Waiting The sixth studio album from Green Day, Warning, tends to get forgotten way too often, and yet it has all the makings of a killer record from the punk band. The LP finds Green Day at arguably their most melodic, and there’s no denying the catchiness of these songs that were self-produced by the band. Coming off of another breakthrough success in 1997’s Nimrod that spawned the smash single of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” that was literally everywhere when it was released, Green Day could’ve gone in a multitude of directions on this follow-up. There’s something really endearing about a band willing to take some creative freedom by self-producing their music at this stage of their career when their songwriting was truly blossoming at the right time. The set has now gone on to sell over 1 million units in the States, while selling over 3 million copies worldwide. Any other band would give their left arm for those numbers, but Green Day would brush off any talks of Warning being a commercial disappointment by going even bigger and bolder on their punk rock opera known as American Idiot in 2004. Warning deserves another look on its 25th anniversary, and it’s one of my favorite pop-punk records of all time.
The set kicks off with the title track that features a great, driving bass line from Mike Dirnt, while Billie Joe Armstrong explained the state of things with the call-to-arms lyrics of, “This is a public service announcement, this is only a test / Emergency evacuation protest / May impair your ability to operate machinery / Can’t quite tell just what it means to me / Keep out of reach of children, don’t you talk to strangers / Get your philosophy from a bumper sticker.” The crisp songwriting from the punk trio is felt far and wide on the second single to be released from Warrning, and it gets the album started off on the right foot. “Blood, Sex, and Booze” was a bit of a different vibe from Green Day, where they leaned more heavily into mature themes over a more abrasive type of punk sound. The back half of the chorus of, “Say I’m disturbed / It’s what I deserve / Another lesson to be learned / From a girl called ‘Kill’, is well-written and showcased the band’s ability to take some creative risks and liberties at this stage of their career.
”Church on Sunday” is one of the best “deep cuts” of Green Day’s entire career, since it’s melodic, catchy, and filled with great lyrics like the opening statement of, “Today is the first day of the rest of our lives / Tomorrow is too late to pretend everything’s alright, now.” The song finds Green Day at their most confident, even if the commercial success didn’t follow them as much on Warning. The steady guitar groove of “Fashion Victim” is another killer example of why Green Day found such great success on Dookie and Nirmrod, while the underrated work behind the kit from Tre Cool helps give the track a unique punch to it. “Castaway” is filled with pure sing-a-long energy, and makes for a great summery addition to set of songs found here.
The middle section of the record does have one dud in it, with “Misery”, that trudges along to the finish line and doesn’t really match up to the quality of the previous material. “Deadbeat Holiday” gets the LP back on the right track quickly though, as Billie Joe and Mike’s harmonies remain a standout moment in the set. The harmonica-driven punk folk of “Hold On” comes at the right time in the sequencing, and highlighted Green Day’s growth as a band, and their keen sense of melody. “Jackass” rocks along with a cool, jangly guitar riff to open it, and Billie Joe sounds as good as he’s ever been on his confidently sung vocals.
”Waiting” brought me right back to seeing Green Day for the first time at a festival crowd and having 20,000 people singing back every word from Billie Joe’s mouth. It’s still one of my favorite concert moments of all time, and this song is my favorite on the entire record. “Minority” was the lead single for a key reason, as it is the album’s most accessible song, and showcased that Green Day were still the same punk band everyone fell in love with Dookie. The punk rock energy is felt far and wide on the chorus of, “‘Cause I wanna be the minority / I don’t need your authority / Down with the moral majority / ‘Cause I wanna be the minority.” A simple enough refrain, yes, but the impact was felt.
The album closer of the ballad “Macy’s Day Parade” was a nice way of wrapping up Warning, as it gets somewhat back to the success of “Good Riddance”, while with a different tone and topic. Billie Joe’s steady acoustic guitar strumming paired with a great vocal performance makes for a memorable closing statement from a band that continued to get better with age, as was showcased on their latest effort of Saviors. Green Day will always have a special place in my heart, and Warning is a big reason for this endearing feeling towards their music.