Remember the summer of 2001? The dot-com boom had been crashing around us, we had an incompetent yet, at the time, inconsequentially harmless president, and although nothing was great, we were happy, feeling glad and, sardonically, had sunshine in a bag. Then tragedy rained down in NY. The clear and present target for our angst finished reading a book to an elementary school class and stepped into our crosshairs. Cue hundreds of concise and timely pop-punk albums, including Green Day’s triumphant American Idiot. Four months into an administration that arguably agrees with most of Billie Joe’s lyrics and spirit from that album comes 21st Century Breakdown. Released in the midst of yet another economic collapse, and without an obvious target for rebellion, the album succeeds where other post-bush regime albums like Bad Religion’s New Maps of Hell fall flat. The album pulls pop-punk heartstrings all the way through. The album is broken into three acts, each having its own theme of sorts. The acts start with a static-riddled radio-style short song introducing the theme. The first, “Heroes and Cons,” focuses on the empty promises of the new century. The two most outstanding songs in this act are the title track and “Christian’s Inferno.” The title track echoes the trend of “Jesus of Suburbia” (Weezer tried to pull it off with “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived,” YAWN), longer songs moving through style and time signature changes. It ends on a minor key out of beat with the rest of the song, carrying through the empty dreams of generations it speaks to. “Christian’s Inferno” is a ripping, fast-paced pop-punk anthem. Green Day can hit the slow, ballad marks fine but they absolutely destroy the fast strong loud songs, going back to “2,000 Light Years Away,” “She,” and “Basket Case.” “Christian’s Inferno” has that speed and energy plus a dark twist. The single “Know Your Enemy” is in this act and will play well with radio just like “American Idiot” did. But the best material won’t become a single until the end of this album’s life, just like American Idiot. If you love Green Day, have a sinking sensation that Obama optimism is crushingly inappropriate, or just are hearkening for some Gen X early nostalgia, this is a must-have album. |
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