Green Day Warning 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Numbered Limited Edition 5LP Box Set (Green, Yellow & Orange Vinyl)

Tracking Angle Rated 9/10 Music, 8/10 Sound!

Green Day's sixth studio album Warning was released on October 3, 2000, and has gone on to sell over 1 million copies in the US and over 3 million worldwide. The album includes three hit singles: "Warning," "Waiting," and "Minority," a track that continues to be a live favorite. The album has been one of the most celebrated in the band's catalogue, with the critics applauding the band's adventurous musical direction and Billie Joe Armstrong's strong song writing.

The Limited Edition 25th Anniversary super deluxe box set includes 49 songs on 5 LPs. It includes a remaster of the original album plus a ton of bonus content featuring 8 unreleased demos, 2 unreleased mixes on the b-sides and rarities disc, plus an unreleased 21-track live concert from Tokyo in 2001.

The vinyl box is numbered and is pressed on Green Galaxy, Yellow Marble and Orange Galaxy vinyl. It also includes a 24-page booklet, poster, cloth patch, button set and sticker sheet.

There's a sense of fearlessness on Warning, as if the band didn't care if the album wasn't punk enough, or whether it produced a cross-platform hit. There are no ballads here, actually, and while there are a number of punchy, infectious rockers, the tempo is never recklessly breakneck. Instead, the focus is squarely on the songs, with the instrumentation and arrangements serving their needs. It's easy to say that Green Day have matured with this album, since they've never produced a better, more tuneful set of songs, or tried so many studio tricks and clever arrangements...the first great pure pop album of the new millennium.

The 25th anniversary vinyl remaster is smoother at the expense of previous masters' grittier guitar texture, but the payoff is how much more detailed and open it is. Drums have tangible physical shape, tom hits especially resolve with full-bodied resonance instead of being distorted blobs, vocals cut through better, transients are sharper, and cymbals distinctly stand out for the first time. You can clearly hear the ring in Tré Cool's snare, whereas before it was buried amidst all the mastering compression. Is that a detail you want to hear? Maybe not, but it shows how much more you're hearing of everything. There's greater overall dimensionality, stronger bass foundation, and more high frequency air, but it's not smiley-faced—rather, it's properly balanced without losing any midrange power. It's certainly different from the previous remasters (though not exactly revisionist), but the further I listen, the more it sounds definitively better. 'Misery' on the remaster is insanely realistic, it should be played at audio shows... This set feels appropriately deluxe, but not in an obnoxious way that distracts from the actual music. Everything is thoughtfully presented and those involved thankfully paid attention to the sound quality. Unless a Warning one-step comes along, I can't imagine any of this sounding better than it already does here... Across the board, it's one of the best deluxe box sets I've recently encountered.