10 Perfect Power Pop Albums With No Bad Songs
5. Nimrod - Green Day
From day one, Green Day were always ones to keep their punk roots alive. Even though their bid for mainstream success left them banned from their home club for most of their professional career, they were just as into bands like Crimpshrine and Sewer Trout as they were with bands like Husker Du and the Beatles. Now that the anger was out of their system after Insomniac though, it was time for them to get weird on Nimrod.
Right off the bat, this is not your traditional collection of peppy pop punk songs. Although you do have a lot of that style on display here with Nice Guys Finish Last, the best parts of the album come from how much it's willing to experiment with the different styles of rock, like the folksy feel of Walking Alone or the Stray Cats like groove of Hitchin a Ride.
The best parts though have to be where the band lean heavily into the more pop friendly side, with songs like Worry Rock and Scattered sounding like they could have been leftovers from a Beatles joint if they weren't so crunchy behind the guitars. Even with the inclusion of the graduation staple Good Riddance, Nimrod still understands the concept of being a rock album from back to front. Considering that the band were being called sellouts and fans wanted more of the same, pivoting in this direction may have been one of the punkier things you could have done at this point.