Best Green Day Albums

The Top Ten
1 American Idiot

"American Idiot" is Green Day's most emotional album to date, with politically charged songs that now define Green Day. This is their most punk and most successful mainstream album. This is not even really close. "Dookie" may also have a number of really good songs, but they are all similar to each other. In "American Idiot", each song is easily distinguishable from the next, and there isn't a bad song on the album.

The self-titled song is the perfect way to lead off the album, with an extremely catchy main riff and with punk and political lyrics. "Jesus of Suburbia" was a great rock opera, and it goes through the entire spectrum of emotions. "Holiday" was a great anthem song, and it bled very well into "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". "We Are The Waiting" is a nice slower song. They then kick up the tempo with "St. Jimmy", which features one of their best riffs to date. "She's a Rebel" is short, but sweet, with extremely great lyrics. It could be interpreted literally, which would make it a song about a girl, but it can also be interpreted with "she" signifying liberty, making it more political and calling for revolution. "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is another nice ballad. "Homecoming" is another rock opera. This album is filled with amazing songs.

2 Dookie

How is this behind American Idiot, which is one of their worst albums? I'm sure most of the people who voted for AI and 21st Century Breakdown have never actually listened to Dookie straight through, much less Kerplunk, Insomniac, etc. There's not one bad song on this album. This is the Green Day I love! In my opinion, it should be:

1. Dookie
2. Insomniac
3. 1039
4. Kerplunk
5. Nimrod
6. Warning
7. Shenanigans (if you count it)
8. American Idiot
9. 21st Century Breakdown
10. Uno
11. Dos
12. Tre

By FAR, this is the best album by Green Day. It still amazes me how all the "tweens" jumped on the bandwagon all of a sudden once "American Idiot" was released. Where in the hell did they all come from?! I was blasting Green Day before half the "American Idiots" were even born.

No offense, but Green Day seemed to just be the "IT" band for two albums recently. Where are all their fans at now? The hipsters must've hit the hills running once they realized that other people actually enjoy their music as well.

3 Nimrod

Nimrod is such an explosive album. It seriously has it all. It has very energetic songs like The Grouch and All The Time, songs when you know that the band had fun making like King For A Day and Nice Guys Finish Last, songs when Green Day goes absolutely punk rock like Take Back and Platypus (I Hate You). To top it all off, with what song does this amazing album end off (excluding Prosthetic Head)? A beautiful acoustic song in the name of Good Riddance.

This song was so revolutionary for Green Day, absolutely no one was expecting a punk rock band to take a 180 turn and produce a slow acoustic song. In my opinion, Good Riddance is the most punk song by Green Day, because it shows how the band is not afraid to touch on other genres. They do not restrain themselves. They rebel against punk music, so in a way, they rebel against the rebellion by doing what they want and not giving a crap about what people think. Fantastic album, it's a must to hear if you're starting to get into them.

4 Insomniac

Raw, rawer, Insomniac! What a great album! Of course, American Idiot and (especially) Dookie are great albums but this one is so underrated. It is like the young, angry brother from Dookie, but produced under more pressure and influence of their feelings back then.

And I think an album which is such a big F You to all their critics, needs more attention. Well, I think it is their most ignored album, because they do not often play songs from that record, which is really sad. But Insomniac will always be for me the pure punk Green Day.

5 21st Century Breakdown

This album is insanely underrated. It's a lengthy listen, but it's well worth it. Christian and Gloria are both archetypes that represent the state of America in the 21st century.

The lyrics on this album are some of the best they've ever come up with. Every song is different, with the Latin influenced "Peacemaker", the heavier rock epic "Horseshoes and Handgrenades", and my personal favorite, the beautiful "Restless Heart Syndrome".

From a musical standpoint, this is the best album this band has ever released. I still love "Kerplunk", "Dookie", and "Nimrod", but oh my god this album is good. It may not be punk, but it's still Green Day.

6 Warning

This album is amazing because every song on that album is amazing enough to have been a single. This album really was the start of the noticeable storytelling within their songs - Misery. Also, every song really expresses Billie, Mike, and Tre's talents.

This is a 5 out of 5 for me. It's the best Green Day album. It's amazing. I love every instrument they used in this album. This is an amazing album. If only they stuck with this sound. But now, they're still amazing but I like the Warning sound the best. But every Green Day album is amazing. I love them so much.

7 Kerplunk

Seriously? How is this number 9? This is definitely the best besides "Dookie". "Christie Road" is just amazing, "2000 Light Years Away" is great too. Also, "Welcome to Paradise" was so good it got remastered for "Dookie". I hate people saying "I like 'Welcome to Paradise' from 'Dookie'". It was from "Kerplunk". Anyway, if you're a Green Day fan and you already have "Dookie", then get this one next. It's true punk rock.

Third best, not ninth best, *groan* you 21CB fan boys/girls. That album just isn't up to par. Everyone says "Christie Road," so I'll suggest "One of my Lies" and "No One Knows." PLEASE check these songs out, it just isn't right for Green Day fans to ignore this album.

8 Revolution Radio

Revolution Radio is an album that was released on October 7, 2016. It is composed of Punk and Pop-Punk genres. Billie Joe Armstrong was in the process of writing songs when he came up with a song primarily made of power chords, much like many of their other songs. This legendary track was "Bang Bang," which reached #1 on the Billboard charts. It was released as the lead single from Revolution Radio, an album comprising tracks about the chaotic state of America in 2016. "Bang Bang" was the first song to set the tone for the album.

Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told Rolling Stone that he first demoed the tune in 2014. "I moved into a new studio that I built in Oakland and just started messing around with different riffs," he recalled. "The first song where I was like, 'OK, I'm onto something,' was 'Bang Bang.' And then the first track of the record, 'Somewhere Now.' I started doing demos and showed them to Mike and Tre. That's the test. And they absolutely loved it."

What makes Revolution Radio (often abbreviated as RevRad) so great are songs like "Still Breathing" and "Ordinary World." Green Day closed their Revolution Radio album with the acoustic-guitar ballad "Ordinary World." "After all the chaos that's on the album, whether it's pop culture or whatever new apps we're using, everything gets so complicated," Billie Joe Armstrong explained to Rolling Stone. "At some point, you want something simple. That's sort of what 'Ordinary World' is about." This song was written by Billie Joe for a movie in which he acted, also titled "Ordinary World," hence the name of the song.

9 ¡Uno!

"Uno!" shows the band's returning to the pop punk habits-albums "Nimrod" "Warning" that we have known at late 90's and 2000's. Playing loud, fast, catchy, cleanly and with three-chord style, no more disgusting and irritating pianos as "21st Century Breakdown's" album used to do. The band is right here and it is a huge privilege to see them again.

-6th Best Green Day Album-

Superb album… No old school Green Day fan or "pure punk" lover should be hating on this album. I can see why people would with "A.I." and "Breakdown" (both of which I enjoy anyway). They included so much classic Green Day in there. I don't know how else to explain it. Very well done.

10 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours

This album should not be 12th. This is a combination of the earliest of Green Day's works and has many catchy songs, including my personal favorite, Going To Pasalacqua, The Judge's Daughter, Don't Leave Me, Dry Ice, I Was There, and another of my favorites, At The Library.

This is original. They have so many solos in this album. It is terrific. Listen to The Judge's Daughter. It has the best solo by Green Day on it. This should be number one.

This would be a very, very good album if they made it in a major record label! Listen to Paper Lanterns, Don't Leave Me, The One I Want, I Want to Be Alone, Going to Pasalacqua, Why Do You Want Him, Don't Leave Me… it's brilliant!

The Contenders
11 ¡Tré!

Best album of the entire Trilogy. It kicks ass because of songs such as Brutal Love, Drama Queen, Amanda, 99 Revolutions and the best of them all… Dirty Rotten Bastards. This should at least be ahead of Warning and Insomniac but not Dookie, American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown. So what are you guys waiting for? VOTE NOW!

Definitely, this is the best of the trilogy. It has a ton of great songs on it, specifically Dirty Rotten Bastards, Walk Away, Sex Drugs and Violence, Amanda, and 99 Revolutions, not to mention X-Kid, which holds the spot for my favorite Green Day song. I do think it should get at least above Warning, so vote guys!

12 ¡Dos!

With this album, there's no question about it for any Green Day fan, you either love it or hate it. I, for one, love this record. It shows exactly the sound that describes the personality of Green Day.

My personal favorite song is Lady Cobra because the sound is just on point and is so underrated. Stray Heart is probably in second place. It's definitely a cooler, get-on-your-feet-and-dance kind of song. Lazy Bones, probably third, totally shows the utter laziness and boredom everybody's got (basically, it's a modernized Longview).

In my opinion, I think the album is better than ¡Uno! and ¡Tré! combined. It's so punk rock but with a modernized feel and a sexy, badass sound.

13 Shenanigans

Some people might say Green Day was at their weakest point between Nimrod and American Idiot. I think those people just didn't take enough time to enjoy the hidden gems during that time. Shenanigans is an interesting album and if you haven't listened to it yet, I challenge you. It'll only take a half hour of your time. Try it out. You might be in for a pleasant surprise.

This is the most underrated album ever. Desensitized and Ha Ha You're Dead are great songs. I don't know why this isn't higher.

Ha Ha You're Dead, Desensitized, You Lied, and Suffocate are all amazing! Give it a listen.

14 International Superhits!

Normally, I am not one to recommend a greatest hits album, but this is the exception. Green Day packs the record with superb songs. There isn't a bad one here. The album flows very well and includes a perfect mix of old Green Day tunes right before the release of American Idiot.

The fact that Green Day chose to release a greatest hits album before American Idiot is genius because everything after American Idiot is truly a new era of Green Day. This is my first recommendation for new Green Day fans.

15 Bullet In a Bible

Green Day became my favorite band because of this album. Every single song they've performed in this album is their best. They looked at their best in this album. Love you, Green Day…

Come on. This is a way better live album than Awesome as F***. Trust me, I've seen both.

A masterpiece live video. I never get tired of watching this concert.

16 39/Smooth

What is this doing in the last place? It's way better than the trilogy.

17 Awesome As F***

Three words: Cigarettes and Valentines.

18 Father of All...

I know it's new, but why is it last? It's way better than the trilogy. Fans asked Green Day to change their sound, and they did, but it kind of fell off a cliff. Fans didn't expect this, but they also technically got what they wanted.

Fire Ready Aim stands out from any other song on the album, with Mike's amazing bass, Billie's great vocals and powerful guitar, and Tre's good work on drums. It easily deserves a top 10 spot in the future. Even songs like Father of All, Oh Yeah! and I Was a Teenage Teenager are decent.

19 Demolicious

Demolicious was quite the comeback after the crap heap that was The Trilogy. While The Trilogy had some good songs, it just didn't have that rough edge that Green Day is known to have. And overall, some of The Trilogy's songs were repetitive and boring. But Demolicious took the best songs from them, and made them better! It basically sounds like a Kerplunked version of The Trilogy.

It's blasphemous to vote this album below any of the trilogy. Honestly, it would have been better if they took the best songs from the trilogy and put it into an album with a less finished sound (like they did here) than take a ton of unmemorable songs and make it too overly finished and put it into three subpar albums. Give it a listen.

20 1,000 Hours
21 Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band

Back in the USA is a good exclusive song from this album and it's a good album for anyone who wants to meet the band.

It's pretty cool they reached 30 years and its proof is this album. From Kerplunk! to Rev Rad, they proved that legends can last forever.

22 Slappy
23 Saviors
24 On the Radio
25 Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking
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