Kerplunk is the second studio album by the punk rock band Green Day, released on December 17, 1991, by Lookout! Records. Kerplunk was Green Day‘s last independent release on the Lookout Records label, and was also the first album to feature Tré Cool on drums. Kerplunk officially includes only 12 tracks, but the versions released on CD and cassette also include the 4 tracks from the Sweet Children EP. One of those tracks is a cover of The Who‘s My Generation. Green Day guitarist and singer Billie Joe Armstrong stated in a 2021 Vulture magazine interview that Kerplunk is his favorite album, citing it as “kind of autobiographical.”
The album sold 10,000 copies its first day and became Lookout!’s biggest selling release. After debuting it to their fans in the Berkeley, California, area and receiving much approval from the critical 924 Gilman Street crowd, the band packed up in a cramped, converted Bookmobile and headed east. Green Day developed a fan base on the east coast by way of the determined grassroots efforts of lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong. The opportunity paid off, as album sales reached over 50,000 copies. Along with the successful live shows, major labels took notice of Kerplunk‘s phenomenal popularity. As a result, many labels approached the band. Green Day realized that they had outgrown their record distribution capacity with Lookout! and eventually signed with Reprise Records. With Reprise, Green Day recorded and released their next album Dookie (1994).
In August 2005, Green Day pulled the album as well as all of their other material released through the Lookout! label due to unpaid royalties. It was reissued on CD by Reprise Records, who Green Day has been with since leaving Lookout!, on January 9, 2007. In Europe, the album was released by Epitaph Europe, and has remained in print. It was reissued on vinyl on March 24, 2009, by Reprise Records. There were no official singles released from the album, although 2000 Light Years Away and Christie Road were released as mock-up singles in a Green Day singles box set entitled Green Day: Ultimate Collectors. In November 2017, to coincide with the band’s second compilation Greatest Hits: God’s Favorite Band, a music video was released for 2000 Light Years Away. As of November 2013, Kerplunk has sold more than 1,000,000 copies in the United States and more than 4,000,000 copies worldwide.
Tracklist:
- 2000 Light Years Away
- One for the Razorbacks
- Welcome to Paradise
- Christie Road
- Private Ale
- Dominated Love Slave
- One of My Lies
- 80
- Android
- No One Knows
- Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?
- Words I Might Have Ate
CD & cassette bonus tracks (Sweet Children EP) - Sweet Children (Armstrong, Dirnt, Sobrante)
- Best Thing in Town (Armstrong, Dirnt, Sobrante)
- Strangeland (Armstrong, Dirnt, Sobrante)
- My Generation (The Who cover)
Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong: lead vocals, guitar, drums and backing vocals on (Dominated Love Slave)
Mike Dirnt: bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool: drums, lead vocals and guitar on (Dominated Love Slave)
Al Sobrante: drums on bonus tracks (Sweet Children, Best Thing in Town, Strangeland and My Generation)
Production
Andy Ernst: producer, engineer, mixer
Green Day: producers
John Kiffmeyer: executive producer
John Golden: mastering
Chris Applecore: cover art, disc
Pat Hynes: artwork
Thadicus: art direction
