Do As I Say, Not As I Do (Insomniac - Green Day)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Insomniac - Green Day
Date:	16/03/08 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An excellent album from Green Day, jam packed full of brilliantly heavy material.

Disadvantages: May be a little too heavy for some.

'Insomniac' is without doubt my favourite of all the Green Day albums. It contains so many of my favourite tracks of theirs and is I feel an all round excellent album from them. It's exceptional in every sense and never do the band fail to impress throughout the entirety of this release. With 'Dookie' the band had exploded onto the scene the previous year, however with 'Insomniac' the band showcase a far darker and heavier side of theirs. The album was released in 1995 and as of August 2006 has sold in excess of 2 million copies in America and is therefore certified double platinum.

This is I feel the most powerful of all the albums that the band have ever released, it certainly had a profound effect on me right from the first time I ever listened to it. There are few albums that hit me on first listen, but 'Insomniac' is certainly one such album that did. The guitars are enormously intense, the vocals are spot on, and the drum beats are also excellent I feel. Right from the offset with the track 'Armatage Shanks' the band show that they mean business here and never do they show any signs of slowing down as they march their way frantically through this album.

If asked to pick a favourite Green Day song of mine then I'd probably pick either 'Geek Stink Breath' or 'Walking Contradiction', I love both of these tracks equally and would find it near on impossible to pick just one of them as an all time absolute favourite. As 'Geek Stink Breath' begins we are greeted with the distorted sound of the guitars, a sound that continues throughout the tracks duration and never does it disappoint. There are few times in Green Day's career when they've ever sounded this heavy, the music is absolutely fantastic and in calling it 'perfect' I don't feel we'd be far from the truth. I can't find any fault with the track and each every time I listen to it I smile. 'Walking Contradiction' on the other hand is given the job of closing this album and impresses me equally. Never will I forget its opening line of 'Do as I say, Not as I do, The sh*t's so deep you can't run away', it is forever engraved in my mind and every time the track begins I can't help but sing along at the top of my voice. I could be walking through the high street, sitting on the bus, or perhaps in the middle of a park; if I hear the opening to this track the urge to sing the opening will always overcome me and resistance is futile.

'Brain Stew' is another hugely impressive effort from this album. Once more the band use the distorted guitars to kick off the track and as they smash through it not once do they seem to stop and draw breath. Green Day are excellent here, the sound they produce is second to none and I can certainly have no complaints with the power they possess as they fire out the guitars on this release, smashing through the drums as they duck, dive and dart their way through the track. 'Jaded' is also hugely appealing and does in fact follow straight on from 'Brain Stew' on this album. The two work well together side by side and if listening to one you must always listen to the other, these two tracks are like two peas in a pod and you certainly never want to be the one to separate podded peas.

Green Day show such great signs of excellence in this album, there is no doubting for me that this is there best album. Such heaviness is evidenced here, levels of aggression and power that the band come nowhere close to matching on other albums of theirs. This I feel is and perhaps always will be the highlight of Green Day's career. I fail to see how they could possibly top this album and whilst I will listen on in the hope that they do, I somehow doubt it and remain somewhat pessimistic as to their ability to better this album. Green Day have tried out so many different styles and sounds over the years, from the folk punk of 'Warning' right through to the rock opera concept album of 'American Idiot' and yet it is the simplicity with which they complete this album that appeals to me most. 'Insomniac' is an excellent album and is one that I would without a shadow of a doubt recommend to everyone out there.

Summary: 'Insomniac' I feel is the best album that Green Day have ever released.