Looking Back at the Best Album From 5 Big Millennial Dad Rock Bands

It's not easy to select the best albums from the biggest millennial dad rock bands (not that we are looking for your pity here).

Nearly every one of the bands featured below has at least three albums that could be considered their "best."

But to truly figure out which ones stood out the most, we considered which titles were the most complete and which ones held true to the whole dad rock vibe for millennials (who were born between 1981 and 1996, covering a wide range of music that dominated the generation's collective teen years).

Here are the best albums from five of the biggest millennial dad rock acts.

Blink-182

Best album: Enema of the State

With 1997's Dude Ranch, Blink-182 seemed poised to launch into the stratosphere. The album saw the California-based pop punk trio tour extensively while even landing a music video on MTV (yes, the channel was still playing videos at that time).

But then things started to fall apart.

A fight among band members broke out near the end of 1998's SnoCore tour where Blink-182 opened for Primus. Drummer Scott Raynor would later step away from the band for personal reasons before being permanently replaced by fill-in drummer Travis Barker of ska act The Aquabats, who also played on the SnoCore dates that year.

Blink-182's third studio album, 1999's Enema of the State, was their first with Barker and a welcome evolution of the band's sound without straying far from what had been established on past releases.

Some of it was Barker's rapid-fire drumming in the mix, but it was also lyrics that had more heart in some places.

"Adam's Song" showed Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge were capable of being serious for a moment. "Don't Leave Me" has Hoppus commanding "one more time, with feeling."

Don't be mistaken. This version of Blink-182 is still capable of crass humor (look no further than the song title "Dysentery Gary"), it's just delivered in much smaller bites this time out.

Enema of the State arrived at the perfect time, landing at the intersection of a band maturing and its audience doing the same.

Foo Fighters

Best album: The Colour and the Shape

"The Colour and the Shape" was Dave Grohl's opportunity to prove the Foo Fighters had staying power and he delivered.

Grohl famously played every instrument and sang every note on the Foo Fighters' self-titled 1995 debut. He would later add a band to tour the record, which got a fairly positive reception.

Some of that may have been steeped in curiosity of seeing what Grohl was doing in a post-Nirvana world.

A drummer being just as good as the front person in another band? It had certainly been done before, but maybe not by someone just a few years removed from a heavily hyped act such as Nirvana.

When it was time for the second Foo Fighters album, Grohl fully answered any "well, what else you got?" questions.

The Colour and the Shape makes the Foo Fighters sound massive. "My Hero" hits like a freight train. "Everlong" does the same. It's these types of rock anthems that were missing from the first record.

Are there better Foo Fighters songs that are not on The Colour and the Shape? Probably. But as a complete album, you won't find a better one in the band's catalogue.

Green Day

Best album: American Idiot

There's no denying the impact of 1994's Dookie. Punk bands were suddenly getting courted by big-time record labels trying to find their next Green Day. These were bands, for the most part, that had been afforded little mainstream attention.

Even with that level of influence on the music industry, Dookie falls just shy of 2004's American Idiot. The album accomplishes so much in a span of an hour when it really has no business doing so.

American Idiot is a rock opera that avoids clichés and overwrought sentimentality. It also produced numerous singles, including "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and the title track, that are more than capable of standing on their own.

Most importantly, it marked a career renaissance for Green Day after a somewhat disappointing response to 2000's Warning. After years of experimentation and attempts to broaden their sound, the band finally found something that would not only please existing fans but also open up opportunities for appreciation by a whole new segment of music lovers.

To accomplish that, Green Day needed to go BIG. American Idiot does just that, delivering both a big guitar sound and a big message that was easily welcomed at the time of its release.

READ MORE: 5 Classic Dad Rock Albums You Need to Buy on Vinyl

Limp Bizkit

Best album: Significant Other

You can make a case for at least three different albums to be Limp Bizkit's "best." But if we are talking about the band's work in terms of millennial dads, Significant Other is the correct choice here.

The 1999 album arrived two years after the nu-metal act's much-loved debut, partially thanks to a raucous cover of George Michael's pop hit, "Faith."

With Significant Other, Limp Bizkit were determined to do things on their own. Instead of relying on fresh takes on old music to carry things, they showed surprising range.

There are moments of pure rage ("Break Stuff" and "Nookie"), but there are also some chill vibes ("N 2 Gether Now") to help level things out. And if we were to look at the concept of millennial dad rock quite literally, the balance of frustration and a sense of calm is really what most dads strive to achieve. And if your kids are really bothering you one day, any dad might find themself humming the chorus to "No Sex" — "should have left my pants on this time."

Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water was released only a year after the arrival of Significant Other. That album most certainly has some of Limp Bizkit's best songs. But as far as being true dad rock and consistency from the first to the last track, Significant Other stands out in front of the pack.

Pearl Jam

Best album: Vs.

When a band has a commercially successful debut like Pearl Jam did with 1991's Ten, it usually does one of two things on its second album: replicate the success of the first record using the exact same formula, or come out with a more polished version in hopes of reaching an even larger audience.

Pearl Jam did neither of those things on Vs. Instead of leaning into their success, Pearl Jam dialed things back in favor of a sound that was more raw than what was served on Ten, capturing the ears of late-era Gen X and the earliest millennials.

The feeling hits instantly on the opening track, the appropriately titled "Go," and rarely lets up throughout the rest of the album. Even the acoustic guitar on "Daughter" packs a punch.

Once "Blood" hits, Eddie Vedder has gone full scream-sing mode while the rest of the band goes in and out of the pocket with a tight groove. Somehow, all of this seems unrestrained, but also rather polished at the same time. And that's part of the charm of Vs.

There's no denying Pearl Jam's staying power all of these years later. The band can still crank out a decent album. But absolutely nothing will ever match the unexpected fervent sound of Vs.

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