Rarities in the Digital Age: Green Day’s Demo Tape
In the argument against file sharing, there is an often forgotten situation: there are albums that are only released online. If it weren’t for peer-to-peer file sharing most of these albums would never have seen the light of day. This new reoccurring segment “Rarities in the Digital Age” follows such albums with links to the albums in question.
This week’s addition is one of the demo tapes of Green Day. Long before they bashed Bush and wished you the time or your life, they were some band banging out songs in a garage and recording them on a 4-track. Their demo tape is a direct reflection of this, a band piecing together what is now known as the Dookie album, on a 4-track and distributing this tape to the labels looking for a deal. Most of the song are fairly familiar, “Longview,” “Basket Case,” and “When I Come Around,” all appear with similar arrangements but a few changed lyrics from their Dookie album versions. An early version of “Haushinka,” which appeared later on the Nimrod album, and “JAR,” a b-side from the soundtrack to the film “Angus,” appear on the tape alongside an instrumental jam and a laid-back country jam “Walking the Dog.” These demo versions of the songs are interesting for those following the progression of a songwriter, but also to those who have seen the band play these live in an arena full of thousands of people. Listening to the energy of the band performing the same songsin a garage in front of no one but themselves is a completely new experience.
where did you get these tracks?!