Retro Album Review: 39/Smooth by Green Day

So I've been listening to a lot of Green Day lately. Mostly because I've gotten back in to playing Green Day: Rock Band. But it got me curious to looking into the band's back catalogue. So, over the next few weeks I'm going to be going through all of Green Day's studio albums, whether I've heard them before or not. So that's 39/Smooth, Kerplunk, Dookie, Insomniac, Nimrod, Warning, American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré!, and Revolution Radio. This should be fun. By the way, Spotify technically doesn't have this album. It has the compilation album 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, which is basically just this album and a couple EPs. Not touching EPs, just the songs that were on the original track listing of 39/Smooth. If you want me to look at the EPs, okay. But for now, just the album.



1. At The Library

Right off the bat, we have some simple punk riffs that are rough around the edges in terms of production. Even the mic sounds a bit off. But hey, early endeavors. I kinda expected it to sound like this. Lo-fi awesome. It's fast paced throughout. Some particularly great basswork. Some of the melodies remind me of Burnout from Dookie.

2. Don't Leave Me

More fast paced, lo-fi punk awesome. The drumming here is particularly awesome. John Kiffmeyer was the drummer for Green Day at the time instead of Tré Cool, but I think he's just as good from what I'm hearing so far.

3. I Was There

A song about thinking about the past. The guitar here sounds a bit aimless and out-of-tune. Not awful, but it's a bit harder to find a melody in it. Thankfully the drumming and bass is still great. The vocals are a bit weird though. Higher pitched and not the greatest. I dig the guitar solo though.

4. Disappearing Boy

Ooh, I love the opening guitar lick. Just the way it sounds. Kinda spacey yet intense. Then it kicks into usual punk, before going for a slow section that gives the bass time to shine. And then it ends fast. Generic, but fun. That's actually describing most of the album so far.

5. Green Day

By Green Day. From the album...39/Smooth, whoops. That bassline is fantastic. The drumming is intense and top notch. Billie's vocals are good. Not a lot to comment on here. But definitely a standout track so far.

6. Going to Pasalacqua

The guitars really crunch on this song in particular. They had crunch before, but it's more noticeable here. Again, not much to comment on here, but I do know I like it quite a bit.

7. 16

Ooh, this has a great groove. Kinda similar to Geek Stink Breath. I like that song. And that style helps this song stand out. Like a surf rock tune. I love those bass pops too. That's the best way I can describe those. Makes it funky too.

8. Road To Acceptance

Wasting no time getting into the song, are we Billie? His vocals kinda crack in this song. But it does fit the feel of his guitar work. There's a section where there's no guitar, giving the bass time to stand out. Other than that there's not much to talk about. It's punk rock. It's cool.

9. Rest

This song's more slow-paced than the rest of the album. Since the guitar isn't really fully in tune, that's not really a good thing sadly. Drums are good though. Nice tom work at one point. But other than that, ehhhh. Not bad, but not sure this album needed it.

10. The Judge's Daughter

And now the album closer. Back to business as usual. Fast punk. Pretty awesome guitar solo. Probably the best guitar solo I've heard from Green Day if I'm being honest. Aside from probably Restless Heart Syndrome. They're not usually a band that does guitar solos. Nothing special, but a good album closer.

Final Verdict: This is about what I expected. Quick, fast-paced punk. It's not particularly special and it would probably take me several listens to remember it all, but it is good. The bass and drums are fantastic throughout, though the guitar is usually a weak link in these songs. Production-wise, it's also not the best, but that's also to be expected since this was early in Green Day's career. It's not abysmal anyway. I can see why this didn't launch Green Day as the superstars they are today, but it was a good listen. Definitely worth it.

Rating: Strong 7/10
Best songs: Green Day, 16, The Judge's Daughter
Worst songs: Rest, I Was There