Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown [Album]

Reprise

September 17, 2009, 07:10 PM

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Since the band's unexpected success of 'American Idiot' it finally meant that Green Day were taken more seriously, and they seemed to have become a little bit more serious themselves as well. The humour so proudly present on their breakthrough album "Dookie" and the fun still present as late as 2000's "Warning" seems to have completely vanished. Musically though little has changed. In fact, "21st Century Breakdown" is one of the few Green Day albums not going in a different direction at all. Instead, the band is tapping into their own musical history and although on the surface it looks like a continuation of "American Idiot" in many ways - the narrative story, the classic rock sound - "21st Century Breakdown" actually collects all the things Green Day made their own over the last twenty-plus years, the good and the bad.

Though lyrically split into three acts, 'Heroes & Cons', 'Charlatans & Saints' and 'Horseshoes & Handgrenades', all narrating the story of a couple living under George W. Bush‘s presidency, it’s not a coherent story. If anything, it’s a reflection on America’s history of hypocrisy, extremenesses and people getting lost in society. ‘East Jesus Nowhere‘ and ’Peacemaker’ for example refer to the hypocritical conservative Christians praying for peace while preaching war, the title song and ballads ‘Before the Lobotomy’ and ‘Restless Heart Syndrome’ all reflect the feelings of melancholy and desperation that Billie Joe Armstrong only knows too well.

On a musical level it’s, considering the many musical transitions the band went through, quite surprising to hear the different styles all coming together on this album. The sharpness and anger of ‘Dookie’ is represented on ‘Horseshoes and Handgrenades’ and ‘Murder City.’ ’Viva la Gloria (Little Girl)’ could have been a "Warning" out-take while ‘21st Century Breakdown’ and ‘21 Guns’ continue the pop / punk / rock sound of "American Idiot’s" ‘Holiday’.

This is, however, also the downside of this album. ‘Peacemaker’ for instance sounds a little bit too much like "Warnings’" ‘Misery’ while ‘Last of the American Girls’ seems to be the exact same story of "American Idiot’s" ‘She’s a Rebel’, only using slightly different words. The predictability of going from quiet to loud, as on ‘Viva la Gloria’ is a classic pop punk trick that Green Day should maybe have left behind a long time ago too.

Nevertheless, with a couple of excellent songs, most notably ‘21 Guns’, ‘Easy Jesus Nowhere’, ’Last Night on Earth’ and ‘Horseshoes and Handgrenades’, "21st Century Breakdown" is a great addition to the Green Day discography. It’s not as impressive as "Dookie" or "American Idiot," but ends up being in the same league as "Insomniac," "Nimrod" and "Warning." That said though, "21st Century Breakdown" is still something most other pop punk bands can only dream of.

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