I loved this much. I would never be embarrassed by my gateway bands, they shaped the person I am. We all have that one song, movie, or TV show that takes us through a portal into their childhood, I am one of those people and this is one of my favorite portals to travel back to.