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Rating: A step forward, or a misstep. What Green Day has done is a bold move, perhaps too bold, as it turned out to be an almost complete failure from a musical standpoint.
Many will painfully miss "Dookie" and "Insomniac," and perhaps even "American Idiot" when listening to what the wild punks from Berkeley have produced in 5 years of work. The album is produced by Butch Vig, known for masterpieces like "Nevermind" and "Siamese Dream," yet the work he did is lacking in various areas. Perhaps it's market pressures, perhaps a personal quest, but "21st Century Breakdown" is a cut-and-paste teen pop record, with only a shell of punk rock, the outer casing. The wild and rebellious punks who told a ship to go to hell at Goat Island, who engaged in mud fights with spectators at Woodstock, who screamed to the tune of Basket Case's 6 chords, now decide to release a more classic and commercial album, inspired by the Who and the Clash, with a constant shadow of the early Green Day likely left in to prevent old fans from going into despair. Without comparing it to "Dookie" (arguably the best Punk Rock album after the Sex Pistols' "Nevermind the Bollocks" and Offspring's "Smash"), let's say that in "American Idiot," though it was sold and commercial, there were good ideas (notably the title track, Holiday, and the relatively obscure She's a Rebel), while this album falls into an almost impressive flatness. There are no poorly placed 2-3 chords that make you go wild, there's no more that pop-punk that symbolizes carefree attitude. This "21st Century Breakdown" is a more elaborate album that, while good, does not convince.
The album falls into the Concept Album category (as did the previous "American Idiot") and tells the story of a young couple, Christian and Gloria, through the chaos of the new century. The lyrics deserve praise because they fit perfectly with the sound (though the latter is lacking). The CD marks a clear departure from others due to many more experimental features, such as the introduction of keyboards in some tracks (keyboards in punk?!?!?) which radically change the band's style, from a pop-punk with hardcore elements to a melodic, experimental punk-rock with pop undertones. Few songs carry energy within them (not to mention the energy of '94, nearly absent), but many refer back to rock from the past and are deep and reflective. Yet I still think that creating deep and reflective songs isn't Green Day's calling.
Part 1: "Heroes And Cons" (6.5)
This is the part that contains the most classic songs from the CD. Almost all the songs start as Ballads, but only one ends as such, namely the concluding "Last Night On Earth".
After the initial "Song Of The Century" we move on to the title track, which starts slowly and a bit like a "Ballad" before transitioning in the second half to a fairly energetic and very "classic rock" song. 6.5
"Know Your Enemy" is probably the song that most echoes the Green Day of "American Idiot" on this album. But I'm not biased. The song is a collage of many old Green Day songs (the beginning is copied from Nine Inch Nails' 1,000,000). Rating: 6
"!Viva la Gloria!" follows in the footsteps of the first in terms of structure but is already a bit nicer. Rating: 7
"Before The Lobotomy" ditto. 6.5
"Christian's Inferno" surprised me. It's not Green Day, but that dark bass melody is spectacular. Rating: 7.5
"Last Night On Earth" is the first true ballad of the CD. But it doesn't convince, it's too classic. Rating: 6.5
Part 2: "Charlatans And Saints" (7)
"East Jesus Nowhere", a song that finally breaks the mold and harks back to the old times (it's still a shadow but this time more pronounced). The pace is nice and the song is catchy. Rating: 7.5
"Peacemaker" managed to do the impossible. A very fast song that, however, evokes no excitement and leaves everyone indifferent. Too pompous and compact. Rating: 6
"Last Of The American Girls". What is there to say? Rating: 6.5
"Murder City", one of those songs that feels heard before. But underneath, it's the most convincing of the album. Beautiful, rating: 8
"?Viva La Gloria?", classic yet experimental for Green Day. Cute, rating: 7
"Restless Heart Syndrome", it doesn't convince me. The solo reminds me of "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams". Rating: 6
Part 3: "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" (6.5)
It begins with the song that gives this 3rd part its title. It feels very Clash. Rating: 6.5
"The Static Age" doesn't convince me at all. Rating: 6
"21 Guns". We are faced with a song that's hard to review. The song itself is very beautiful, but there's something about it that doesn't convince me. I don't know. Rating: 7.5
"American Eulogy". I don't know? Rating: 6
"See The Light" doesn't seem like much, but it's nice as a conclusion. Rating: 6.5
If we were to analyze the songs one by one, I wouldn't say that the songs are "bad", but in the overall CD, they are quite monotonous and repetitive, with a few exceptions like "Murder City", "21 Guns", and "Christian's Inferno". I'm not comparing it to 1994 because it would be an abyss, but it all assumes a too pop atmosphere, not just the record but also Green Day's environment (even featuring pink skulls at concerts like Avril Lavigne, are we crazy?), so there is not only a change of sound but also a change of style. But they don't care. The money is there, the girls adore them, and they can afford to happily ignore negative comments. I believe we'll never see a "When I Come Around" from them again.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Know Your Enemy (03:10)
Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy
Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy
Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy
Violence is an enemy
Against the enemy
Violence is an energy
Bringing on the fury
The choir infantry
Revolt against the honor to obey
Overthrow the effigy
The vast majority
Burning down the foreman of control
Silence is the enemy
Against your urgency
So rally up the demons of your soul
Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy
Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy
The insurgency will rise
When the bloods been sacrificed
Don't be blinded by the lies
In your eyes
Violence is an energy
From here to eternity
Violence is an energy
Silence is the enemy
So gimme gimme revolution
Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy
Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy
Overthrow the effigy
The vast majority
Burning down the foreman of control
Silence is the enemy
Against your urgency
So rally up the demons of your soul
09 Peacemaker (03:24)
Well, I've got a fever
A non-believer
I'm in a state of grace
For I am the Caesar
I'm gonna seize the day
Well, call of the banshee hey hey
Hey hey hey hey hey
As God as my witness
The infidels are gonna pay
Well, call the assassin
The orgasm
A spasm of love and hate
For what will divide us?
The righteous and the meek
Well, call of the wild hey hey
Hey hey hey hey hey
Death to the girl at the end of the serenade
Vendetta, sweet vendetta
This Beretta of the night
This fire and the desire
Shots ringing out on a holy parasite
I am a killjoy from Detroit
I drink from a well of rage
I feed off the weakness with all my love
Call up the captain hey hey
Hey hey hey hey hey
Death to the lover that you were dreaming of
This is a stand off
A Molotov cocktail's
On the house
You thought I was a write off
You better think again
Call the peacemaker hey hey
Hey hey hey hey hey
I'm gonna send you back to the place where it all began
Vendetta, sweet vendetta
This Beretta of the night
This fire and the desire
Shots ringing out on a holy parasite
Well now the caretaker's the undertaker
So I'm gonna go out and get the peacemaker
This is the neo-St. Valentine's Massacre
Well call up the Gaza hey hey
Hey hey hey hey hey
And death to the ones at the end of the serenade
Well, death to the ones at the end of the serenade
Well, death to the ones at the end of the serenade
Well, death to the ones at the end of the serenade
14 Horseshoes and Handgrenades (03:14)
I'm not fucking around
I think I'm coming out
All the deceivers and cheaters
I think we've got a bleeder right now
Want you to slap me around
Want you to knock me out
Well, you missed me, kissed me
Now you better kick me down
Maybe you're the runner up
But the first one to lose the race
Almost only really counts
In horseshoes and hand grenades
I'm gonna burn it all down
I'm gonna rip it out
Well, everything you employ was meant for me to destroy
To the ground now
So don't you fuck me around
Because I'll shoot you down
I'm gonna drink, fight and fuck
And I'm pushing my luck all the time now
Maybe you're the runner up
But the first one to lose the race
Almost only really counts
In horseshoes and hand grenades
Demolition, self-destruction
What to annihilate, this age-old contradiction!
Demolition, self-destruction
What to annihilate, this age-old contradiction!
Demolition, self-destruction
What to annihilate, this old age
I'm not fucking around
I think I'm coming out
Well, all the deceivers and cheaters
I've think we've got a bleeder right now
I'm not fucking around
G-L-O-R-I-A
G-L-O-R-I-A
G-L-O-R-I-A
G-L-O-R-I-A!
15 The Static Age (04:16)
Can you hear the sound of the static noise?
Blasting out in stereo
Cater to the class and the paranoid
Music to my nervous system
Advertising love and religion
Murder on the airwaves
Slogans on the brink of corruption
Visions of blasphemy, war and peace
oooh,
Screaming at you
I can't see a thing in the video
I can't hear a sound on the radio
In stereo in the static age
Billboard on the rise in the dawn's landscape
Working your insanity
Tragic a'la madness and concrete
Coca-Cola execution
Conscience on a cross and
Your hearts in a vice
Squeezing out your state of mind
Are what you own that you cannot buy
What a fucking tragedy, strategy
oooh,
Screaming at you.
I can't see a thing in the video
I can't hear a sound on the radio
In stereo in the static age
I can't see a thing in the video
I can't hear a sound on the radio
In stereo in the static age
Hey hey, it's the static age
well This is how the west was won
Hey hey, it's the static age millennium
All I want to know
Is a god-damned thing
Not what's in the medicine
All I want to do is
I want to breathe
Batteries are not included
What's the latest way that a man can die
Screaming hallelujah?
Singing out "the dawn's early light"
The silence of the rotten, forgotten
oooh,
Screaming at you.
I can't see a thing in the video
I can't hear a sound on the radio
In stereo in the static age
I can't see a thing in the video
I can't hear a sound on the radio
In stereo in the static age
I can't see a thing in the video(woah)
I can't hear a sound on the radio(woah)
In stereo in the static age
I can't see a thing in the video(woah)
I can't hear a sound on the radio(woah)
In stereo in the static age
The static age
16 21 Guns (05:21)
Do you know what's worth fighting for?
When it's not worth dying for?
Does it take your breath away
And you feel yourself suffocating?
Does the pain weigh out the pride?
And you look for a place to hide?
Did someone break your heart inside?
You're in ruins
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I
When you're at the end of the road
And you lost all sense of control
And your thoughts have taken their toll
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul
Your faith walks on broken glass
And the hangover doesn't pass
Nothing's ever built to last
You're in ruins
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I
Did you try to live on your own
When you burned down the house and home?
Did you stand too close to the fire
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone?
When it's time to live and let die
And you can't get another try
Something inside this heart has died
You're in ruins
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I
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Other reviews
By Raiden7.0
Right from the start, an awful, phony and cold sound jumps out, which sets up a bad predisposition for listening.
It’s a mishmash we are talking about: a whopping EIGHTEEN tracks that make the album feel ENDLESS.
By paolinoz
"This album is not a masterpiece like the previous one, but it also needs to be listened to a lot before judging it."
"Green Day must still be credited for experimenting with their style and often creating interesting results."
