Green Day's most underrated album is undoubtedly 2000's Warning. Following the more streamlined Nimrod, Warning takes the traditional Green Day style but scales back on the speedy punk rock, instead emphasizing more mid-tempo hard rock. This album may be a bit different, but it has much for Green Day fans to love as well as a lot of songs that any rock fan can enjoy.

While musically, Warning cuts back on the punk flavor, this album has plenty of fast, solid rock with "Church On Sunday" possibly being the pick of the litter. This high-octane rocker contains fun, heartfelt lyrics about compromising one's lifestyle for a loved one: "If I promise to go to church on Sunday / Will you go with me on Friday night? / If you live with me, I'll die for you and this compromise." Lots more fun tracks fill this album, such as the catchy "Deadbeat Holiday," the very danceable "Castaway," and the head-bobbing, S&M-themed "Blood, Sex, and Booze." The more dramatic rock feeling of "Waiting" doesn't quite provide the classic I'm sure the band was aiming for, but it's a cool tune and a prelude to the "bigger" sound that would follow on American Idiot.

Though much of Warning is unmistakably Green Day, several songs change up their sound. "Misery" is a slow but bouncy, dark piece of Mexi-punk. Their use of a harmonica during "Hold On" makes you think you're listening to a Beatles tune until the vocals kick in. And was that a saxophone I heard in "Jackass"?!? It sure was. Warning contains several brief tries with new instruments, a sign of things to come. One different tune that works wonderfully is closing track "Macy's Day Parade," a slow but powerful number that gives "Time of Your Life" a run for its money.

Green Day holds on to a bit of punkishness through their individualist lyrics. "Minority," the jangly first single, carries an independent-minded, anti-authority theme ("Without a doubt / Singled out / The only way I know"). The title track provides a bouncy opener with its cool baseline, as Bille Joe Armstrong rattles off a list of labels and warnings as a reminder to think for ourselves rather than "get your philosophy from a bumper sticker." And "Fashion Victim" decries those who think clothes make the man ("What's in a name? Hey!").

Though they would rebound four years later with the gigantic American Idiot, it's a shame this album was such a commercial flop for Green Day, even to the point where people were saying they'd lost their relevance. While it may have failed to really connect with the youth the way Dookie did, Warning showed that Green Day were willing to grow up, experiment, and aim for greatness, all things that would prove vital in the formation of American Idiot. This is an enjoyable album from start to finish, so pass it up if you want, but don't say I didn't warn you.


Also from Green Day:

1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
Dookie
Insomniac
Nimrod
Shenanigans
American Idiot
Bullet In a Bible
Warped Tour
Montreal 2005



Recommended: Yes