12 Best Cult Hard Rock Albums Of The 90s
6. Insomniac - Green Day
Green Day's overnight success with their major label debut Dookie was a bit of a double-edged sword in retrospect. While the band gained an unimaginable amount of fans from their hits, they were shunned by their punk rock stomping grounds and branded as sell outs almost immediately.
Rather than going into the studio and making Dookie Pt. 2, Insomniac is the pure concentrated sound of frustration from the pop punk brats. The songs on Dookie were angry also, but the attitude seemed to always be in good-natured fun. Insomniac feels like the result of a band that has been burned out on the road but are still not given the credit they deserve.
From the word go, this album hits you over the head with a more aggressive approach, with songs like "Armatage Shanks" and "Bab's Uvula Who?" having a more pessimistic view of the band's adolescent angst. Even more radio friendly songs like "Stuck With Me" have a much greater bite, as if the band are intentionally trying to muddy up their performance of a pure pop song. For those who find Green Day's more melodic episodes to be a bit too clean, Insomniac is the most all-out punk record this band would ever put out.