21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN REVIEW

BY

OZGUR COKYUCE

21st Century Breakdown is the eighth studio album by Green Day, released through Reprise Records on May 15,2009. Since the Insomniac album Green Day released all their albums around September-October time.This is the first time that they chose May for a release,other than their side project - Foxboro Hot Tubs album "Stop Drop And Roll". I think this is also the 3rd Green Day album starting by guitar.(39 Smooth , American Idiot , 21st Century Breakdown)All their other albums start with drums.They were formed in 1987 as Sweet Children and changed their name to Green Day before their first Ep 1000 Hours in 1989.21st Century Breakdown celebrates their 22nd year together and 20th year as Green Day.There aren't much bands left that's been around for 20 years now,so 2009 is a special year for Green Day.

With Dookie they gained mainstream popularity and won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1995.(as of 2009 it sold over 15 million copies worldwide) In 2004 they released American Idiot and they once again achieved popularity worldwide, charting in 26 countries and reaching number one in nineteen of them, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Since its release, American Idiot has sold over 14 million copies worldwide, including 267,000 in its opening week.The album won many awards including a Grammy for Best Rock Album, the song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" won a Grammy for Record of the Year, and Best International Album at the 2006 Brit Awards.Again there are very few bands in the music history who repeat their success after 10 years.American Idiot album showed them making some changes in musical direction,(which had started with the Warning album), with less punk-rock melodies and more arena rock songs.This step, made them lost a few of their core fans but they gained a lot of new ones at the same time.St.Jimmy,Letterbomb and She's a Rebel were the signature Green Day style songs on American Idiot.One important thing about the album is that,this was the first time Green Day wrote mostly political songs,telling people to think,to realise what's going on around the world and to question everything.Although their earlier albums had a punk-rock sound most songs were personal or about love...

Now the new era which started with American Idiot continues and here's a track by track review of the album 21st Century Breakdown :

1- SONG OF THE CENTURY : Nearly a minute long intro to the album.Billie Joe whispering the lines; "Sing us a song of the century,that's louder than bombs and eternity.....Tell us a story that's by candlelight...Tell me a story into that goodnight..." and follows softly through,

ACT 1 - HEROES & CONS :

2 - 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN : This is the "Jesus of Suburbia" or "Homecoming" of this album,lasting more than 5 minutes and includes some of the best lyrics in the album like, "Raised in an era of heroes and cons that left me for dead or alive...I am a nation, a worker of pride...My debt to the status quo." Although the song is not as good as any of the AI songs mentioned above,it's still a good start to the album and kicks more ass when played live.It's the song that clearly shows Billie Joe pushing himself to be progressive in songwriting and being a songwriter.Influences of Queen and The Who are heard at different times during the song.

3 - KNOW YOUR ENEMY : 1st single of 21st Century Breakdown. Know Your Enemy is probably the weakest single of Green Day has ever released.Just think about all the singles on the International Super Hits album including the American Idiot singles and this may top a very few of them.It's too repititive and would have fit better to an album like Shenanigans 2.It could be a very good b-side.

4 - VIVA LA GLORIA : Without a doubt the best song on the album and one of the best songs of Green Day's entire career.It starts with a perfect piano intro and continues with their famous sound that reminds songs especially like "She" and "Letterbomb". Very powerful,melodic and never gets boring.It's about one of the characters of the album called Gloria explained in the lines like, "She smashed her knuckles into winter,as autumns wind fades into black.....She is the saint on all the sinners.....The one that's fallen through the cracks." One of the unforgettable moments of the album.

5 - BEFORE THE LOBOTOMY : "Remember to learn to forget...Whiskey shots and cheap cigarettes".This song starts slow,gives the feeling that it will continue as a ballad but suddenly changes into an uptempo song and again turns to the beginning towards the end.Before the lobotomy is not good enough to be a single and would definitely shine better on the album if left as a non-single song.One of the higlights of Act 1.

6 - CHRISTIAN'S INFERNO : A 3-minute song ,reminding us the Green Day side project rumoured band The Network.(The Network released their debut album Money Money 2020 in the fall of 2003,while Green Day was in the middle of their lost album "Cigarettes & Valentines" Sessions.)

7 - LAST NIGHT ON EARTH : Great love song and one of the most emotional ballads Green Day has ever written.Wonderful closer to Act 1 and a very special moment in the album.Last Night On Earth is maybe the finest result in the band's non-rock angle.

ACT 2 - CHARLATANS & SAINTS :

8 - EAST JESUS NOWHERE : "Say a prayer for the family....Drop a coin for humanity....Ain't this uniform so flattering?....I never asked you a God damned thing" lyric is the reason why you have to listen to this song. AI single "Holiday" echoes in some parts but East Jesus Nowhere is not as good.It may be a live favourite but the thing what makes this song so powerful is the lyrics,not the melody.

9 - PEACEMAKER : If you like Green Day's earlier songs like "King For A Day" from Nimrod or "Misery" from Warning,you may also like this one.Although it's a good,enjoyable song, it definitely shouldn't have taken place in the album as the American Idiot follow up,it would be better as a b-side or an outtake to be re-worked for future releases or side projects.

10 - LAST OF THE AMERICAN GIRLS : Another weak song from the album that could be listened back to back with "Hold On" from Warning or "Walking Alone" from Nimrod.

11 - MURDER CITY : An energetic song,continues to tell the story of the album's second character Christian, as the songs of 21st Century Breakdown talk to each other.It just doesn't fit into Act 2,I think.It could be a really good outtake or should be better if it was put closer to Christian's Inferno in the album's tracklist,in means of sounding as good as it is.

12 - VIVA LA GLORIA(LITTLE GIRL) : "Misery" from Warning was an underrated song and one of the best songs of that album,but a re-make of it or maybe unconciously borrowing from it doesn't work here.The song makes the album more colorful for sure but a Green Day ,"taking a step forward,not sideways or not returning to roots" could have done better.

13 - RESTLESS HEART SYNDROME : This is the worst and most boring song of the album.Although the album contains some of Green Day's greatest songs,this one is easily in their weakest league.It can be a good song to a few fans but definitely will not be the one that real Green Day fans will remember in the future.At least the song should have continued as it had started and not ending with a rock sound.There are too many bands out there trying this sound a lot,some of them being succesful and most of them not and perhaps this is the direction that Green Day really should think of keeping away from.

ACT 3 - HORSESHOES & HANDGRENADES :

14 - HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES : The angriest and most powerful,hard rocking Green Day song in years. Taking it's guitar riff mainly from the ending parts of "Prosthetic Head" from 1997's Nimrod (not from an 2000s Hives Song as some people think.), Horseshoes & Handgrenades proves this band is not only a great rock'n roll band but also can create a brilliant punk-rock song when they want."Platypus" or "St.Jimmy" of this album.

15 - THE STATIC AGE : "Church on Sunday" was one of Warning's finest songs and The Static Age is nearly identical to it,but works good here (compared to "Little Girl/Misery" example.).No matter what people say,this is a good song and it's position in the tracklist can't be better.It's not the best of Act 3 but a cool one in 21st Century Breakdown.

16 - 21 GUNS : "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" of this album.It's ok and the song screams that it's a hit everytime I listen to it but leaves me with a question like : "Why does a band create nearly the same song as BOBD and release it as -again- the 2nd single for a follow up to that album?This same band refused to make a Dookie 2 or any similar sounding versions of their hit singles after Dookie and released an album like Insomniac as a follow up.It can be said that,Insomniac was too quickly came out,they cancelled their tours because of exhaustion and they didn't wanna do the same thing after American Idiot.That's ok but this new album came out nearly 5 years later and musically did this song has to give reasons that it's a try at BOBD 2?I don't know....It just doesn’t fresh at all…..

17 - AMERICAN EULOGY : 2nd best song of the album.American Eulogy is one of the greatest songs of Green Day since their Nimrod or even their Dookie days.Mike's vocals in the second part sounds better than ever.It would be perfect if it was the album closer but it is is really the answer to people who say Green Day is dead.The great proof of them remembering who they really are or what Green Day is.I hope they create more masterpieces like this.Missing the early 90s Green Day??Searching for the best Green Day?? Here it is!!

18 - SEE THE LIGHT : "I crossed the river,fell into the sea....Where the non-believers,go beyond belief....I drank the water,from a hurricane.....And I set a fire....Just to see the flame.".This song was added to the album during the final sessions and could be better if it was left for future albums.Not a bad song.Listening to it back to back with "Uptight" from Nimrod may leave a warm smile on your face; )

***** After 5 years of wait,21st Century Breakdown has been released.It's not as good as expected and as a follow up to American Idiot but a good album for a band who has been around for 20 years.It's the first album that somehow makes you feel you're listening to some good songs put into together,rather than creating a complete album like American Idiot or Dookie.It contains songs like Know Your Enemy,Peacemaker,Last of The American Girls and East Jesus Nowhere, giving the feeling that this could be a good American Idiot outtakes or Warning/Nimrod b-sides album.It also includes 3 masterpieces like Viva La Gloria,Horseshoes and Handgrenades and American Eulogy that easily forgives the other weak tracks on the album.

One way or another Green Day celebrates their 20th Anniversary with a very good album.Some may be dissapointed after the long wait or some may be delighted more than ever.(It's because that they are one of the few bands that gain new fans with their every new album.They have fans like from ages 15 to 55.)On the other hand,when you find a glimmer of happiness in this world, there's always someone who wants to destroy it.When you're at the top,people always find things to get you down…Before accusing them of selling out or not being punk rock just think that most of the "legendary" punk rock bands have signed to major labels.These are the guys who fell in love with punk-rock and still trying their best by amazing rock’n roll songs with cool punk melodies.If you give your time and find yourself in it and feel happy,it's ok.That's what music is for.Green Day continue to take giant steps for being one of the most special, enjoyable and unforgettable rock bands of all time.....

PUNK GLOBE AUGUST 2009

ozgurcokyuce@hotmail.com