Warning (Green Day album)
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Warning (stylised as WARNING:) is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on October 3, 2000, by Reprise Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Building upon its predecessor Nimrod (1997), it eschewed the band's trademark punk rock sound and incorporated acoustic elements and pop and folk styles. Lyrically, the album contains more optimistic and inspirational themes in comparison to the band's earlier releases. Warning was also Green Day's first album since Kerplunk (1991) not to be produced by Rob Cavallo, although he did have a hand in its production and was credited as executive producer.
Despite mixed opinions about the band's stylistic change, the album received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong's songwriting. Although it peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200, Warning marked the lowest commercial slump in Green Day's career, being their first album since signing to a major label not to achieve multi-platinum status. However, the album being leaked onto Napster three weeks before its release may have been a contributing factor to its low sales.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album has nonetheless been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has sold over 1.2 million copies as of 2012. Worldwide it has sold 3.5 million copies.
Background
After taking a break from touring in promotion of the band's fourth album Insomniac (1995), Green Day recorded the more experimental Nimrod (1997).<ref name="Spitz126">Spitz, 2006, p. 126</ref> The record, which delved into a wider variety of genres including punk, folk, power pop, hardcore punk, ska, and surf, featured the unprecedented acoustic hit "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)".<ref name="Stretch">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Myers152153">Myers, 2006. pp. 152-153</ref> Vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong recalled that the song's stylistic departure from the group's earlier work made him anxious about the song's release: "I was scared for that song to come out...because it was such a vulnerable song, to put that song out and it was like which way will it end up going? It was really exciting and it kind of sparked more in us as songwriters to expand on that."<ref name="Spitz132">Spitz, 2006, p. 132</ref>
The band embarked on the Nimrod promotional tour, which largely featured more intimate shows with audiences of 1,500 to 3,000 people.<ref name="Spitz138">Spitz, 2006, p. 138</ref> By the end of the tour, the band noted that its audience had evolved. 924 Gilman Street, the punk club in the band's hometown that had once banned Green Day after the group signed with a major label, booked bassist Mike Dirnt's side project the Frustrators for a show.<ref name="Spitz139">Spitz, 2006, p. 139</ref> Dirnt described the experience as "a wonderful piece of closure".<ref name="Spitz139"/> Punk rock music was no longer popular in the mainstream because nu metal acts such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, and System Of A Down were experiencing success.<ref name="Spitz140">Spitz, 2006, p. 140</ref> According to Studio 880 owner John Lucasey, the band was "definitely at a very big crossroads".<ref name="Spitz140"/>
Recording
For Warning, Green Day initially opted to work with a producer other than Rob Cavallo, who had handled the production of the band's previous three albums. The group selected Scott Litt, who had previously worked with Nirvana and R.E.M.<ref name="Spitz140"/> However, the band had disagreements with Litt over the album's musical direction; vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong recalled that "It just didn't work out. He was really cool, but for that particular project, it just wasn't the right chemistry."<ref name="Spitz140"/> The group subsequently brought Cavallo back in, but this time the band handled most of the production duties, with Cavallo instead serving as "executive producer".<ref name="Spitz141">Spitz, 2006, p. 141</ref> During the album's writing and early recording sessions, Armstrong repeatedly listened to Bob Dylan's 1965 record Bringing It All Back Home, which had a major influence over both Warning's musical experimentation and socially conscious lyrics.<ref name="Spitz141"/>
The band began work on the album two years before entering the studio to record on April 1, 2000.<ref name="Issue">Template:Cite web</ref> During this period, the group members met five days a week to write new songs and rehearse old ones, with Tre Cool observing, "We've been practicing and writing songs and playing them and playing them and writing new songs and playing them and playing them... People think we're off in Hawaii kicking back and shit, but we're in Oakland playing our jams."<ref name="Issue"/> The album was recorded at Studio 880 in Oakland.<ref name="Spitz140"/> Cool noted of the band's work ethic in the studio, "We're not really sprinting. We're working at the same pace, but it's a pretty fast pace for recording. We're faster than every other band, pretty much. That's what I've been told."<ref name="Issue"/> With the record, the band aimed to construct a solid list of tracks where "each song could be its own album".<ref name="Issue"/> The group also made sure to make each song "well thought out and well placed" with regard to the album's tracklisting.<ref name="Issue"/>
Music and lyrics
Template:Listen With Warning, the band experimented with more acoustic guitars, and strove for a "not sappy acoustic... more aggressive, percussive acoustic" sound.<ref name="Issue"/> Cool and bassist Mike Dirnt also emphasized "deeper" grooves on the record.<ref name="Issue"/> The title track, a "densely produced blast of layered vocals [and] strummed acoustic guitars", features a "circling bass riff" similar to that of "Picture Book" by the Kinks.<ref name="Thompson"/><ref name="plagiarized"/> "Waiting", which has been categorized as a "retro-pop lament", is based on the riff from Petula Clark's 1964 song "Downtown".<ref name="Berrett"/><ref name="Spitz143">Spitz, 2006, p. 143</ref> Its melody has also been stylistically compared to the Mamas & the Papas and Kiss.<ref name="Capper"/> Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly felt that "Misery" is "probably Billie Joe's idea of a Brecht-Weill pop operetta."<ref name="Tucker"/> It features "mariachi brass" instrumentation, as well as strings, accordions, and acoustic guitar.<ref name="Cinquemani"/> The song's five-minute length has been called "an epic by Green Day standards".<ref name="Tucker"/> The use of a harmonica on "Hold On" has been compared to the Beatles' "Love Me Do" and "I Should Have Known Better".<ref name="Thompson"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "Macy's Day Parade" contains elements of folk and pop.<ref name="Cinquemani"/>
The album features more positive and uplifting lyrics in comparison with Green Day's earlier work.<ref name="Issue"/> Cool noted that, "It's got the sarcasm, it's got the snottiness, but it's got a little light at the end of the tunnel."<ref name="Issue"/> Warning also contains more explicitly political themes, as exemplified by tracks such as "Minority".<ref name="Spitz141"/> This was inspired by Armstrong's fear that presidential nominee Al Gore was going to lose the 2000 U.S. presidential election and that "someone really conservative" would take office.<ref name="Spitz142">Spitz, 2006, p. 142</ref> He recalled, "We've always tried to keep an ear to the ground and keep our eyes open to what's going on...that's one reason why I was really taking my time writing songs to really [make an impact]. Instead of just writing an overly knee-jerk reaction."<ref name="Spitz141142">Spitz, 2006, pp. 141-142</ref> According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the lyrics of "Minority" serve as "a reminder of the youthful mentality of Green Day's early work".<ref name="Cinquemani"/> "Misery" tells various stories in its verses, all of which end unhappily. The first verse centers on a girl named Virginia who was a "lot lizard", a term for a prostitute who exchanges sex for money with truck drivers at interstate highway truck stops.<ref name="Ditmore412">Ditmore, 2006. p. 412</ref> "Blood, Sex and Booze" explores the subject of sadomasochism.<ref name="Cinquemani"/> "Church On Sunday" features lyrics in its pre-chorus that were originally written for the Nimrod demo "Black Eyeliner", which didn't see an official release until 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
According to some publications, such as LA Times, The Buffalo News, Sun-Sentinel, and Music Box Magazine Green Day departs from their punk rock sound with this album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=musicbox>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite this, some other publications label the album as punk rock.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="loftin">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=AVClub>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, the album has also been cited as pop-punk,<ref name="Berrett"/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=AVClub/> power pop,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=musicbox/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> folk punk,<ref name="carter">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Spitz, 2006, p. 151.</ref><ref name="cinquemani">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Rowe">Template:Cite web</ref> pop rock,<ref name="weiss"/><ref name="RSguide"/> and alternative rock.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Release
Commercial performance
Warning peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, remaining on the chart for 25 weeks<ref name="bbcharts">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and it sold 156,000 copies on its first week according to Billboard.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On December 1, 2000, the record was certified gold by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of over 500,000 copies.<ref name="RIAA_cert">Template:Cite web</ref> In Canada, the record reached the number two position and stayed on the chart for five weeks.<ref name="bbcharts"/> On August 1, 2001, the album was certified platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association for shipments of over 100,000 units.<ref name="canadacert">Template:Cite web</ref> Warning also reached the top ten in multiple countries outside of North America, including Australia, Italy, and the United Kingdom.<ref name="aussiechart">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="italianchart">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ukcharts">Template:Cite web</ref> The album was later certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of over 70,000 copies.<ref name="aussiecert">"ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2000 Albums" Template:Webarchive. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved February 3, 2012.</ref> As of December 20, 2012, Warning has sold 1.2 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.<ref name="billboard">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Critical reception
Template:Music ratings Warning received generally positive reviews from music critics.<ref name="Metacritic"/> At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72 based on 19 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".<ref name="Metacritic">Template:Cite web</ref> Entertainment WeeklyTemplate:'s Ken Tucker perceived a maturity in the album's lyrical content and called its music "as peppy as any Green Day have recorded".<ref name="Tucker">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Charlotte Robinson of PopMatters commended Billie Joe Armstrong's lyrics and noted the band for embracing "the pop bent that has always been a part of their sound".<ref name="Robinson">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The A.V. ClubTemplate:'s Stephen Thompson stated "Green Day has never made a record so slick and musically mature".<ref name="Thompson">Template:Cite news</ref> Los Angeles Times writer Natalie Nichols wrote that the album "reveal[s] them shaking off the transitional aspects of 1997's Template:'NimrodTemplate:' to craft a more coherent, less aggressive but still rebellious collection that also draws on the even older pop traditions of Bob Dylan, the Beatles and the Who".<ref name="Nichols">Template:Cite news</ref> "Metal" Mike Saunders of The Village Voice viewed Warning as the band's best work and compared its music to that of the Beatles' Rubber Soul (1965).<ref name="Saunders">Saunders, "Metal" Mike. Review: Warning Template:Webarchive. The Village Voice. Village Voice Media. Retrieved on August 5, 2010.</ref> In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A− rating,<ref name="Christgau">Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Warning Template:Webarchive". The Village Voice: October 17, 2000. (Christgau's website archive Template:Webarchive). Retrieved on August 5, 2010.</ref> indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction. Anyone open to its aesthetic will enjoy more than half its tracks".<ref>Christgau, Robert. CG Keys to Icons: Grades 1990- Template:Webarchive. Robert Christgau. Retrieved on August 5, 2010.</ref> Christgau noted "professionalism, craft, artistic growth" rather than maturity in Armstrong's songwriting and elaborated on his change in musical direction, stating:
By contrast, NMETemplate:'s Andy Capper was ambivalent towards the band's "less electric, more organic sound" and stated "Older. More Mature. Template:'WarningTemplate:' is the sound of a band losing its way".<ref name="Capper">Capper, Adam. Review: Warning Template:Webarchive. NME. Retrieved on August 5, 2010.</ref> Greg Kot of Rolling Stone wrote that Armstrong "can't muster the same excitement for his more mature themes" and stated "Who wants to listen to songs of faith, hope and social commentary from what used to be snot-core's biggest-selling band?".<ref name="Kot">Kot, Greg. Review: Warning Template:Webarchive. Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved on February 26, 2012.</ref> Spin writer Jesse Berrett stated "these maturity moves buoy muzzy be-yourselfism ... Nor does everything in the stylistic grab bag fit", but concluded by complimenting Armstrong's "earnestly good-hearted" lyrics and wrote that "this album is after... evidence that even the snottiest deserve grace and the chance to age into warmth".<ref name="Berrett">Berrett, Jesse. "Review: Warning". Spin. Bob Guccione, Jr. 197. November 2000.</ref> Q gave the album three out of five stars and described it as "Hugely likeable, terribly noisy and cute, as well as being jammed with proper pop songs".<ref name="Metacritic"/> Neal Weiss of Yahoo! Music called the album "crafty pop-rock" and stated "Some might wish Green Day never decided to grow up like this, but others might consider it a starting point to take the band seriously".<ref name="weiss">Template:Cite web</ref> Slant Magazine editor Sal Cinquemani perceived elements of folk and "pop sensibilities", writing that the album "displays just how well Green Day can construct pop songs".<ref name="Cinquemani">Cinquemani, Sal. Review: Warning Template:Webarchive. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on August 5, 2010.</ref>
Retrospect
Writing in 2009 with regard to Warning's lackluster commercial performance, James Montgomery of MTV News called the record "unjustly overlooked" and applauded Armstrong's "super strong" songwriting on the album.<ref name="earth">Template:Cite web</ref> In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rolling Stone journalist Nick Catucci gave the album four out of five stars and wrote that the band "fully focus on the textures that have always differentiated their sturdy grooves and simple melodies".<ref name="RSguide">Catucci et al. Brackett & Hoard (2004), pp. 347–348.</ref> Catucci called the songs "speedy, neatly packaged reinterpretations of pop-rock history, from the Beatles to Creedence Clearwater Revival to the Ramones themselves".<ref name="RSguide"/> AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it "gleeful, unabashed fun" and complimented Green Day for "embracing their fondness for pop and making the best damn album they'd ever made".<ref name="Erlewine">Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [[[:Template:AllMusic]] Review: Warning]. AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved on August 5, 2010.</ref> Erlewine expressed that the band displays "melodic ingenuity and imaginative arrangements" and elaborated on its musical significance, stating "Warning may not be an innovative record per se, but it's tremendously satisfying; it finds the band at a peak of songcraft and performance, doing it all without a trace of self-consciousness. It's the first great pure pop album of the new millennium".<ref name="Erlewine"/> Dom Passantino of Stylus Magazine cited it as "the most influential album on the British pop landscape since 1996 (Spice, naturally)", noting it as a significant influence on "the two biggest bands in the UK at the moment, and indeed for the past few years, Busted and McFly".<ref name="Passantino">Passantino, Dom. Review: Warning Template:Webarchive. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on August 5, 2010.</ref> Passantino called Warning "a great album" and viewed that Green Day "seemed to be bored with their genre-medium, but simultaneously knowledgeable that any attempt to boundary-hop will end with them falling on their face".<ref name="Passantino"/>
Promotion
While Green Day was nearing completion of Warning, the band announced it would be performing on the 2000 Vans Warped Tour during the summer before the album's October release.<ref name="Spitz142"/> Although the group had been invited to perform on the tour before, they were unable to because of scheduling conflicts.<ref name="Spitz142"/> Because of Green Day's new stylistic change displayed on Warning, the band was considered an unconventional choice for the tour. Jason White, guitarist for Armstrong's side project Pinhead Gunpowder, was recruited to perform with the band to add "more power" to the group's sound; White observed that "Even I was like, 'Why are Green Day on the Warped Tour?'".<ref name="Spitz142"/> Fat Mike of NOFX recalled, "They were the biggest band on the tour but it wasn't by far. Green Day weren't super popular at that time. I think they did the Warped tour because they wanted to get popular again."<ref name="Spitz143" /> He also went on to call Warning "probably their worst album, I think. It's what happens, the ups and downs."<ref name="Spitz143"/> However, Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, whose 2002 release The Young and the Hopeless outsold Warning, opined that "I was definitely aware that our record at the time sold more maybe than their record but I think we idolized them so much that it didn't matter. We thought Warning was one of their best records."<ref name="Spitz145">Spitz, 2006, p. 145</ref>
In January 2001, Colin Merry of the English rock band Other Garden filed a breach of copyright lawsuit against Green Day, claiming that the album's title track is a "reworked" version of his band's 1992 song "Never Got the Chance".<ref name="plagiarized"/> Merry noted that despite both songs' similarity to the riff of "Picture Book" by the Kinks, the similarity between "Warning" and "Never Got the Chance" was more "striking".<ref name="plagiarized"/> Green Day denied the accusations, and although Merry requested to halt all royalties from "Warning", the lawsuit was later dropped.<ref name="plagiarized"/><ref name="Spitz143"/>
Green Day also co-headlined a "shared bill" with fellow Californian pop-punk band Blink-182 on the Pop Disaster Tour from April to June 2002.<ref name="Spitz145"/> Armstrong explained Green Day's desire to perform on the tour by stating, "We really wanted to be part of an event. We figured putting the two biggest pop punk bands on the planet together was definitely going to be an event."<ref name="Spitz145"/> In his book Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times and Music of Green Day, author Marc Spitz likened Blink-182 headlining a tour with Green Day to "Frank Sinatra, Jr. headlining over Frank Sinatra."<ref name="Spitz145"/>
Track listing
25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Personnel
Credits for Warning adapted from liner notes.<ref name="liner notes">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
Musicians
Green Day
- Billie Joe Armstrong – vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica
- Mike Dirnt – bass, vocals, Farfisa on "Misery"
- Tré Cool – drums, percussion, accordion
Additional musicians
- Benmont Tench – additional musician on "Church on Sunday"
- Gary Meek – saxophone on "Jackass"
- David Campbell – string arrangements
- Mistress Simone – dominatrix
Production
- Green Day – producers
- Cheryl Jenets – production coordination
- Jack Joseph Puig – mixing at Oceanway, Hollywood
- Ken Allardyce – engineer
- Josh "Tone" Weaver – additional engineer
- Richard Ash – additional engineer
- Tal Herzberg – G3 operator
- Kenny Butler – drum technician
- Timmy Chunks – guitar technician
- Bill Schneider – guitar and bass technician
- Allen Sides – studio consultant
- Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound
- Rob Cavallo – executive producer
- Pat Magnarella – management
- Cheryl Jenets – production coordinator
- Marina Chavez, Lance Bangs – photography
- Chris Bilheimer – additional photography, art direction
Charts
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Weekly charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Europe (European Top 100 Albums)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 8 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref name="Japan">Template:Cite web</ref> | 2 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 25 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 80 |
| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 78 |
| Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 197 |
Certifications and sales
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References
Works cited
- Template:Cite book
- Ditmore, Melissa Hope. (August 30, 2006) Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work. Greenwood. Template:ISBN.
- Spitz, Marc. (November 1, 2006) Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day. Hyperion. Template:ISBN.
External links
- Warning at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
- Template:Discogs master
- Template:Metacritic album