Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown Review
I was watching Green Day on Good Morning America and I wanted to laugh, 12 year-olds rocking to “Knowing Your Enemy”. Green Day has come a long way from When I Come Around, while continuing to collect new fans. That’s just great! I’m admitting right now, I am indifferent to Green Day – neither loving or hating them. I never followed their career closely. The only Green Day album I own is the 2004 American Idiot, and aside from this, I know of them from watching MuchMusic on/off through my teenager years. So while I’m not a hardcore fan, I believe that I can provide a non-bias perspective on their new album 21st Century Breakdown. But, as usual, take it with a grain of salt.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the video for Knowing Your Enemy video. Like I said before, definitely didn’t love the video. I get the whole ‘anarchy’ bit, but especially after looking at the audience in the Good Morning America, I feel like the purpose is lost. Musically, I find this album to be a bit more subdued than I remember their energy to be. Even Knowing Your Enemy, the first single, while it has ‘energy’, it’s not comparable to some of the older tracks I have heard. Some people are calling the title track 21st Century Breakdown ‘epic’, sorry I really don’t agree. To me, most of the album sounds very similar to American Idiot with just a hint of an evolved sound. According to the Rolling Stone article, “21st Century Breakdown veers from hard-charging garage rockers to oversize Queen-style grandeur. Chronicling the life of a young couple as they deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind, the punk opera is divided into three acts: “Heroes and Cons,” “Charlatans and Saints” and “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.”
Perhaps there are bits and pieces of the album that prove this Rolling Stone statement true. The 1st and 3rd act simply sound too ‘regular’ and ’standard’, aka lacking full energy and enthusiasm. In this album I much preferred the Queen-style Grandeur and the Punk-Rock Opera tracks that show an evolution of their sound. For example, Last Night On Earth is a very grand slow musical piece that lingers your emotions of nostalgia. East Jesus Nowhere has a more definitive Green Day signature attached to it, an up-tempo track that makes you want to march around in your living room. The entire Act II: Charlatans and Saints is easily my favourite part of the album full of flavours and experiments. Listen for the western-sounding Peacemaker and Viva La Gloria?, the very anthem-sounding Last Of The American Girls, and the rock-orchestras with full violins in Restless Heart Syndrome. Oh yes, you have to love the cover art. It’s inspiring, non?
Their next single will be 21 Guns.
Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
21st Century Breakdown Track listing
1. “Song of the Century” 0:58
Act I: Heroes and Cons
2. “21st Century Breakdown” 5:09
3. “Know Your Enemy” 3:11
4. “¡Viva la Gloria!” 3:31
5. “Before the Lobotomy” 4:37
6. “Christian’s Inferno” 3:07
7. “Last Night on Earth” 3:57
Act II: Charlatans and Saints
8. “East Jesus Nowhere” 4:35
9. “Peacemaker” 3:24
10. “Last of the American Girls” 3:51
11. “Murder City” 2:54
12. “¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)” 3:48
13. “Restless Heart Syndrome” 4:20
Act III: Horseshoes and Handgrenades
14. “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” 3:14
15. “The Static Age” 4:17
16. “21 Guns” 5:21
17. “American Eulogy” (A. “Mass Hysteria” / B. “Modern World”) 4:26
18. “See the Light” 4:36
Tags: album
