Review: Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown

Sergio takes a listen to Greenday’s new album…

Artist Name: Green Day
Album Name: 21st Century Breakdown
Year: 2009
Genre: Pop Punk

Green Day’s latest release, 21st Century Breakdown, is a rock opera about a young couple in love (Christian and Gloria), who are trying to survive in the post-Bush world. Produced by Butch Vig (Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana) and Green Day, much was expected of this follow-up to the record-breaking, American Idiot.

So the million dollar question is: does it beat American Idiot?

Well…

Yes and no.

American Idiot was unique at the time, because, for years, everyone avoided making concept albums after Pink Floyd’s The Wall famously wiped the floor with all other efforts before theirs.

While American Idiot was a fantastic album – if not one of the greatest albums of all time – in my opinion, 21st Century Breakdown is a much more complete and mature musical offering from the band. There are hints of The Beatles, garage rock, punk and current day rock in this 18-track masterpiece. The song-writing, structure and composing is astounding and infectious. The melodies will haunt you throughout the day; while Billie Joe’s contagious voice will reside in your sleep. Don’t be surprised if you start singing to your boss, “Do you know the enemy?” or “Desperate, but not hopeless”.

Unfortunately, any Green Day album will always be compared to American Idiot, which is unfair as they’ve made some great albums before and after their George Bush-inspired effort. However, if you loved the musicianship of My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade and your mind’s completely open to a journey through the ages of rock, I recommend you have a listen.

As a music fan, I loved the album. The longevity and sheer enjoyment make it a permanent fixture in my iPod playlists – I bet that you will also find at least one song to hum along to!

21st Century Breakdown is the kind of record you dream of hearing when you finally decide to fork out your hard-earned cash for an album. It’s also the kind of record that every band should strive to make once in their career. To all the pop-punk bands, like MCR, Fall Out Boy and Simple Plan, this is the new benchmark…

Now, just one thing that made me cross about this album…I swear they printed the inside cover through a crappy printer, which was low on ink. It’s reminiscent of a cover that I printed with my HP in my high school piracy days. Come now, Gallo SA, what’s up with that? Anybody else experience this or is mine just a dud copy?

Best Tracks: All of them!

94/100

This album is available online at the Ovi Music Store. Get it now!

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za