I can guarantee to many that when you listen to this album, you may at least be lead to the potential belief that true innovation doesn't mean selling out to mainstream media, when you could be following your soul. And in truth, 75% of the time, minority music is what triumphs. All of this can be proven rather well what with this album, as well as its associated masterpieces that each came out before the album of their sellout era that allowed Green Day to evolve (or one could say DEVOLVED) to the bunch of fools who bash America consistently through name-calling,--as opposed to the true anti-American bands who actually knew about politics--of which was executed through immature and/or repetitive lyrics to a depressing background music. We are even forced to see the new Billie-Joe Armstrong: Bitter, pathetic, and seemingly getting fat.

But I digress. This is an album that, in association with Kerplunk, deserves to be labeled as a staple to anyone interested in collecting Green Day's work, the entire punk music genre, etc. In Green Day's true era (before Dookie), they did arguably the best job ever in making songs of which had lyrics that were very catchy, yet nevertheless flowed well and eloquently communicated the topics that were incorporated into the song's lyrics. Songs like 16 are a great example. In short, Green Day always had extreme talent in talking about issues in life from a young man's perspective (at the time, Billie was 18 when he produced this album), and yet still kept the innocent, inquisitive, determined personality that prevented it from sounding pathetic, thus sprouting forth a streak of genius that is, arguably, one of the best clusters of music ever to come into history.

Some of those who have really listened to this album and the others will kind of notice that in this album, the drumming is different. That is because during that period, Green Day had a drummer by the name of John Kiftmeyer. In time, Kiftmeyer had to leave for college, before former drummer of the band The Lookouts joined Green Day.

In terms of overall sound of the music, it is first important to point out that this album is quite raw when in comparison to the others, as it was produced in the early 90s, and on Lookout! Records, as opposed to the Warner Bros. and other record labels that they pursued in their career during the sellout era of theirs. The instrumental use is, in many terms and aspects, generally similar to that of lots of their other albums. The play is real smooth and skillful, and there are many well-done points in many of their songs in which instruments or voices would go quiet for the other for a nice, clean intermission before wrapping up back into the beautiful unison. Billie-Joe Armstrong's singing is wonderful and fits very well with the music being conducted, with Mike still harmonizing at points in the song where it seems necessary. Their way of music does really well with matching up to the lyrics that are sung, and its use is a fountain of variety.

Each and every song in this album really knows to talk about love, feelings, life's questions and issues, etc, and overall are greatly executed, each and every one. But I'll give a description of what I believe to be this album's greatest songs:

~I Was There: This song was in fact written by former drummer John Kiftmeyer himself. In this song, Billie really cuts deep into the realm of emotional expression and vocal use when he sings this song, and the chorus is where he goes the farthest. The guitar use goes very smoothly and skillfully, and this song goes fast-paced at the time rate of 3 minutes and 36 seconds. This song truly expresses the feelings about one's vision and impact for the world, as well as their in-depth reflection of the past. Very powerful.

~16: This song is very controversial, and the pace flows through very well with the music that, while repetitive in instrumental use, is addictive and never gets old throughout the entire song, especially when backed up by the wonderful lyrics incorporated into this masterpiece. This song is Billie's confusion, sadness, inquisition, interest and controversy over the hardships and crazy things that he's seen when looking at the matters of youth, adulthood, life, friendship, and so on. Harmony is used very well in this song.

~Rest: This song is where the band takes a moment to aim for a more relaxed feel. A very relaxing, seemingly sedate song, where the instrument use quiets down and the quality is more up to the vocal use of the band, which is very well-done. Every now and then a sharp and sudden strumming of the instruments will kick in, adding to the variety. The song is rather aimless and allows itself to adopt a life of its own until it ends, which is rather unique and interesting. Generally, this is one of Billie's really interesting ramblings, and it's actually somewhat thought-provoking to listen to.

~The Judge's Daughter: What makes this song rather unique is the fact that it is able to form a stable, heartfelt, wonderful love song and yet is able to sound like this while having the musical background and feel similarity to that of 16. In this track, the background flows from one way of music to the other, while there is still some details kept in that persistently form the spine for the song, keeping it from sounding like a poorly-structured song, thus making it a true listening experience. The song's meat is actually quite similar to that of At The Library, but it sounds even more emotional, grabbing, varying in music etc. So generally it's about Billie's struggle to maintain composure because of his deep passion for a girl, and his way of expressing it.

~I Want To Be Alone: The title should seem rather self-explanatory. This is slightly like Rest in the sense that Billie is speaking of his opinions and feelings that are more based on his current condition/position/situation. Yet this adopts a pace that on average is faster, yet goes slightly back in forth between the transitions of different musical uses in the song. In this song, Billie really goes around with his singing, going up and down in pitch to match well with the other aspects of this musical masterpiece. Certainly a must have.

Dry Ice and Only Of You are so sacred that I simply recommend that you hear them. Their quality is beyond the capabilities of verbal description, and they are arguably the most grand love songs (and most grand songs altogether) to come into history.

1039-Smoothed Out Slappy Hour is definitely an album that will, if you're like me, in no way leave you feeling somewhat empty after you've heard it. Thought-provoking, heartfelt, unique, differently controversial, etc. I recommend this just as much as getting Kerplunk (and if you're a fan who wants to collect as much as possible, get the 1,000 Hours and Slappy EPs). But solely for the sake of the chronological order in which either album was produced, I'd recommend getting this album first.

There is just one last thing to be aware of:

If you intend to get music from this album, be sure to get the original version, not the digital remaster. Remember that the digital remaster has Hours at the end as opposed to Hour, and has a cover that is brighter in contrast. Green Day's old work should have been left as its classic, raw self (why someone would want a classic turned into yet another reflection for today's usual bilge modern technology is beyond me), but it is not too late to get their original version. Green Day's work done before Dookie could very well be the best produced music ever, and it never deserves to be forgotten.