Maps of Music

Nimrod (1997)

Where the lyrics of Nimrod take you, and where it was really made.

The title Nimrod is the name of a hunter from the Bible, yet in American English it became slang for a dimwit.

Key places

Where Nimrod was recorded (1997)

Recording site Conway Recording Studios — The album was recorded at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles. The band stayed at the Sunset Marquis Hotel during the sessions, which took about four months. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Nimrod (stylized as nimrod.): fifth studio album by the American rock band Green Day
• Released October 14, 1997 by Reprise Records
• Written as a set of standalone songs rather than one cohesive album
• Known for musical diversity and experimentation, with elements of folk, hardcore, surf rock, and ska
• Lyrical themes include maturity, personal reflection, and fatherhood
• Certified double platinum by the RIAA, triple platinum in Australia, and double platinum in Canada

Background

• Follows Insomniac, released in 1995, which did not perform as well commercially as Dookie
• Insomniac tour's late 1996 European leg was cancelled so the members could spend time at home
• Members had grown uncomfortable with their level of stardom and with being away from their families
• The band completed over three dozen new songs by the beginning of 1997
• Rob Cavallo returned as producer, and the members viewed him as a 'mentor'

Recording

• Recorded at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles
• The band stayed at the Sunset Marquis Hotel during the sessions
• Recording took four months, with a schedule running from noon to two in the morning every day
• Armstrong wrote each song first on acoustic guitar, and the band added heavier instrumentation later
• Around 30 songs were recorded and 18 were picked for the album
• 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' was written in 1993 and strings were added to it during this session

Cover

• Title comes from a hunter in the Bible; in American English it became a term for a stupid person
• Three art directors were rejected by the band before Chris Bilheimer, a friend of Armstrong, took over the artwork
• Front cover uses encyclopedia photos of men in suits and ties with colored circles reading 'nimrod.' on their faces

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Green Day is an American rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt.
• Drummer Tré Cool joined in 1990, and the band has mostly been a power trio since.
• Before taking the name Green Day in 1989, the band was called Sweet Children.
• The band emerged from the late 1980s and early 1990s Bay Area punk scene centered on 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley.
• Early releases came through Lookout! Records, including the debut album 39/Smooth (1990).

Career

• Dookie (1994, Reprise Records) became a breakout success and sold over 20 million copies in the United States.
• Green Day is credited with reigniting mainstream interest in punk rock.
• Insomniac (1995) and Nimrod (1997) reached double platinum; Warning (2000) was certified gold.
• American Idiot (2004), a rock opera, found popularity with a younger generation and sold six million copies in the US.
• The trilogy ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! was released in 2012; it did not match earlier commercial success.
• Later albums include Revolution Radio (2016), Father of All Motherfuckers (2020), and Saviors (2024).
• A stage adaptation of American Idiot opened on Broadway in 2010 and received three Tony nominations.
• The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, its first year of eligibility.
• The band has sold roughly 75 million records worldwide as of 2024 and won five Grammy Awards.

Reception

At release

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave Nimrod three and a half stars out of five
• Erlewine praised Armstrong's gift for hooky, instantly memorable melodies but noted the 18 tracks pass at breakneck speed
• Greg Kot of Rolling Stone enjoyed the melodic nature of the album and the sincerity in Armstrong's vocals
• Kot welcomed the return of the band's juvenile sense of humor, which he felt was lacking on Insomniac
• Kot praised the musical diversity of the record and said the band had finally made an album that sounds as if it has seen the world
• A group of editors at People praised the fresh and original melodies and the quick-tempoed cool of the record
• Sandy Masuo of the Los Angeles Times praised the mature songwriting that makes the album tick
• Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club wrote that the record is packed with mile-wide hooks and sing-along anthems

Reappraisal

• Retrospectively, the album is noted for its musical diversity and experimentation
• Lyrical content is seen as more reflective than the band's earlier work

Records

• Debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 with 81,000 copies sold in its first week
• Remained on the Billboard 200 for 70 weeks
• Peaked at number four in Canada and stayed on the chart for four weeks
• Certified double platinum in Canada on July 6, 1998 for shipments of over 200,000 copies
• Debuted at number 12 in Australia, later peaked at number three, and was certified triple platinum there
• Certified double platinum by the RIAA on March 16, 2000 for shipments of over two million copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' was used in the Seinfeld series finale in 1998 and in an ER scene about a cancer patient's death
• Armstrong's song 'Good Riddance' was written in 1993 and shown to the band during the Dookie sessions, where it was judged too different from the rest of that album
• At the 1998 KROQ Weenie Roast, Third Eye Blind bassist Arion Salazar bear-hugged Mike Dirnt, and the scuffle that followed was broken up by security
• Later backstage, a beer bottle struck Dirnt in the head and caused a small skull fracture
• In August 2023 the band sold limited T-shirts parodying the album cover with a Donald Trump mug shot, with proceeds going to Greater Good Music

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact