10 Legendary Rock Albums That Were Produced Terribly

When Green Day was first starting to get their chops down in the Bay Area, the trail for pop punk hadn't even been blazed yet. Even though Billie Joe Armstrong was at the top of his game writing material, you can tell that there were a few aspects of the tunes that needed to be ironed out, especially with original drummer John Kiffmeyer not quite cutting it behind the kit. And while Kerplunk was definitely a step up from their debut, it's not exactly flawless from top to bottom.

As much as Billie Joe claims that this is his personal favorite Green Day project, you can hear the rough edges the minute that you put the record on. Compared to the kind of polish that Rob Cavallo would give them on the album Dookie, the kind of ramshackle punk aesthetic just feels weird here, as the band play their hearts out while sounding a little bit muffled on every track. The transition to Cool's drumming wasn't that easy either, as he gets more and more chaotic behind the kit and brings attention away from the hooks of the song a lot of the time.

Nowhere is this more evident than on the original version of Welcome to Paradise, where the band play it way too fast and barely give the groove enough time to breathe during the breakdown. These guys were fast learners though, and they were bound to go even further when they transitioned to the majors. Not exactly the Green Day classics yet, but still a band with mountains of potential ready to absolutely explode.