1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours is a compilation album comprising early recordings by American punk band Green Day, released October 1, 1991, on Lookout Records. Often erroneously referred to as the band's debut album, the compilation combines the band's actual debut, 39/Smooth (1990), and its first two EPs, 1,000 Hours (1989) and Slappy (1990) (all currently out of print), as suggested by the amalgamation of the titles of the debut album and two EPs for the resulting compilation album. The album includes one cover, "Knowledge" (originally from the Slappy EP), which was originally by influential California punk band Operation Ivy, whose singer, Jesse Michaels, contributed the artwork for the album. The cover art features the same image from 39/Smooth.
Lookout re-released the album in 2004 with special limited packaging and all-new enhanced CD-ROM features, including live performances and pictures. The album was re-issued in the same packaging in 2007 through Reprise Records after Green Day pulled the album, along with the remainder of the band's catalog previously released through Lookout, from the label in August 2005 due to unpaid royalties.
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours has been certified Gold in the US by the RIAA; according to Nielsen SoundScan, it has sold 632,000 copies in the US as of August 2010. The album was certified Gold in the UK on July 22, 2013, representing sales of at least 100,000 copies. It has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide.
Contents
Release
Initially released in 1991 through Lookout! Records (despite the 1990 copyright date on the album), the label re-issued the album in a remastered form in 2004. It was re-released on CD on January 9, 2007, by Reprise Records, the label Green Day has been signed to since leaving Lookout!. In Europe, the album was already re-released by Epitaph Europe, and has remained in print. It was reissued on vinyl on March 24, 2009, by Reprise in a package containing the original 10-song 39/Smooth LP along with reissues of the 1,000 Hours and Slappy EPs. On the 2009 reissues, the song "I Want to Be Alone" is omitted.
Composition
Musically, the record has been labeled as punk rock, pop-punk, and skate punk; “Disappearing Boy” for example featured as the backing track for the “Contests, Demos, Skate Parks” segment in Plan B’s Questionable (1992).
Reception
Reviews of 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours were largely mixed; The New Rolling Stone Album Guide gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars, while Brad of Punknews.org gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing, "All in all, this album succeeds at being quite good. It shows obvious influences from the Clash and the Ramones, and is a good debut for a young band that would later change the course of Punk Rock forever by opening the floodgates for New School bands."
Personnel
Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass guitar, backing vocals
John Kiffmeyer – drums
Additional performers
Aaron Cometbus – backing vocals on Slappy EP tracks, "teeth" on "Knowledge"
Production
Andy Ernst – producer, engineer
Green Day – producers
John Golden – mastering
Susie Grant – front cover photo
Jesse Michaels – artwork
Pat Hynes – artwork, graphic design, layout design
Chris Appelgren; Aaron Cometbus; Rich Gargano; David Hayes – artwork
Murray Bowles; Arica Pelino – photography
Ted Jensen – remastering
John Yates – packaging