Dookie

Dookie is the third studio album and the major label debut by American rock band Green Day, released on February 1, 1994, by Reprise Records. The band's first collaboration with producer Rob Cavallo, it was recorded in late summer 1993 at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. Written mostly by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, the album is heavily based around his personal experiences, with themes such as boredom, anxiety, relationships, and sexuality. The album was promoted with five singles: "Longview", "Basket Case", a re-recorded version of "Welcome to Paradise" (originally on their Kerplunk album), "When I Come Around", and "She". After several years of grunge's dominance in popular music, Dookie brought a livelier, more melodic rock sound to the mainstream, with unassuming lyrics that reached a universal audience and propelled Green Day to worldwide popularity. Considered one of the defining albums of the 1990s and punk rock in general, it also revived the general public's interest in the genre. The album influenced a new wave of groups associated with punk rock and pop-punk, such as Blink-182, Sum 41, Rancid, and Fall Out Boy. Dookie received critical acclaim upon its release and won the band a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album in 1995. It was also a worldwide success, reaching number two in the United States and the top five in several other countries. It was later certified diamond by the RIAA, and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, making it the band's best-selling album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide. Regarding its legacy, Dookie has been labeled by critics and journalists as one of the greatest punk rock and pop-punk albums of all time. Rolling Stone placed Dookie on three iterations of their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.