Do YOU have the time to listen to them whine?

See if you can guess where SteveK is going with that one…

Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown

Now, don’t get me wrong; I *am* a fan of Green Day. I love most (admittedly not all) of their albums, and music. In fact, one of the reasons I’ve listened to their latest album, ‘21st Century Breakdown’ as often as I have in the last few days is because the music on the album is so quintessentially Green Day.

However, the band has decided to continue in the same vein as 2004′s ‘American Idiot’, crafting another album of protest songs aimed at America, American imperialism, the downfall of the American Dream and more of the same.

I’m well aware that America’s sins are many, and that the loudest voices of protest should rightfully come from within its borders. However, after five years, it would have been nice if Green Day had delivered something other than more of the same.

All that aside, this is a good album. As I said, the music is exceptional, and the songs have all the infectious Neo-Punk marching drums and guitars that we’ve come to expect from Green Day. The album is lightly wrapped around a familiar concept: two lovers, Christian and Gloria, witness the several dark events of the first decade of the 21st century.

Thematically, the album is cut from very much the same cloth as ‘American Idiot’, which, with its protagonist “Jesus of Suburbia” was a grand allegory for the mess being made at the time by the policies and misgovernance of then-president George Dubyuh Bush. ‘21st Century Breakdown’ is a lot less subtle and a lot more direct in its attacks on the Dubyuh Legacy, abandoning analogy in favour of more direct strikes.

It’s hard to fault the composition and performances on this album. And the album continues a growth and evolution of the Green Day sound that started with 2004′s ‘American Idiot’. The songwriting style and storytelling is more finely honed; the overall sound much tighter. However, I can’t really get past my disappointment at having waited five years for what is essentially ‘American Idiot Part Deux’.

‘21st Century Breakdown’ is a mixed bag; there’s a lot of great stuff here, but it’s not everything I’d hoped for.

Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown
Reprise
Steve’s Rating: 8/10