History Music / Insomniac

The album's [[DesignStudentsOrgasm cover art]] came from collage artist Winston Smith, who was asked by band frontman Billie Joe Armstrong how he could make such intricate pieces of art in such short times. Smith replied, "It's easy for me. I am an [[AlbumTitleDrop insomniac]]." Armstrong himself has stated the album's name came from his own insomnia, which was often induced by being woken up during the night from his at-the-time 8-month-old son screaming.

One of the album's most defining features is its DarkerAndEdgier tone, with the music having a far more abrasive and aggressive sound and the lyrics being much bleaker and grimmer. Due to this, Armstrong knew that the album wasn't going to have the same explosive success as ''Dookie'', and his predictions were proven true as ''Insomniac'' failed to have enough sales endurance to surpass or even level its predecessor. Critics were generally positive towards the album, while some were more lenient than others about nitpicking about the band's lack of notable progression.

''Insomniac'' is the fourth album released by American punk rock band Music/GreenDay, released in October 1995 as their first after their breakout success with ''Music/{{Dookie}}''.

One of the album's most defining features is its DarkerAndEdgier tone. The music has a far more abrasive and aggressive sound, while the lyrics are much bleaker and grimmer. Due to this, Armstrong knew that the album wasn't going to have the same explosive success as ''Dookie'', and his predictions were proven true as ''Insomniac'' failed to have enough sales endurance to surpass or even level ''Dookie''. Critics were generally positive towards the album, while some were more lenient than others about nitpicking about the band's lack of notable progression.

Despite the album's general disappointment compared to ''Dookie'', it did bring us one of the band's most popular 90s songs: "Brain Stew".

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Mostly a 6, with a few songs even reaching a 7, such as "Bab's Uvula Who?" and "Jaded". "Geek Stink Breath" is also a borderline 7.

* TheInsomniac: Billie Joe has confessed being this. During the time where his sleep was even worse, due to him being woken up at night by his son crying and screaming, he made this album.

[[caption-width-right:320:''My mind is set on overdrive / the clock is laughing in my face / a crooked spine / my senses dulled / past the point of delirium'']]

* ClusterFBomb: ''Insomniac'' had thirteen F-bombs and eight S-bombs.

->''"By comparison, Green Day sound exactly the same as on their first album, albeit with crisper production and, ominously, a palpable degeneration in their sense of humor. The few hints of growth are fairly microscopic: a tougher metallic edge to a few of the songs ... and lyrics that are bleaker than ''Dookie'''s."''
-->--'''''Entertainment Weekly'''''

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Brain Stew" → "Jaded"

** The artwork title, ''God Told Me to Skin You Alive'' is taken from the song "I Kill Children" by DeadKennedys.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Brain Stew/Jaded"

* SiameseTwinSongs: "Brain Stew" and "Jaded".

''Insomniac'' is the fourth album released by American punk rock band Music/GreenDay, released in October 1995. This album had big shoes to fill and millions of people to impress, considering the band's previous effort ''Music/{{Dookie}}'' is seen as one of the greatest rock albums of all time, and everyone was wondering if Green Day could prove its power to us all once again.

The album's [[DesignStudentsOrgasm cover art]] came from collage artist Winston Smith, who was asked by band frontman Billie Joe Armstrong how he could make such intricate pieces of art in such short times. Smith replied saying, "It's easy for me. I am an [[TitleDrop insomniac]]." Armstrong himself has stated the album's name came from his own insomnia, which was often induced by being woken up during the night from his at-the-time 8-month-old son screaming.

* TheToothHurts: Slight subversion; "Geek Stink Breath" is about the detrimental effects of meth on the body, not specifically teeth, although it does nod to the phenomenon of "meth mouth" that occurs among chronic users of the drug.
** The belief that the song is centric to teeth spawned from its single art (a man with his teeth being operated on by a dentist) and its music video (which features GrossUpCloseUp footage of a friend of the band getting a tooth pulled).
* UnflinchingWalk [=/=] CaptainOblivious: The "Walking Contradiction" video has the three band memnbers causing mass mayhem in their city without as much as being aware of it.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Mostly a 6, with a few songs even reaching a 7, such as "Geek Stink Breath", "Bab's Uvula Who?" and "Jaded".

* MinisculeRocking: "Brat" and "Jaded" are both less than 2 minutes long.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Mostly a 6, with a few songs even reaching a soft 7, such as "Geek Stink Breath", "Bab's Uvula Who?" and "Jaded".

'''''Insomniac''''' is the fourth album released by American punk rock band Music/GreenDay, released in October 1995. This album had big shoes to fill and millions of people to impress, considering the band's previous effort ''Music/{{Dookie}}'' is seen as one of the greatest rock albums of all time, and everyone was wondering if Green Day could prove its power to us all once again.

* TheInsomniac: Bilie Joe has confessed being this. During the time where his sleep was even worse, due to his son crying and screaming, he made this album.

* ShoutOut: "Bab's Uvula Who?" gets its [[WordPureeTitle rather strange name]] from a 1976 sketch on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' called "Babs' Uvula", in which a uvula specialist tells a knock-knock joke to his patient Babs.

* SanitySlippageSong: "Brain Stew" is explicitly about this, caused by [[InsomniaEpisode insomnia]].