Green Day's second full album was the perfect dry run for the band's later assault on the mainstream, containing both more variety and more flat-out smashes than previous releases had shown.

With Tre Cool now firmly in place as the drummer, the lineup was at last settled, and it turned out Cool and Mike Dirnt were a perfect rhythm section, with the former showing a bit more flash and ability than John Kiftmeyer did.

Together the two throw in a variety of guitarless breaks that would later help to define the band's sound for many -- warm and never letting the beat go. As for Billie Joe Armstrong, his puppy-dog delivery and eternal switching between snotty humor and sudden sorrrow was better than ever, as were his instantly memorable riffs. The metal-strength chug that always informed the band's best work isn't absent either -- check out Armstrong's opening riffing on "Christie Road."

The whole thing starts with a note-perfect bang -- "2000 Light Years Away" is the absolute highlight of the group's premajor-label days, with a great chorus and classic yearning lyrics. It got buried in the wave of 'Dookie's success a bit, but one other number didn't -- "Welcome to Paradise," also a standout on that album, appears here in its original form. Rob Cavallo punched up the radio-friendly sound on the latter take, but even here it's a treat and a half -- quick, rampaging, and once again with a great stop-start chorus to spare.

This vinyl version is on pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

TRACK LISTING:

B1    One Of My Lies  
B2    80  
B3    Android  
B4    No One Knows  
B5    Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?  
B6    Words I Might Have Ate 
 
C1    Sweet Children  
C2    Best Thing In Town
  
D1    Strangeland  
D2    My Generation