Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
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Free Music Notes for 21st Century Breakdown
Free Music Review: Album of the Decade
Hit: 5 Stars
The follow-up to Green Day's massive hit American Idiot finally arrived in 2009 in 21st Century Breakdown, one of the most anticipated albums of the decade. 21st Century Breakdown is a punk rock opera every bit as epic and dramatic as its predecessor. The album, a three-act saga, focuses on Christian and Gloria, a young punk couple coming to terms with America in the 21st Century. In case you were thinking that without Bush and Cheney these punks shouldn't have any worries, 21st Century Breakdown quickly kills that assumption. Hope and Change may be the order of the day, but Christian and Gloria aren't seeing much of either in their 21st century lives. That's oversimplifying things a bit, and the story deserves some serious study, but all the conceptual elements in the world can't help an album if the songs aren't any good.
Fortunately, Green Day proves to be more than up for the challenge. 21st Century Breakdown has some of the band's best singles and is extraordinarily well written. The album, like American Idiot, practically channels the Who at their opera rocking best, and this time around borrows a page (or two) from Queen. Adding the grand orchestration and dramatic flair to Green Day's up-temp pop/punk makes for an unforgettable combination. If it's not the made for shouting along lyrics, it's the insanely catchy melodies; either way the album hooks you immediately and lets the band hammer it home.
21st Century Breakdown offers a nice range of songs, from punk anthems "Know Your Enemy" and "East Jesus Nowhere" to furious rocker "Christian's Inferno" to Armstrong doing his best John Lennon on "Last Night on Earth". The ability of individual songs to stand on their own is where a lot of rock operas break down, but that's not the case here. The songs on 21st Century Breakdown definitely benefit from the greater context of the album, but you can isolate just about any track on the album and have a completely effective single.
Naturally, there will be fans of the band's earlier material that just aren't going to appreciate Green Day's more political and theatrical approach. These fans should still find plenty to love about catchy as hell singles like "Know Your Enemy", "Viva la Gloria" and "East Jesus Nowhere", but there's no doubt some fans will be jumping ship after this one. Honestly, it's their loss. Green Day has become one of the most important bands in pop music, and the fact that they did it on the back of two such intelligent and accessible albums makes their success quite deserved.
Free Music Review: A 21st Century Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
I didn't know what was meant when a critic called this a "punk opera." But as soon as I gave this a listen front to back I knew exactly what he meant. Green Day has truly raised the bar for themselves with "21st Century Breakdown." While they've come a long way since "Dookie" and even "Warning," this album feels as if they fused both of those albums together, along with the bold political message and charge of "American Idiot." Almost all of their songs can be hit singles. Right from the start you feel that you're hearing a new Green Day with the intro "Song of the Century" and the title track. "Know your Enemy" is a solid first single, but compared to the other songs its just a taste of what's to come. "!Viva La Gloria!" and "Before The Lobotomy" both start off as ballads and then break out into full punk fury, the latter would be a great second single since it gives a great feel for how the whole album is like. "Christian's Inferno" is great fast-paced punk rock and reminds me of old school Green Day. "Last Night on Earth" is a piano ballad and is an overall solid slow song but not up to quality as the rest of the album. "East Jesus Nowhere" feels like a outtake out of "American Idiot," and that's easily on par with "Jesus of Suburbia." "Peacemaker" is a upbeat acoustic guitar anthem and is definitely one of Green Day's best. "Last of the American Girls" sounds like 21st Century's "She's a Rebel," and "Murder City" is just great rock. "Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)" starts off as a slow piano ballad, but quickly builds up to an upbeat rock song with a great melody. "Restless Heart Syndrome" also starts off as a piano ballad, then an acoustic ballad, then into full electric guitar, the mini solo riff in the middle of the song is amazing. "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" is as punk as you will ever get and "The Static Age" is another good rock song with a great chorus. "21 Guns" right away reminded me of "All The Young Dudes" from Mott the Hoople and I know everyone will be raising their lighters when they play this at concerts. "American Eulogy" is a two part song and fits really well with the rest of the album, and "See The Light" starts with the same melody as the title track but expands on it and brings the album to a nice optimistic close.
Whether you're a fan or not, this is definitely one of the best rock albums in the past few years. I'll be seeing them perform in August, and I hope they play most if not all the album when I see them. This is a step up from "American Idiot" and a great album about the post-Bush generation, which I am also a part of.
All in all, buy 21st Century Breakdown!!
Free Music Review: Lightning strikes twice
Hit: 5 Stars
I've never disliked Green Day, but I can't say that I've been an avid fan, especially after the lackluster follow-ups to 1994's smash hit "Dookie". That began to change in 2004 with the release of their excellent "comeback" concept album "American Idiot". Now, 5 years later, "21st Century Breakdown" makes me want to buy a Green Day T-shirt to wear with pride.
"American Idiot" was a huge success at the critic and commercial level - these kinds of records, appearing after a decade of being together, create a fear in the fanbase that the last hurrah has been achieved...how in the world are they going to possibly top "American Idiot"? I must admit I had the same concern myself. With each passing year of nothing new from Billie Joe and the gang, I grew closer to writing off "American Idiot" as a fluke and concluding that the band had nothing more to say.
This could not have been more wrong. "21st Century Breakdown" is stupendous. I know it disturbs many of the old school Green Day fans, but the band's new musical direction (a logical extension of where they were headed with "American Idiot") takes their game to the next level. I believe this record will cement Green Day as a force to be reckoned with in the rock world.
Not only is the music on "21st Century Breakdown" some of the most accessible and melodic of their career, but the layers of lyrical depth have me believing that Green Day could be this generation's U2. The record is another concept album of sorts, tracing the history of a young couple (Christian and Gloria) through the first decade of the new millennium.
Produced by Butch Vig along with the band, and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, "21st Century Breakdown" is a sonic masterpiece. The band continues to experiment by adding piano and strings to their crunchy and punchy guitars, and their harmony vocals have never been more abundant and effective. There are almost too many good songs to pick favorites, but I'll go with "Viva La Gloria", "21 Guns", "Before the Lobotomy", and the title track. "Before the Lobotomy" is particularly cool because it starts out as an acoustic ballad that is 'covered' by the more traditional sounding Green Day towards the end of the song.
Absolutely terrific record. Don't let the current single "Know Your Enemy" fool you - it is one of the more simplistic and banal tracks. I am puzzled why it was selected as a single when so many of the other songs are far superior.
Key tracks: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18
Bill's Music Forum review
Free Music Review: A well-thought-out follow-up to American Idiot
Hit: 5 Stars
When I first heard about 21st Century Breakdown being a Rock Opera release from Green Day of all bands, I began to doubt...BIG TIME. Face it, after you've been around as long as these boys have, dipping into the same well time after time begins to yield not a whole heckuva lot. However American Idiot was spectacular, as the phenomenal number of CD's sold can attest. I have rarely been entirely let down and felt it only fitting to give this one a good unbiased listen to before making my mind up.
A Rock Opera did you say...? I gotta tell you in this case, not only did Green Day break from their usual, they have managed to produce a fine collection of songs that will get at the very least a TON of airplay. Their mass appeal over the years is a testament to their longevity in such a fickle business as the recording world. One minute you're hot, the next you have a hard time getting folks to remember who you are--let alone WERE. I see it all the time. I've been in radio for going on 21 years now and it never ceases to amaze me the sheer number of artists/groups that fade almost immediately after their first release is played on the air. But we're talking about Green Day--they've already had some serious ups and downs--AND they've come out stronger and bigger than ever before. How many critics counted them all but washed up before American Idiot came out? I rest my case.
But lets get back to 21st Century Breakdown. It's a mixture of old, new and a whole lot of attitude. While not as all-out fun as the overall in-yer-face we got with American Idiot, I see a great deal of thought went into pretty much every facet of this release. From ballads to the whole F-You-type songs we've come to expect from Green Day, this record is bound to please the vast majority of fans, young & old. I WILL say this, though: it isn't a CD for everybody. It'll sell millions of copies, mark my word--but there will be some, and I feel strongly about this, a SMALL number of so-called fans who will rank this very low...Fans, just like the band themselves MUST evolve as well otherwise it'll all stagnate.
In particular I enjoyed 21 Guns--a light mix of 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' and 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' and entirely listenable. As I say all the time, Opinions Vary, and I believe we'll see that in full force here at amazon...but overall, I salute Green Day for a fantastic follow up to American Idiot, easily one of their all-time best collections to date...but don't take MY word for it, go and get this CD TODAY.
Free Music Review: History Repeats Itself
Hit: 5 Stars
First off this album is excellent. Not because it took almost 3 1/2 years to make or the fact that it is cause its Green Day. The fact of the matter is the lyrics and the way the group has decided to incorporate much more type of instruments in their music. For those who feel this needs to be American Idiot part 2, give it a rest. For those who feel they need to write another dookie, insomniac (fav album), nimrod or warning.....give it a rest. These guys are almost close to 40, not to mention they have families. More then half the stuff on this album is technically what is going on in the world as we speak. Also alot of the lyrics are affecting everyone, including the muscian. These guys wrote an album about a state of the world that will most likely affect their children and their own. Its not made up. 21st century breakdown points that out very clearly. Furthermore the characters Gloria and Christian represent not only adolescents but also adults in general. On one side you have Gloria who is spirited and is trying to make a change, now to those reading this, i'm pretty sure you know of at least one person in the world that represents Gloria. However Christian is the type of person that our society tends to have more of. A negative pessimistic, nihistic lonely person. Eash song in my opinion not only shows how both people can reach a higher standard for themselves but also can hit the ground at rapid speed (little girl). American Idiot spoke about a number of things, and really only two songs on that album was about politics A.I., Holiday. This album speaks about our current state of the world, not about the bush administration and not about our current administration. But it does leave a sense that not everything is just going to be okay, hence "Murder City, 21st Century Breakdown, East Jesus Nowhere, Static Age, American Eulogy which are just a few". The only song that really has a sense of hope or happiness are "See The Light and Last Night On Earth". For those just looking for a band to play some Rock and not that much Punk. Go for it. Its a good album. And for those who have a problem with it. Ask yourself, is an artist really that great if they keep repeating themselves? Compare the lyrics of dookie to the lyrics of 21st century breakdown. Think about it. Peace.