Smash!: Green Day, The Offspring, Bad Religion, NOFX, and the '90s Punk Explosion

Rad history and very well written (hard to put down!) but every other band mentioned in the subtitle are ancillary characters to Billie, Mike and Tre. Great read, but yea it’s an account of the ecosystem that made Green Day.

I was surprised by all the bands that were around but didn't get a mention at all. Guttermouth was on the Offspring Smash tour, but no mention of them. He talked a bit about ska punk but didn't mention anything post Op Ivy, seemed the Voodoo Glow Skulls could have fit in the conversation. Tons of other bands that he never mentions that seem relevant to the conversation. How do you mention Lookout and not talk about Fifteen beyond a single mention to Chrimpshrine. And I think J Church escaped him. Really it seems like he is a bit posh and smug about punk rock and the albums he thinks are great while he goes along trashing things like Oi and street punk and crust and east coast hardcore, all the awesome Chicago punk and pretty much anything that wasn't SoCal or NoCal 90s pop punk. The early chapters were great. I loved the Bad Religion sections. There were cool parts on other bands like some of the lesser known Lookout bands like Pansy Division. A brief mention of the Mr. T. Experience was nice. But the book only seemed to talk about some of the lesser known groups if they related somehow to Green Day and the Offspring. The book was really lacking in a lot of ways not to mention how in love he comes across with Green Day and the Offspring. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the book. Couldn't put it down actually. But his taste clearly skews a bit from punk rock to some high gloss polished version of punk. Not trying to say I'm one of those guys who threw out his Green Day and Offspring albums just because they got big, but for me I definitely think Ignition was the best Offspring album and most of Smash is cringeworthy. I like Dookie, but not much more than Kerplunk. Frankly I liked the first two albums by Pennywise better than all of the work by either bands. Props to Green day on all their work, but that Lookout records pop punk sound wasn't my thing and I'm not sure that the author is into much else.

I would give this book 6 stars if I could, I can't put it down. I'm one of the original punk fans from back in the day and was thrilled to death when Punk finally became commercial. The author covers some of my all time favorite bands, Green Day, Bad Religion, Rancid and the Offspring, and while he is opinionated I find I agree with him most of the time. Did I tell you I love this book?

Read the book and paired it with some podcasts. Really getting down to great details on an era i was just a bit young to fully experience.

Highly detailed, extremely informative account of an interesting period in music history from a journalist who lived it and covered it. Not a Green Day fan, but I found a lot to love and learn about.

The intro says it best, "unless a group serves the story they're not getting past the door." This approach allows for the writing to flow seamlessly as a story rather than a spliced up documentary of all that was going on in this scene. It's the best presentation of this material I've ever come across, and to fit it all in about 300 pages is perfect. Now I'm gonna sound like a total dork, but please do this with third-wave ska & I'll be forever in your debt.

Was a gift for my girlfriend and she absolutely loved it. Going to borrow it and reread.

A nice history of the 90's punk explosion. The author is clearly a fan (some bands are referred to/ explored more than others) but he does a good job of covering the material. If you have any interest in the second generation of punk, you'll dig this book.

Lindo

An amazing book full of stories about the music scene and the punk scene. I learned about bands I did not know of. I discovered great news bands and learned about the stories of some of the great punk rock bands that I listened to in college. Simply amazing book!

For a fan of Punk, especially mid-90's US Punk, it's a very entertaining read. Most of the stories are already well known but it's nice to read a chronological story, pulling it all together. Having said that...Whilst it's understandable that the book should focus on Green Day and The Offspring (whom are my favourite band), I think there is a little too much written about Green Day, not quite enough about The Offspring, NOFX or Ramcid, it's severely lacking in information about Social Distortion and Pennywise, and is woefully shy of anything to do with TSOL, Adolescents, Sublime and Minor Threat who all had a part to play. Not to mention bands like Against Me recently.

Livro maravilhoso pra quem gosta da história do movimento punk anos 90. O autor é um dos caras mais legais do mundo e realmente fez um trabalho digno.

Very well researched and the most detailed account of the punk scene I have read yet. Only for fans of punk however as doesn’t offer much for a casual reader. Also too heavily based upon Green Day. Clearly the author is mates with Billie Joe (as he often hints at) but in my opinion there are better and more interesting bands in the scene, namely NOFX.