Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

earnest anticipation of this.... thing

Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown, one of 2009's most-anticipated records, releases in May. Yesterday, reps from the band's label, Warner Bros., swung by SPIN's lower Manhattan office to play us six of the album's 16 tracks and feed us a bucket of fried chicken.

Our verdict? We love it. (The chicken was pretty good, too.)

In the six songs, Green Day keep their punk urgency and lyrical angst, but expand their ambition. They use dramatic musical shifts reminiscent of Queen, and Who-like classic rock guitars. There's even a poignant piano ballad that Fiona Apple could love.

Billie Joe Armstrong's vocals push towards falsetto, adding a new level of emotion to his singing.

And his lyrics mix the political with the social, depicting marginal characters betrayed by church and state. Focusing on greed, corrupted religion, and war, the conceptual album is broken into three parts: Heroes and Cons, Charlatans and Saints, and Horseshoes and Handgrenades.

21st Century Breakdown, the follow-up to 2004's Grammy-winning American Idiot, took Armstrong three years to write. The band has been in the studio with producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Against Me!) since last fall.

Here are some highlights from the six tracks we heard:

"21st Century Breakdown" Green Day's most epic song yet. With the quiet-verse, loud-chorus dynamics of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," this five-minute cut builds from harpsichord and Edge-like guitar fills to assaultive drums and arena-filling barre chords. Armstrong's lyrics about his peers are as urgent as the music: "My generation is zero / I never made it as a working class hero. Dream America, dream / Scream America, scream."

"Know Your Enemy"
The song's fast pace and feverish guitar make this track sound like an outtake from the Dookie sessions. And Armstrong continues his political screed: "Do you know the enemy / “Silence is the enemy so give me revolution.”

"Before the Lobotomy"
Armstrong sings like you've never heard him before. Strumming an acoustic guitar, he hits all the high notes, as his lyrics lament a character in such pain his "misery [is] drenched in gasoline."

"March of the Dogs"
Handclaps, surf guitar, lyrics about sodomized dogs -- all accompanying a scathing indictment of contemporary religion. Hard and fast from start to finish, this spiky four-and-a-half-minute tune finds Armstrong ranting, "I threw my conscience in the river in the shadow of doubt," referencing the famous Biblical passage, Psalm 23:4, which reads, "I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death... I will fear no evil."

"Restless Heart Syndrome"
Green Day's largest sonic departure yet. With quiet piano and confessional lyrics ("I've got a really bad disease / Its got me on my hands and knees") Armstrong channels Fiona Apple. Until the Linkin Park-style guitars kick in.

"21 Guns"
The catchiest of the new songs. This track covers a lot of territory in its five minutes, from a solo acoustic guitar (reminiscent of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams") to Brian May-worthy electric riffage. But the chorus holds the killer hook, as Armstrong hits never-before-reached highs with his voice in a thrilling moment that reminds us of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes."
Well done, guys.

title track was floating around but i can't find it anywhere

i loved a lot of american idiot but haven' listened to it in forever

no

The band has been in the studio with producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Against Me!) since last fall.

I love how those kind of qualifiers will change with time. Ten years back it would have been 'Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins'

that against me! album is incredible

ayo did you ever hear this?

http://991.com/NewGallery/Foxboro-Hot-Tubs-Stop-Drop-And-Rol-433858.jpg

imo incognito retro goofin' >>>> any "real" Green Day album they could come up with at this point

lol

"My generation is zero / I never made it as a working class hero. Dream America, dream / Scream America, scream."

i'm sort of excited for this though.

nah i should get it tho... i wasn't really feeling the single but yeah i wouldn't mind retro goofin xp

really i have no problem with bloated labored rock operas coming from the right kinds of artists, but shit like American Idiot and The Black Parade from formerly fast fun punk/pop bands is like a politician breaking the one campaign promise that put them in power to begin with.

much like politician's breaking campaign promises it's kind of inevitable tho

still don't get how you don't fuck w/ black parade, it's a diff look for them obv but the massive choruses are still there

really i have no problem with bloated labored rock operas coming from the right kinds of artists, but shit like American Idiot and The Black Parade from formerly fast fun punk/pop bands is like a politician breaking the one campaign promise that put them in power to begin with.

― pour some suggban on me (some dude), Monday, February 23, 2009 9:16 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

but the major "opus" on american idiot was really just a bunch of really short mid-period Who songs just jammed together...it was like some tales from topographic oceans shit.

it was basically just "A quick one while he's away" for mall punx, which seemed in the lineage to me.

don't know the black parade, but i generally think that band sucks balls.

"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"
"Restless Heart Syndrome"

i will buy this shit because i still love this band aint even frontin

Billie Joe Armstrong's vocals push towards falsetto, adding a new level of emotion to his singing.

This is all you need to read to know that this album will be awful.

Billie Joe Armstrong's vocals push towards falsetto, adding a new level of emotion to his singing. This is all you need to read to know that this album will be awful.

Indeed. Ouch.

That said, "wake me when september is over" still kills me, but then I first heard it when I hadn't seen my sailor in a few months so I'll use that as my dumb excuse for listening to it a bunch when it first came out. Hmmm.... apparently I got annoyed at it at some point though, since I just looked for it in my itunes & it's not in there anymore.

maybe because it's called wake me up when september ends?

or because you deleted it because it's terrible?

Yeah, it really was crap. Good lord, Summer 2005.

[i]"Before the Lobotomy" Armstrong sings like you've never heard him before. Strumming an acoustic guitar, he hits all the high notes, as his lyrics lament a character in such pain his "misery [is] drenched in gasoline."[i]

I'm half interested in listening to this one once, just because that description makes it sound soooo bad.

also leaked, also haven't heard it

So good.

So good.

Sounds like Big Country

ooohh shhiiiit

this is super good

the clash aping the who + the smoothest ballads they've ever done

this is not good. 70 MINUTES. silky edge-free Vig blandness. played-out chord progressions and cringeworthy lyrics. all "statement," no actual content.

"played-out chord progressions"

There's like 12 notes dude. This isn't Tool.

yeah but lots of guitar bands find ways to not rip off their own shit this blatantly for 70 MINUTES.

or any other musical acts for that matter. 70 MINUTES.

sounds like you're having a 21st Century Breakdown, Simon.

i still can't believe there are people who liked American Idiot, so i don't even know where to begin with this convo

i'm really curious what "content" means in the dichotomy of "statement vs. content"

This might be their best album. I'm holding off going totally hyperbolic until i have a few listens under my belt.

yall got me too hyped

american idiot is great obviously

by "content" I guess I'm looking for anything beyond basic sloganeering, which is a tall order in this case. more importantly, though, I just find it tepid in every sense. oh, and the most lively track is an obvious "main offender" rip-off.

Oh and it may not be Tool but they are taking up 70 MINUTES as a Tool record would.

I mean if the praise continues I might give it another shot but "punk urgency"? I didn't hear any.

Um, save "punk urgency" for punk bands, homie. Todd P usually books the good ones at Market Hotel. This is a major label pop band who writes political songs.

I get that, I was just marveling at the quote from ^^^the top. Pop bands shouldn't make records this long, especially if their "political" lyrics are this toothless.

70 MINUTES

all are worth it

I just wanna say again: This album is tremendous. I've got a review of it coming out where I basically gush about how amazing it is.

Pop bands shouldn't make records this long, especially if their "political" lyrics are this toothless.

Toothless! Unlike all those punk bands who are making such a huge difference in the world with their music! IMHO, this album has more of a potential impact on its listeners (particularly when you consider who its listeners are) than 99% of contemporary political albums.

21st Century Breakdown, the follow-up to 2004's Grammy-winning American Idiot, took Armstrong three years to write.

Well there's the problem.. They need to go back to writing and recording the entire thing in a month.

Not just being annoying, but wondering: who is their audience? Cos to 17 year olds, they're dads, and to 35 year olds, they're embarrassing. Have they successfully become Bon Jovi lifers?

my 17 year old brother loved Green Day intensely from about 11 on, and I am pretty sure he still does..

Give him a year.

in the vv review of the new album the writer uses the words "boring" and "tuppence" no less than 3 times

VV = ?

village voice

lol?

you are confused

tbh

i'm pretty sure i wrote the VV review of the new Green Day album?

i'm pretty sure it was about a pomeranian

(is probably just confused about what we're talking about)

http://www.wolfpack10.com/tuppence/tupp-reflect.gif
know your enemy

Next week Rock Band 2 is releasing a 3-pack of songs from 21stCB.

i believe "green day" is now the only band name my 4-yr-old son knows. mostly he just loves "know your enemy" and "christian's inferno." he has no idea what the words are, but he uses a cardboard toilet-paper tube as a microphone and sort of mouths along.

i like this album a lot more than american idiot. it's still a little overblown, but even their gypsy-rock shit is better than, say, the decemberists'. and i guess it means something that their catalog is deep enough that now they can just rip off themselves ("static age" is a straight rewrite of "church on sunday" -- but it improves on it). anyway, lots of fun. my sister and brother are going to see them later this month, and i'm jealous.

i haven't figured out a way to weasel into the NYC shows because someone who shall remain nameless pitched the voice before me! I want to see this tour so bad!

my sister hit the online scalpers for the d.c. show and spent some very large amount of money. she's 38 and i think green day is the only band since springsteen that she would have done that for.

i thought they were supposed to play 21st Century Breakdown in its entirety on this tour. Kind of sad they are not

they did that in the warm-up shows, didn't they?

well i missed those :(

i haven't figured out a way to weasel into the NYC shows because someone who shall remain nameless pitched the voice before me! I want to see this tour so bad!

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, July 7, 2009 1:36 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark

i think forks has some tips 4 u

When you have a major label record deal, win Grammies, get endorsement deals from guitar makers and headline shows at the Enormodome, you're not raging against the machine... you ARE the machine.

Why do people like this band, again?

uncle tupelo was fucking raging live and remain a great band.

whiney don't call me out for liking dad rock. liking dad rock is part of who i am. i can't change.

Wrong thread, M@tt...

XXP OMG. You're right! Green Day aren't rebels at all. I don't see how I could have missed that... I don't like this band anymore!

no he quoted me here!!

.though find it sort of a bad sign (no offense to the goon cru) that the people defending it the most are the people that don't really like rock music that much.

I find it a bad sign that people that DO really like rock music think Wilco is an interesting band

― cr33p in the keller (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, July 7, 2009 6:19 AM (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

also:
gear likes this album

the defense rests.

like i LOVE the idea of no-cal gilman st. knuckleheadz doing a mall punk "quick one while he's away" but the second time around feels way too forced and no inspiration.

ilxor i hate nu-GD and their vague "political lyrics" as much as anyone but man that was a weak-ass takedown

"political" chixie dicks is even worse though

man that was a weak-ass takedown

Yeah no worries, I wasn't trying to write a thesis on it. Just making a quick comment.

you're not making a quick comment...you ARE the quick comment

one...tweenty one guuu-eee-uuuuuuuuns!!

wonder what '94 billie would think of the raccoon eye make-up

So has this album been very successful? Nothing close to the last one right? Genuine question, I haven't been following along.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Century_Breakdown#Chart_performance

I don't know how recent that is, tho.

it's funny how a lot of my friends think this album is some flop that everyone's ignoring as opposed to realizing it's easier to live in a shell where nothing happens if it didn't occur in the pfork/stereogum/idolator bubble now than in 2004

big modern rock blockbusters play out over the course of a year anyway -- if in a few months radio isn't touching the 3rd single and the sales aren't anywhere near the last Linkin Park album or whatever, then and only then can it be declared even a 'relative' failure

i mean every GD or RHCP album makes a mint, if you wanna knock on one for making a smaller mint than American Idiot or Californication that's still a pretty hollow victory

can we knock them for sucking?

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/128343885245156250plztostoppok.jpg

hey if you can come back to reaffirm you love all but one of the tracks, i can come back to reaffirm lol you need to buy some styx it's faster

i didn't revive this to say i hate 16 of the 17 songs

nooooo fuuuuutuuuree

more like killjoy was here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1410000/images/_1411586_rik.jpg

aww how come you can hate on wilco here but i can't make jokes about how embarrassing this album is for the planet

if "joy" actually describes the feeling this album gives you then i will take your word for it

i mean if the children need incoherent "political" pomp you wonder how they got through 1995 with just really good pop-punk

you're not making a quick comment...you ARE the quick comment

― Burt's SBs (some dude), Monday, July 13, 2009 7:19 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

lol

my version of this album is awesome

whiney what is the song you don't love?

I'm still enjoying this a great deal. It is kind of like an alt-rock Styx, which I have no problem with.

was v surprised when listening through their discography that i like this record even more than when it came out. "american idiot but even bigger" shouldn't work at all yet

this album still sucks

https://www.stereogum.com/2234349/green-day-are-selling-a-nimrod-shirt-featuring-donald-trumps-mugshot/news/