Green Day: Ranking Their Albums From Worst To Best

9. 39/Smooth

So here we go. Time to upset all the fans of "real" punk music by putting Green Day's most barebones, ugly, and unpolished album this low on the list. But it should be noted that I'm only considering the legitimate LP, not the revamped 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (which includes the official debut album and their first two EPs). So, there. Have I given myself enough breathing room to plead my case to the purists? Just as a punk band's most polished output is not automatically its worst, their most raw and unconsidered is not automatically its best. 39/Smooth achieves a lot as a rough draft, tapping into the vein of an excitable band with a lot to say and zero sh*ts to give, but it's an undeniably plain product. That's not to say that songs like "I Was There" and "Going to Pasalaqua" don't still win me over with their simplicity and sincerity. And you can hear the nuggets of other, more fruitful ideas in tracks like "16," which includes a melody Green Day would superbly repurpose for Insomniac's excellent "Walking Contradiction." If one were to grade all of their albums based solely on promise and enthusiasm, then 39/Smooth would be ranked near the very top. As it stands, this is a better-than-average album with only a few must-hear songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2kPYYQ93Gc