Note: Sometimes we miss things, like stars on the bottom of reviews. We actually gave this 4.5 stars not the 3.5 stars that’s printed in the mag. Sorry guys. You should go get this album. Really.
Just when you were about to resign to the fact that Green Day had slipped into obscurity following their blockbuster album American Idiot, the punk brats of the nineties surge back with a three act punk opera in the form of their latest effort, 21st Century Breakdown. Obama apparently wasn’t the magical cure to the spit-the-dummy rage on their last album. It’s a good thing as far as this album’s concerned.
21st Century Breakdown charts the story of Christian and Gloria weaving their way through the collapse of the modern world. Flames and destruction abound. The three acts: ‘Heroes and Cons’, ‘Charlatans and Saints’ and ‘Horseshoes and Handgrenades’ are bursting with the raw emotions of punk ideals.
While some critics accused Green Day of being overly preachy on American Idiot, it is this quality that makes 21st Century Breakdown Alternative Press’ most anticipated album of 2009. Green Day is a band teetering on the edge of brilliance. Always at risk of going up in a ball of flames with their heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics, it is the potential for spectacular failure that makes them excitingly addictive to listen to.
‘21st Century Breakdown’, ‘Murder City’ and ‘Horseshoes and Handgrenades’, in which Armstrong lets out an incensed “I’m not fucking around!” are GreenDay at their best while those like ‘Know Your Enemy’ are a hail back to their Dookie days. ‘East Jesus Nowhere’ opens with an abrasive guitar riff before ripping into organised religion.
The strings in ’21 Guns’ add a touch of despair, reminiscent of the tone achieved in ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. ‘Peacemaker’ is an unexpected surprise with Latino influences and a distinctive gypsy feel.
By all laws of logic, Green Day should not have possibly been able to create a follow-up album to the seminal American Idiot and yet they have proved us wrong. 21st Century Breakdown is a near-perfect punk effort.
