Green Day- "21st Century Breakdown"

[Matt Young]

Release Date: May 15, 2009

1. Song of the Century

Act I: Heroes and Cons

2. 21st Century Breakdown
3. Know Your Enemy
4. ¡Viva La Gloria!
5. Before The Lobotomy
6. Christians Inferno
7. Last Night On Earth

Act II: Charlatans and Saints

8. East Jesus Nowhere
9. Peacemaker
10. Last Of The American Girls
11. Murder City
12. ¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)
13. Restless Heart Syndrome

Act III: Horseshoes and Handgrenades

14. Horseshoes And Handgrenades
15. The Static Age
16. 21 Guns
17. American Eulogy (Mass Hysteria/Modern World)
18. See The Light

I'm sure this will go over like a fart in church here with the way most of you guys' musical tastes lean, but whatever. Green Day's been my favorite band since 1993-1994 and got me wanting to create my own music. But while Dookie was their most popular album, Kerplunk! was actually my favorite up until American Idiot. Most of my favorite songs (on any given album) are the ones that were never released as singles.

I thought Idiot was their best work, and the new album, 21st Century Breakdown is more of the same. I can't say yet if it's better than the last album, but I've listened to it all the way through many times over the past week. The album began streaming on MTV.com, Rhapsody, and other sites last Friday, and I obtained a burned copy as well. I'll be buying the official release today.

It's hard to pick favorites since the album is best listened to as a whole and is more than the sum of its parts, but I'd have to say that the following are my top 5, in no particular order except for the title track being #1 (as opposed to American Idiot, where the title track was easily the worst:

"21st Century Breakdown"
"¡Viva La Gloria!"
"Before the Lobotomy"
"Relentless Heart Syndrome"
"The Static Age"

The lyrics to all songs can be found here: http://www.greenday.com/site/lyrics.php

The album is still streaming at Rhapsody as well: http://www.rhapsody.com/green-day/21st-century-breakdown

*puts on flame shield*

 

[Twisted Intestine]

I've stated before that they've been my favourite band for the past 13+ years.

Here's a song. I love it.

Green Day - 21 Guns - 21st Century Breakdown (2009)

Edit: Oh shit, it's streaming? I gotta give it a listen!

Edit again: Oh, US only. What else is new? You know, I wanted to register to netflix the other day just so I could stream movies online through them, and "noooo, we can't stream in Canada!" Fuck off.

 

[Youth N Asia]

I got into Green Day when everyone else did after Dookie hit big. Been one of my very favorite bands since then. I probably had American Idiot for 6 months before ever giving it a real listen. Mostly cause it was so over hyped I was just ready to be let down, but damn if it wasn't their best work ever.

Looking forward to giving the new album a listen. They've had enough time to put something good together

 

[Just Burny]

I still think Dookie is a great album. Have they come out and thanked the bush administration for making them relevant (again) yet?

 

[Mik]

I find this album pretty forgettable.

 

[Czech]

Pop-punk bands trying to make concept albums--usually by writing songs with parentheticals in the titles or this "a play in three acts" shit--is one of the more regrettable trends of this decade. Not even 1970s prog bands could reliably get away with it. The song is okay for what it is, I guess, but trying to frame it in some hackneyed attempt at high art is really kind of pathetic. I'm sure this sort of posturing goes over like gangbusters with 16-year-olds who maintain livejournals and deviantart accounts, but if The Academy Is... puts out an album with a song called "Overture" or "Interlude (The Night Beyond)" or some shit like that, I'll drive down to Hoffman Estates and personally box their ears.

 

[daileyxplanet]

Coheed did it first.

 

[snuffbox]

Does that make it ok?

 

[Twisted Intestine]

Pop-punk bands trying to make concept albums--usually by writing songs with parentheticals in the titles or this "a play in three acts" shit--is one of the more regrettable trends of this decade. Not even 1970s prog bands could reliably get away with it. The song is okay for what it is, I guess, but trying to frame it in some hackneyed attempt at high art is really kind of pathetic. I'm sure this sort of posturing goes over like gangbusters with 16-year-olds who maintain livejournals and deviantart accounts, but if The Academy Is... puts out an album with a song called "Overture" or "Interlude (The Night Beyond)" or some shit like that, I'll drive down to Hoffman Estates and personally box their ears.

Well, I see what you're saying but I don't. They are a band attempting to make the best music that they can and trying to do something different than they have done in the past (with their past two albums trying to create a theme and paint a picture of their view of modern day society through it as opposed to their past albums which were just compilations of short fast beat standalone songs). Who is calling it "High art"? What is high art? Art and music are what they are and it's up to the individual to determine how much of an impact it has. What Greenday are doing is no less or greater than what any other musicians do (See: Axl Rose, Eminem) which is to put out an album which they could consider their greatest work. I never really think lumping Greenday in with the pop punk bands of today is fair, just because they've had such longevity and aren't just a band starting up to cash in on the latest trend. This is kind of a lost decade in terms of music, as there hasn't really been any defining band or genre. Time might look back on this album as a great music/idea, or time might not look back on it at all. I don't really know what point I'm trying to hit, or if there's even any point in this whole ramble, but whatever, might as well hit the post BUTTon now. I've only had the chance to listen to a few songs so far. I will listen to the complete albm soon and see if it speaks to me or not.

 

[daileyxplanet]

Does that make it ok?

Coheed did it far better, and has actually turned it into a franchise.

 

[Twisted Intestine]

The Simpsons did it!

Anyways, the good news is with each album the release they always have a slower paced song that gets released as a single (Warning: Warning, American Idiot: Boulevard of Broken Dreams) and I always hate those songs. Hopefully 21 Guns is that song for this album, cause I actually liked it. Well, I liked Time of your life as well, which I guess was that song for Nimrod.

 

[tominator89]

Green Day was my first concert back in '95 right after Insomniac came out.

Thus far the only track I've heard off the new album was "Know Your Enemy" which I didn't really care for.

 

[Mik]

I'm guessing that "21 Guns" will be released because they played it on SNL last night.

 

[AntiLeaf33]

Picked the album up Saturday. I've had it on in the background, but I haven't really "listened" to yet it. Doesn't seem too bad, just nothing really memorable yet

 

[Matt Young]

I'm guessing that "21 Guns" will be released because they played it on SNL last night.

It's also advertised on the sticker on the CD along with "Know Your Enemy". I like it, but wouldn't make ti the 2nd single.

 

[THE KEELEDOVER KID]

I'd better give the full thing a listen before my perception is tainted by the inevitable horrifying stormtrooper of a marketing campaign seemingly designed specifically to make me hate every song on the album.

 

[THE KEELEDOVER KID]

Well I just listened to "21 Guns" and it doesn't bode well. This is EXACTLY the same song as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

 

[Twisted Intestine]

Well I just listened to "21 Guns" and it doesn't bode well. This is EXACTLY the same song as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

What?

 

[Dobbs3K]

I haven't heard this new one yet, so have no opinion on it. I did enjoy "American Idiot" for what it really was...just a good collection of punky pop-rock songs, which had a few ends that tied together nicely. I think if anything, some of the press like Rolling Stone salivating all over it like it was the most important album of the last ten years got old pretty quickly.

 

[THE KEELEDOVER KID]

Well I just listened to "21 Guns" and it doesn't bode well. This is EXACTLY the same song as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

What?

What do you mean, what? It's pretty blatant self-plagiarization. Same exact song structure, similar-sounding chord progression. They even do the same hackneyed goreallyquietandthenbringbacktheacousticguitarrightafterthesolo thing. Sorry, I'll withhold judgment on the rest until I've actually heard it, but this song is exactly what I was worried it would be.

 

[Skywarp!]

While I got Dookie for Christmas in '94 (that didn't sound right), it didn't stay in rotation very long for me. I usually don't like when people use the "every song sounds the same!" argument in dismissing a band, but for Green Day (and Everclear) it applies. I found Dookie to be an average album, so I always wonder what the hell I missed when it turns up on "best albums of the '90s/all time" lists.

 

[meirslooth]

I'm guessing Green Day is following their American Idiot strategy of releasing singles.

1st single - 3 Minute Punk Rock Song - "American Idiot"/"Know Your Enemy"
2nd single - acoustic rock song - "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"/"21 Guns"

Which means the next three singles will be "Peacemaker" (Holiday), "Last Night on Earth" (Wake Me Up), and "21st Century Breakdown" (Jesus of Suburbia)

 

[Matt Young]

"Boulevard" and "21 Guns" are both slow, but not acoustic. "21st Century Breakdown" deserves to be the next single; should have been the first. "Viva la Gloria!" definitely needs to be a single. Same with "Before the Lobotomy". I could also see a "Last of the American Girls/Murder City" combo. Gah, too many good songs.

 

[DMann1979]

Fuck that, Horseshoes and Handgrenades is my fav track so far, granted a single would involve alot oi bleeping, but I love that one.

 

[ZGangsta]

"Horseshoes and Hand Grenades" is pretty great. I like "Last of the American Girls," "21 Guns," and "21st Century Breakdown."
The rest of the album is just there though. Nothing else stands out to me as anything other than filler or missteps. I really don't like "Know Your Enemy" as well. I don't know why they'd pick that as the single. I think people would be going crazy for the record if they'd released "Horseshoes and Hand Grenades" instead.

Overall I was disappointed.

 

[Precious Roy]

Coheed did it first.

Coheed did what first?

 

[Mik]

Pitchfork, predictably, was not very kind to this.

 

[THE KEELEDOVER KID]

Pitchfork, predictably, was not very kind to this.

Hahaha, just what I came in here to say. I'm no tremendous Green Day fan but honestly, fuck 'em. Whenever a huge mainstream record comes out, they come out with this transparently self-conscious bilious review, often by a writer who admittedly has no business reviewing the album in question. This review starts with four paragraphs of the reviewer ranting about what a horrible album "American Idiot" was. When "Idiot" came out, another Pitchfork reviewer gave it a 7.5 or something like that. Clearly there's someone on their staff who hadn't made up their mind about the new record before it ever came out, why didn't they have him write the review? Fucking stupid. Pitchfork is reliable enough for indie reviews where they can like the album without jeopardizing their credibility, but with anything that'll turn up on MTV the review immediately turns into hipster cock-measuring. I don't see why they even feel the need to review these albums anymore.

 

[daileyxplanet]

Coheed did it first.

Coheed did what first?

The Alt-Rock Concept Album.

Except they managed to create an entire universe in the span of four albums. Have also started comics. Still radio friendly.

 

[Precious Roy]

Coheed did it first.

Coheed did what first?

The Alt-Rock Concept Album.

Hahahhaa. No.