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A Complete Guide to All of the Green Day Albums in Order

Wake us up when September ends?

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Reprise Records

Published Sep 1, 2023

It's September, so guess that means we'll be walking a lonely road all the way until the end of the month when you're supposed to wake us right? Before we go into our month-long hibernation, it's only right that we rock out to Green Day because they are literally the reason why September exists. A glance at the group's discography shows there to be 13 studio albums, four live albums, four compilation albums, and one soundtrack album, and today we'll be walking you all of the band's studio albums from 1990 to present. As we've previously done with Metallica, The Beatles, and more, consider this to be your complete guide to all of the Green Day Albums in order from their first, 39/Smooth released in 1990, to their latest, Father of All Motherfuckers, which was released in 2020.

Let's go be an American Idiot (throws up the rock sign).

The Green Day Albums in Order:

“39/Smooth” (1990)
“Kerplunk” (1992)
“Dookie” (1994)
“Insomniac” (1995)
“Nimrod” (1997)
“Warning” (2000)
“American Idiot” (2004)
“21st Century Breakdown” (2009)
“¡Uno!” (2012)
“¡Dos!” (2012)
“¡Tré!” (2012)
“Revolution Radio” (2016)
“Father of All Motherfuckers” (2020)

1. 39/Smooth (1990)

Release date: April 13th, 1990
Our favorite song: "Green Day"

Released independently via Lookout! Records, 39/Smooth is the debut album from Green Day, and the only to feature drummer John Kiffmeyer. This was sort of a "non-official" official album because no singles were released from the record, it was moreso just a way for you to get introduced to the band. In fact, as Green Day began gaining more popularity with future releases, sales of 39/Smooth simultaneously increased as well with people wanting to go back and see where it all started. Some of the standouts on the record are "Green Day," "16," "At the Library," and "Disappearing Boy," all of which give a glimpse into the sound the band would become known for later on.

Track Listing:

At the Library (2:28)
Don't Leave Me (2:39)
I Was There (3:36)
Disappearing Boy (2:52)
Green Day (3:29)
Going to Pasalacqua (3:30)
"16" (3:24)
Road to Acceptance (3:35)
"Rest" (3:05)
The Judge's Daughter (2:34)

2. Kerplunk (1991)

Release date: December 17th, 1991
Our favorite song: "Private Ale"

Banned from certain stores due to the cover art (which featured a girl holding a gun), Kerplunk was Green Day's sophomore release which was described as being a mixture of punk, rock, pop, and indie rock. Once again the release of the album came independently through the band's label Lookout!, selling roughly 50,000 records worldwide as the band worked to build a presence in the U.S. (specifically on the East Coast). The success of Kerplunk led to the band making the decision to sign with Reprise Records, thus marking a new era for the group.

Track Listing:

2000 Lightyears Away (2:24)
One for the Razorbacks (2:30)
Welcome to Paradise (3:30)
Christie Road (3:33)
Private Ale (2:26)
Dominated Love Slave (1:42)
One of My Lies (2:19)
80 (3:39)

3. Dookie (1994)

Release date: February 1st, 1994
Our favorite song: "Basket Case"

So now it's 1994. Green Day is officially signed to a major record label, and their first release in that regard is Dookie, which was anything but. Having already established a name and fanbase for themselves while being a part of the indie market, Dookie was what propelled Green Day to national recognition. Four singles were released in for the promotional efforts of the album: "Longview," "Basket Case," "Welcome to Paradise," and "When I Come Around," and the record was a massive commercial success, reaching No. 2 in the U.S., and winning the group a Grammy for Best Alternative Album. Considered to be one of the best punk rock albums of all time, this bad boy has a diamond certification.

Track Listing:

Burnout (2:07)
Having a Blast (2:44)
Chump (2:53)
Longview (3:59)
Welcome to Paradise (3:44)
Pulling Teeth (2:30)
Basket Case (3:02)
She (2:13)
Sassafras Roots (2:37)
When I Come Around (2:57)
Coming Clean (1:34)
Emenius Sleepus (1:43)
In the End (1:46)
F.O.D. (5:46)

4. Insomniac (1995)

Release date: October 10th, 1995
Our favorite song: "86"

So how do you follow up a massive commercial Grammy Award-winning album that eventually gets certified diamond? With Insomniac that is. Recorded from December 1994 to May 1995, the album dealt with heavier topics such as anxiety and boredom, while also serving as an "screw you" to those the fans who thought Green Day had sold out by achieving mainstream success. To date, Insomniac has sold over 2.1 million copies in the U.S., and was also a hit at the time of it's release, nabbing the second spot on the Billboard 200.

Track Listing:

Armatage Shanks (2:17)
Brat (1:43)
Stuck With Me (2:16)
Geek Stink Breath (2:15)
No Pride (2:19)
Bab's Uvula Who (2:08)
"86) (2:47)
Panic Song (3:35)
Stuart and the Ave (2:03)
Brain Stew (3:13)
Jaded (1:30)
Westbound Sign (2:12)
Tight Wad Hill (2:01)
Walking Contradiction (2:31)

5. Nimrod (1997)

Release date: October 14th, 1997
Our favorite song: "Nice Guys Finish Last"

The word nimrod has two definitions. The literally definition of the term is a hunter, while the informal definition is basically a somewhat nicer way of calling somebody stupid. We'd say Green Day's fifth studio album, Nimrod, is referring to both. They were the hunters as one of the rising/defining rock groups of the 1990s, hungry to secure their place as one of the all-time greats (which they since have), and the album was also used as a way to indirectly call some of their critics stupid. "Nice Guys Finish Last," "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," and "The Grouch" are just a few of the standouts on the record, which was certified double platinum in the U.S. and Canada, and triple platinum in Australia.

Track Listing:

Nice Guys Finish Last (2:49)
Hitchin' a Ride (2:51)
The Grouch (2:12)
Redundant (3:17)
Scattered (3:02)
All the Time (2:10)
Worry Rock (2:27)
Platypus (I Hate You) (2:21)
Uptight (3:04)
Last Ride In (Instrumental) (3:47)
Jinx (2:12)
Haushinka (3:25)
Walking Alone (2:45)
Reject (2:05)
Take Back (1:09)
King for a Day (3:13)
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) (2:34)
Prosthetic Head (3:38)

6. Warning (2000)

Release date: October 3rd, 2000
Our favorite song: "Fashion Victim"

Warning is an album who's appreciation has grown with the time, which is the case with a lot of albums released during that era. For starters, the record was leaked on Napster (if you don't know what that is you are probably too young to be reading this article), and the artistry of the album (which took a turn from some of the darker themes present in their previous albums) wasn't fully understood at the time of its release. Nonetheless, Warning is an album full of gems starting with the first single "Minority," all the way to non-singles such as "Fashion Victim," "Misery," and "Church on Sunday." Warning was a "warning" for what would come next which was...

Track Listing:

Warning (3:42)
Blood, Sex and Booze (3:33)
Church on Sunday (3:18)
Fashion Victim (2:49)
Castaway (3:52)
Misery (5:06)
Deadbeat Holiday (3:35)
Hold On (2:56)
Jackass (2:43)
Waiting (3:13)
Minority (2:49)
Macy's Day Parade (3:34)

7. American Idiot (2004)

Release date: September 21st, 2004
Our favorite song: "Are We the Waiting"

American Idiot—one of the greatest albums not just in the 2000s, but of all time. Four years passed in between the release of Warning and American Idiot, and what we got from the band was a new sound, a new image, and some of the greatest rock songs ever. "American Idiot," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Holiday," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," "Are We the Waiting," "St. Jimmy," and that's just the beginning. American Idiot hit No. 1 in 18 different countries, won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album, has since been certified 6x platinum by the RIAA, and has spawned a broadway show and documentary. Nice.

American Idiot (2:54)
Jesus of Suburbia (9:08)
Holiday (3:52)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (4:22)
Are We the Waiting (2:42)
St. Jimmy (2:56)
Give Me Novacaine (3:25)
She's a Rebel (2:00)
Extraordinary Girl (3:33)
Letterbomb (4:05)
Wake Me Up When September Ends (4:45)
Homecoming (9:18)
Whatsername (4:14)

8. 21st Century Breakdown (2009)

Release date: May 15th, 2009
Our favorite song: "21 Guns"

And if the anthems "American Idiot" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" wasn't enough to sustain us for the remainder of the decade, 2009's 21st Century Breakdown gave us "21 Guns." If you were a teenager/pre-teen in 2009, "21 Guns" was your emo anthem—period, and 21st Century Breakdown was your emo album for every teenage thing you were going through. If you didn't get to experience that and want to re-live, we highly recommend you give a listen—in order. No skipping around with this one (at least on the first listen) because you need to experience everything in order to get the full picture.

Track Listing:

Song of the Century (0:57)
21st Century Breakdown (5:09)
¡Viva la Gloria! (3:31)
Before the Lobotomy (4:37)
Christian's Inferno (3:07)
Last Night on Earth (3:56)
East Jesus Nowhere (4:35)
Peacemaker (3:24)
Last of the American Girls (3:51)
Murder City (2:54)
¿Viva la Gloria? (3:48)
Restless Heart Syndrome (4:21)
Horseshoes and Handgrenades (3:14)
The Static Age (4:16)
21 Guns (5:21)
American Eulogy (4:26)
See the Light (4:35)

9. ¡Uno! (2012)

Release date: September 21st, 2012
Our favorite song: "Carpe Diem"

Next up we've got ¡Uno—the first in a trilogy of Green Day albums. Led by the single "Oh Love" which was released in July 2012, the album was recorded between 2010 to 2012 in Oakland, and was inspired by Van Halen's trilogy of albums Van Halen I, Van Halen II, and Van Halen III. Debuting at No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 200, ¡Uno was a continuation of the pop punk sound we've grown to become familiar with from the band, but with a slightly different early 2010s edge.

Track Listing:

Nuclear Family (3:03)
Stay the Night (4:36)
Carpe Diem (3:25)
Let Yourself Go (2:57)
Kill the DJ (3:41)
Fell for You (3:08)
Loss of Control (3:07)
Troublemaker (2:45)
Angel Blue (2:46)
Sweet 16 (3:03)
Rusty James (4:09)
Oh Love (5:03)

10. ¡Dos! (2012)

Release date: November 9th, 2012
Our favorite song: "Wild One"

Later on that same year, the second album of the trilogy, ¡Dos!, was released, leading with the single "Stray Heart." Other standouts on the record include "Wild One," "Fuck Time," "Makeout Party," "Lady Cobra," and more. Make no mistake, ¡Dos! is very much a party album from top and bottom that will let the inner wild punk rebel in you out for sure.

Track listing:

See You Tonight (1:06)
Fuck Time (2:45)
Stop When the Red Lights Flash (2:26)
Lazy Bones (3:34)
Wild One (4:19)
Makeout Party (3:14)
Stray Heart (3:44)
Ashley (2:50)
Baby Eyes (2:22)
Lady Cobra (2:05)
Nightlife (3:04)
Wow! That's Loud (4:27)
Amy (3:25)

11. ¡Tré! (2012)

Release date: December 7th, 2012
Our favorite song: "The Forgotten"

And the final album of the trilogy, ¡Tré!, which featured a more "heavy metal stadium rock" sound as opposed its two predecessors, and a mixture of old school Green Day with new school Green Day. "The Forgotten" and "X-Kid" were the two released singles from the album, which garnered critical and commercial praise. Releasing three albums that sound different from one in another in one calendar year isn't an easy feat, but Green Day did it and did it well.

Track Listing:

Brutal Love (4:54)
Missing You (3:43)
8th Avenue Serenade (2:36)
Drama Queen (3:07)
X-Kids (3:31)
Sex, Drugs, & Violence (3:31)
A Little Boy Named Train (3:37)
Amanda (2:28)
Walk Away (3:45)
Dirty Rotten Bastards (6:26)
99 Revolutions (3:49)
The Forgotten (4:58)

12. Revolution Radio (2016)

Release date: October 7th, 2016
Our favorite song: "Outlaws"

It would be four years before we would get another studio release from Green Day, as their twelfth studio album, Revolution Radio, dropped October 2016. Debuting at N0. 1 on the Billboard 200, Revolution Radio spawned three singles, "Bang Bang," "Still Breathing," and "Revolution Radio," and was once again critically and commercially successful, proving that Green Day was still very much a force over 25 years after their debut.

Track listing:

Somewhere Now (4:08)
Bang Bang (3:25)
Revolution Radio (3:00)
Say Goodbye (3:39)
Outlaws (5:02)
Bouncing off the Walls (2:40)
Still Breathing (3:44)
Young Blood (2:32)
Too Dumb to Die (3:23)
Troubled Times (3:04)
Forever Now (6:52)
Ordinary World (3:00)

13. Father of All Motherfuckers (2020)

Release date: February 7th, 2020
Our favorite song: "I Was a Teenage Teenager"

Father of All Motherfuckers is currently the last studio album in Green Day's discography (though we're sure that will change at some point), and it's classic Green Day with songs like "Father of All..." (which was the first single off the album), "I Was a Teenage Teenager," "Sugar Youth," "Junkies on a High," and "Take the Money and Crawl." Their shortest album to date, Father of All Motherfuckers got straight to the point, once again receiving positive reviews like they always do. One thing's for sure, Green Day will always be Green Day.

Track Listing: