Warning (stylized as WARNING:) is the sixth album by the American rock band Green Day, released on October 3, 2000 by Reprise Records. Building upon the musical experimentation of their previous album Nimrod, and more importantly, the mega hit single "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", the band further eschewed from their punk and pop punk roots, with more acoustic and folk punk elements. Lyrically, it contains more positive and optimistic themes unlike their previous releases. Warning was also the first album since Kerplunk to not be produced by Rob Cavallo, although he was credited as an executive producer.
Background[]
Back cover of Warning.
After the success of their more experimental album Nimrod, Green Day would start work on their album with the band handling more production than in their previous works, making Rob Cavallo an executive producer for this project. Throughout production, the band with more experimental sound with additions of acoustic guitars, strings, accordions, and harmonicas. The band also subjected themselves to more political and knee-jerk topics and experimented with more positive song messages, while remaining snarky about them. The result is the album's genre has been cited as many different genres the bands haven't explored much before such as pop punk and folk punk. The album cover depicts the band trio walking through a random street in Chinatown in San Francisco, all looking in different directions. Shot in black and white, the band's name is big green letters on the top left while the album title is written as "WARNING:" in smaller orange letters on the bottom left. The back cover depicts the trio again with black space at the bottom, containing both the track list and a warning symbol in orange.
Reception[]
Warning debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, however, Green Day had hit a commercial low point, as it was their first album to not reach platinum status since signing with a major record label. It was in large part due to it being leaked onto Napster three weeks before official release, along with the album's singles getting little radio play. Despite this, the album went on to sell 1.2 million copies in the United States, and is currently certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It currently has sold over 3 million copies total worldwide. Critically, the album was warmly received by critics.
Composition and lyrics[]
The album has been tagged under the genres pop-punk, alternative rock, folk rock, power pop, folk punk, and acoustic rock.
With Warning, the band experimented with more acoustic guitars, and strove for a "not sappy acoustic... more aggressive, percussive acoustic" sound. Cool and bassist Mike Dirnt also emphasized "deeper" grooves on the record. The title track, a "densely produced blast of layered vocals [and] strummed acoustic guitars", features a "circling bass riff" similar to that of "Picture Book" by the Kinks. "Waiting", which has been categorized as a "retro-pop lament", is based on the riff from Petula Clark's 1964 song "Downtown". Its melody has also been stylistically compared to the Mamas & the Papas and Kiss. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly felt that "Misery" is "probably Billie Joe's idea of a Brecht-Weill pop operetta." It features "mariachi brass" instrumentation, as well as strings, accordions, and acoustic guitar. The song's five-minute length has been called "an epic by Green Day standards". The use of a harmonica on "Hold On" has been compared to the Beatles' "Love Me Do" and "I Should Have Known Better". "Macy's Day Parade" contains elements of folk and pop.
The album features more positive and uplifting lyrics in comparison with Green Day's earlier work. Cool noted that, "It's got the sarcasm, it's got the snottiness, but it's got a little light at the end of the tunnel." Warning also contains more explicitly political themes, as exemplified by tracks such as "Minority". This was inspired by Armstrong's fear that presidential nominee Al Gore was going to lose the 2000 U.S. presidential election and that "someone really conservative" would take office. He recalled, "We've always tried to keep an ear to the ground and keep our eyes open to what's going on...that's one reason why I was really taking my time writing songs to really [make an impact]. Instead of just writing an overly knee-jerk reaction." According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the lyrics of "Minority" serve as "a reminder of the youthful mentality of Green Day's early work". "Misery" tells various stories in its verses, all of which end unhappily. The first verse centers on a girl named Virginia who was a "lot lizard", a term for a prostitute who exchanges sex for money with truck drivers at interstate highway truck stops. "Blood, Sex and Booze" explores the subject of sadomasochism. "Church On Sunday" features lyrics in its pre-chorus that were originally written for the Nimrod demo "Black Eyeliner", which didn't see an official release until 2023.
Track listing[]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Warning" | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Blood, Sex and Booze" | 3:33 |
| 3. | "Church on Sunday" | 3:18 |
| 4. | "Fashion Victim" | 2:49 |
| 5. | "Castaway" | 3:52 |
| 6. | "Misery" | 5:06 |
| 7. | "Deadbeat Holiday" | 3:45 |
| 8. | "Hold On" | 2:56 |
| 9. | "Jackass" | 2:43 |
| 10. | "Waiting" | 3:13 |
| 11. | "Minority" | 2:49 |
| 12. | "Macy's Day Parade" | 3:34 |
| Total Runtime: | 41:14 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "86" (Live in Prague) | 3:01 |
| Total Runtime: | 44:15 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Brat" (Live at the Marumi Arena, Tokyo, Japan; January 27, 1996) | 1:42 |
| 14. | "86" (Live at the Sporthalle, Prague, Czech Republic; March 26, 1996) | 3:01 |
| Total Runtime: | 45:57 | |
Singles[]
Minority[]
Green Day - Minority (Video)
"Minority" is the lead single to be released prior to the album, released on August 22, 2000. This single would end up becoming the biggest hit from Warning:, and is the most viewed music video out of the three official singles on YouTube. The main setting for the video takes place at a parade, with them destroying their own float in the end.
Green Day - Warning (Video)
Castaway[]
"Castaway" is the lead promotional single on the album, released on October 11, 2000. The song was a hit on the album and was sent to radio on January 23, 2000.
Blood, Sex, and Booze[]
"Blood, Sex, and Booze" is the second promotional single on November 17, 2000. It would be the biggest promotional single on the album. As well the song was featured as the second track of the album.
Warning[]
Green Day - Waiting (Video)
"Warning" is the second and title track to become a single, released on December 11, 2000. Compared to Minority, it ended up as a smaller hit for the album, but is the least viewed music video out of the three singles with around half the views of "Minority". The music video was produced in 2006 and released on YouTube in 2009.
Waiting[]
"Waiting" is the third and final official single to be from the album, released on May 29, 2001. While released way later than the first two, it was well received by critics and ended up charting, peaking in the top 30 in the United States. The video features kids playing in a house jumping around, breaking stuff and having a good time in slow motion, while the band is also in the house, but playing their instruments at normal speed.
Macy's Day Parade[]
"Macy's Day Parade" is third and final promotional single off the album. It was charted #62 on US Rock Hot 100.
Charts[]
Weekly Charts[]
| Chart (2000) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 7 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) | 14 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 2 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 84 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 58 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 21 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) | 23 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA) | 13 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) | 8 |
| Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi) | 7 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) | 20 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) | 4 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) | 25 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 20 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 11 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 4 |
| US Billboard 200 | 4 |
Year-end Charts[]
| Chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 80 |
| Canadian Albums (Nielsen Soundscan) | 78 |
| Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 197 |
Personnel[]
Green Day
- Billie Joe Armstrong - vocals, guitars, harmonica, mandolin
- Mike Dirnt - bass, backing vocals, electronic organs on "Misery"
- Tré Cool – drums, percussion, accordion
Additional Musicians
- Benmont Tench – additional musician on "Church on Sunday"
- Gary Meek – saxophone on "Jackass"
- David Campbell – string arrangements
- Mistress Simone – dominatrix
Production
- Green Day – producers
- Rob Cavallo – executive producer
- Cheryl Jenets - production coordination
- Jack Joseph Puig – mixing
- Ken Allardyce – engineer
- Josh "Tone" Weaver – additional engineer
- Richard "Rich" Ash – additional engineer
- Tal Herzberg – G3 operator
- Kenny Butler – drum technician
- Timmy Chunks – guitar technician
- Bill Schneider – guitar and bass technician
- Allen Sides – studio consultant
- Pat Magnarella – management
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Marina Chavez, Lance Bang – photography
- Chris Bilheimer – additional photography, art direction
