As good as Dookie was it wasn’t really punk now was it. Sure it had a few speedy guitar riffs but the essence of it all was pop hooks and melody which I have no problem with, however many punk fans despised that record and to be honesty don't blame them. All of a sudden you had these preppies and jocks thinking their punk because they bought Dookie which made the punks angry, very angry.
So after dookie virtually owned 1994, green day decided to return to their roots and make a more punkish album. The guitars crunch and bite more and the lyrics are just plain gritty (heard geek stink breath?).
Now let’s kick things off with armatage shanks, I’ve got no idea what the title means but it’s a great start to the album with rolling drums an awesome guitar into. The weird lyrics begin as early as now because their about Billy Joe's messed up mind. A Dam good song. Now hers where it gets a big more punkish, the next song is a short hard rocker about a kid waiting for his parents to die (??) the guitars are definitely the main component of this song, something that you just couldn't get in dookie. Next we have two amazing rockers, stuck with me and the almighty geek stink breath. Stuck with me is no doubt punk yet it’s strangely catchy and the riff is fantastic. The parts where mike sings (I’m just alright) in the verse is crazy cool. Next we have the undisputed best song on the record and possibly my favourite green day song altogether. Geek stink breaths guitar bite with immediate ferocity and the disgusting lyrics (apparently about being addicted to meth) with shock you. Easily the best bit is where Billy sing (I’m on a roll, no self control) the melody on that chorus is brilliant and perfectly complements the heavy guitars
Next we have 3 very good but nothing special songs. No pride, bab's uvula who and 86 are all solid rockers but lack that certain chorus that made geek stink breath amazing or the don't have the mild complexity of armatage shanks
After those three very fast punk tunes you'll fell like your head is spinning as fast as the disk inside your CD player, now here comes the panic song. yey! Very strange song for green day as it has a long intro consisting of breakneck bass but chiming guitar notes that sound almost beautiful, yes beautiful in a green day album. Pretty cool lyrics about, you guessed it panic attacks. next we have possibly my second favourite track of the album, Stuart and the ave. the melody in this song is for me at least, breathtaking and the chorus' do well to calm it all down. Also it has a very nice bass intro that sets it apart from other songs on insomniac, making it more recognisable.
Wow brain stew. Dingy, dark, grungy, depressing, sick are just some of the words you could use to describe this song. the five chord riff is kind of dumb but at least its different and just before it gets boring jaded comes in and quickens it up to a very punk speed and its probably the punkiest song on the record because it feels like it could fall apart any second.
Westbound sign and tight wad hill are two more good but nothing special songs. Sadly a lot of people despise them but I think their ok, their catchy but nothing more beyond that.
Surprisingly the last song is a return to form. Walking contradiction combines rising guitar riffs with very clever lyrics and overall it’s a very good song although not quite the emotional ender I was looking for.
Overall insomniac has moments of genius (geek stink breath, jaded) but these are hindered by not bad but mediocre songs (no pride, tight wad hill). Still if you like green day or punk you can't go wrong with insomniac
