green day - "when i come around" (1995)

this isn't even on an i-played-this-over-and-over-when-i-was-fourteen tip either, i just listened to it and it sounds better than ever! also it was really good when i was fourteen. green day deserve to be on this list because they probably helped a lot of other chart-punk bands get signed to major labels who gave them money for proper production with big snare sounds - and by extension get played on the radio. it means green day are partly responsible for a glut of beautiful radio songs, the kind which might not be as cool if you actually bought them, where the context is so special and often unexpected that they are easy to treasure beyond breaking the sound apart to tell what it is you like. i don't know why chart-punk is so good for carrying this kind of feeling, its probably all the hardcore yearning going on. anyway "when i come around" isn't even chart-punk, it's sweet-natured grunge pop, a woefully under-explored avenue i wish i could hear on the radio more!