We weren’t sure what to expect when Green Day began teasing a 30th-anniversary edition of Dookie early last week since so much demo content from that era has already leaked out over the years, but they’ve managed to dig deep enough into their vaults to find some real treats for fans.
The six-record set includes their June 5, 1994 concert in Barcelona, which had previously shown up on bootlegs, as well as their famous performance at Woodstock 94 which was previously released as a Record Store Day exclusive. Where things get interesting though is with the record of demos and outtakes.
While we’ve had several demos leak from that era over the years, the band surprised us with the addition of 10 previously unheard 4-track recordings that include a version of ‘Basket Case’ with vastly different lyrics than the final album version and another early demo of ‘When It’s Time’, a song that was also demo’d in the Nimrod sessions and showed up on that albums box set last year. The band made these songs immediately available on streaming services.
Elsewhere among the rarities is the long-awaited release of the re-recorded version of ‘Christie Road’ (Kerplunk) from the Dookie sessions that has never publicly circulated along with the re-recorded version of ‘409 In You’re Coffeemaker’ (Slappy EP).
The Dookie 30th box set is scheduled to be released on Sept 29/23 – which is several months earlier than the album’s actual Feb 1/24 30th anniversary. This should be good news for fans waiting with bated breath for Album 14 news since getting this anniversary out of the way early clears the path for new album promotion. The band seemed to be hinting at just that in their mailing list email announcing Dookie 30 saying “There’s SO SO SO much more to come this year + next. This is only the beginning.”.
You can pre-order the new box set from Green Day’s online store (along with a selection of new merch) starting today or if you’re in the US you may find it cheaper at 1-2-3-4 GO! Records using the code “USEDLAUNCH” for 15% off.
In related news, if you’ve previously missed out on the amazing merch from Rock Roll Repeat, they’ve restocked their Dookie shirts in celebration of the new box set so make sure to check that out as well.