Jump to content

21st Century Breakdown: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Corrected a few mistakes, especially on the description
Line 220: Line 220:


== External links ==
== External links ==
* 21st Century Breakdown Review [http://www.dailymusicguide.com/Reviews/green-day-21st-century-breakdown-album-review-09052009-1559.aspx by Steph Cosway DailyMusicGuide]
* 21st Century Breakdown Review [http://www.earnfromthekeyboard.co.nr by Steph Cosway DailyMusicGuide]
* [http://www.greendaydiscography.com/albums.html 21st Century breakdown] on [http://www.greendaydiscography.com greendaydiscography.com]
* [http://www.greendaydiscography.com/albums.html 21st Century breakdown] on [http://www.greendaydiscography.com greendaydiscography.com]
* [http://www.myspace.com/greendaybreakdown 21st Century breakdown] Album Debut on MySpace Australia from May 8. Sneak peak available now.
* [http://www.myspace.com/greendaybreakdown 21st Century breakdown] Album Debut on MySpace Australia from May 8. Sneak peak available now.

Revision as of 22:58, 15 May 2009

Untitled

21st Century Breakdown is Green Day's eighth studio album, and was released on May 15, 2009.[1] It is Green Day's first album to be produced by renowned producer and Garbage member Butch Vig, who has produced albums such as Nevermind by Nirvana and Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins.

This album follows 2004's critically acclaimed American Idiot. Vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong has stated that 21st Century Breakdown is a "snapshot of the era in which we live as we question and try to make sense of the selfish manipulation going on around us, whether it be the government, religion, media or frankly any form of authority."[2][3] This is the longest gap between studio releases for Green Day, as their last album was released in September 2004. Green Day had been working on this album since 2006, but the band showed no signs of a new album until a video of the band recording in studio was posted on YouTube in October 2008.[4]

Content

21st Century Breakdown is divided into three acts: "Heroes and Cons," "Charlatans and Saints," and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades," and follows a young couple, Christian and Gloria, through the mess and promise of the century so far.[5] Musically, the album continues the rock opera style of American Idiot.[6] Mike Dirnt told Alternative Press magazine that the songs "speak to each other the way the songs on Born to Run speak to each other. I don't know if you'd call it a 'concept album,' but there's a thread that connects everything."[7] MTV compared the material to classic rockers like The Who.[8] Spin Magazine claimed the title track is "Green Day's most epic song yet."[9]

Like 2004's American Idiot, the record follows a narrative. The band says that the album chronicles the life of a young couple named Christian and Gloria as they "deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind..."[10] The lyrics on this album are fairly political. Rolling Stone called the album "even more ambitious than American Idiot" and "a record of die-hard punk ideals...tightly scripted, continually ascending classic-rock excitement." The band began mixing the new 18 tracks in March, leading up to songs with radio static and other effects.[11]

The band played their first concert featuring all but two of the songs from the album at The Independent in San Francisco on April 7, 2009. The event was open to the public, but was only announced a few hours before it began.[12] On April 11, 2009, the official track list and lyrics were released on the official site.

On April 14, 2009, Green Day played the full album and brought it to life at the Fox Oakland Theatre in Oakland, California. Concert goers were handed deluxe programs containing all of the lyrics of the album upon entering the show. The concert and the album's sound were reviewed by David Fricke of Rolling Stone the following day. [13]

Green Day have stated that Queen, The Who, The Clash and Bruce Springsteen influenced this release.[citation needed]

Release and reception

On February 10, 2009, a one minute teaser of "Song of the Century" and "21st Century Breakdown" - with a fade in from "East Jesus Nowhere" - combined was released from the album on the official Green Day website. A teaser trailer for the 21st Century Breakdown album was released on the Green Day Official website on March 17, 2009.[5][14]

On February 11, 2009, six samples from the album, including "21st Century Breakdown," "Know Your Enemy", "Before the Lobotomy", "East Jesus Nowhere (at the time it was called "March of the Dogs")", "Restless Heart Syndrome", and "21 Guns" were revealed to Entertainment Weekly, and later a number of other news and music companies.[15] The first single, "Know Your Enemy", was released on April 16,[16] and a 90-second teaser of the song was used as the intro to the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship game on April 6. On April 5, a 30 second fragment of the song was revealed on the band's website.[5] The music video for the song was premiered internationally on April 24th on the MTV UK website.[17] The video is currently available on the band's MySpace profile.[18] The album was officially released on May 15th, 2009 in stores around the world.

Reception of the album has generally been favorable and positive, the DailyMusicGuide calling the album "enthused, fresh, punchy and melodic", claiming the band has "pulled Green Day up from being just a punk band to a true anthemic stadium band."[19], The Observer Music Monthly praised the album, awarding it four of five stars and likening it to both Bruce Springsteen's music and the avant-garde writing of Chuck Palahniuk, celebrating its "engrossing narrative." Entertainment Weekly stated "AMERICAN GENIUSES: Rockers Green Day give their breakdown of the new millennium," giving the album a B. The Tune gave the album an even higher grade, a solid A, stating that "Green Day, in their ode to the Age of Technology - the Age of Disconnection - have created one of the best albums of the decade, one that reflects the culture and the times with occasional biting wit and frequent fist-pounding fury."[20]

Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone gave the album four-and-a-half stars, stating that, in comparison to the band's previous effort, "21st Century Breakdown is even better, so masterful and confident it makes Idiot seem like a warm-up." With regards to the band, he added that on the album "they revitalize the whole idea of big-deal rock stars with something to say about the real world. They're keeping promises they never even made, promises left behind by all the high-minded Nineties bands that fell apart along the way." [21] Rolling Stone called the song "March of the Dogs" (later retitled "East Jesus Nowhere") "a biting indictment of contemporary religion," and quoted some anti-war lyrics on the song "21 Guns."[7]

The Times called the album a masterpiece "because it realizes its ambitions" and stated that it carries the spirit of The Who, David Bowie, Queen, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and The Clash.[22] They conclude the article by saying that

"Lyrically, it may succeed in capturing the contradictions, vulnerabilities and longing for harmony that thrum through Armstrong, Dirnt and Cool, their country, and humanity as a whole. But its real triumph, in an age of trimming, of market testing, of self-censorship and lowest common denominators, is not simply to aim insanely high, but to make it to the summit."

However, criticism has tended to center on the concept of the album. The BBC whilst not overly critical, criticised the concept and lyrics of the album, "griping vaguely against 'authority'" and that "too many buzz words obscure incisive meaning".[23] Sputnikmusic reviewer, Adam Downer, was also critical of the concept calling it "more conceptually vague/ridiculous than American Idiot" and questioned the clarity of the lyrics[24] which was echoed by The Guardian's [25]Alexis Petridis, who wrote that "the storyline becomes impossible to follow".

In some shops, the purchase of the record came with a free poster which had the album art on it.[26]

There are two limited editions: a booklet with 52 pages, lyrics and C.D., and a triple ten-inch vinyl with the CD and a 60 page art booklet (only 3,000 copies were made of this limited edition). Buyers of the vinyl release were granted access to a download of the full album at midnight on May 15th (this accidently had a problem with "Last of the American Girls" in which it gave you the 30 second preview for iTunes).

Artwork

Responding on his personal blog, artist Sixten spoke about his design for 21st Century Breakdown's artwork. "I actually don't know who they are... they [the couple] were just friends of a friend at a party in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Something like that. I wasn't even there." Instead, the artist explained, a mutual friend snapped a picture of the pair kissing, which then inspired Sixten. "I love their passion, and just had to make a stencil out of it to spread the love," he explained with images of the original picture and his stencil. "I've painted it a bit here and there on my travels over the years...I have so many memories connected to this image and it really means a lot to me. Glad it inspired someone."[27]

Track listing

No.TitleWriterLength
1."Song of the Century"Green Day[28]0:58
Act I: Heroes and Cons
No.TitleWriterLength
2."21st Century Breakdown"Green Day5:09
3."Know Your Enemy"Green Day3:11
4."¡Viva la Gloria!"Green Day3:31
5."Before the Lobotomy"Green Day4:37
6."Christian's Inferno"Green Day3:07
7."Last Night on Earth"Green Day3:57
Total length:24:28
Act II: Charlatans and Saints
No.TitleWriterLength
8."East Jesus Nowhere"Green Day4:35
9."Peacemaker"Green Day3:24
10."Last of the American Girls"Green Day3:51
11."Murder City"Green Day2:54
12."¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)"Green Day3:48
13."Restless Heart Syndrome"Green Day4:20
Total length:22:50
Act III: Horseshoes and Handgrenades
No.TitleWriterLength
14."Horseshoes and Handgrenades"Green Day3:14
15."The Static Age"Green Day4:17
16."21 Guns"Green Day5:21
17."American Eulogy*"Green Day4:26
18."See the Light"Green Day4:36
Total length:21:52
Total length 69:10
iTunes Deluxe edition
No.TitleWriterLength
19."A Quick One While He's Away" (The Who cover)Pete Townshend7:59
20."Another State of Mind" (Social Distortion cover)Social Distortion2:46
iTunes Pre-order edition
No.TitleWriterLength
21."That's Alright Mama" (Arthur Crudup cover)Arthur Crudup2:01
22."Like a Rolling Stone" (Bob Dylan cover)Bob Dylan6:10
  • American Eulogy is divided in 2 parts: A. Mass Hysteria / B. Modern World

B-sides

Song Length Release(s)
"Lights Out" 2:16 B-side of "Know Your Enemy"
"Hearts Collide" 2:39 B-side of "Know Your Enemy"

Chart positions

Personnel

References

  1. ^ "Green Day Announce New Album Title". Rocklouder. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  2. ^ "The Green Day Authority". The Green Day Authority. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  3. ^ http://i42.tinypic.com/w6tqb6.jpg
  4. ^ "GreenDayStuff's Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  5. ^ a b c [1][dead link]
  6. ^ "Green Day's '21st Century Breakdown': We heard (some of) it! | PopWatch Blog | EW.com". Popwatch.ew.com. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  7. ^ a b Rolling Stone. "First Listen: Green Day Revive Dramatic Political Punk on "21st Century Breakdown" : Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  8. ^ Montgomery, James (2009-02-12). "We Preview Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  9. ^ Login or Register to post comments. "First Listen: Green Day's '21st Century Breakdown' | Spin Magazine Online". Spin.com. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  10. ^ "Green Day Talk About New Album | News @". Ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  11. ^ http://www.greendayauthority.com/articles/Big_Cheese/0309.jpg
  12. ^ "The Green Day Authority". The Green Day Authority. 2001-07-12. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  13. ^ David Fricke. "Green Day Bring "21st Century Breakdown" to Life at Stunning Oakland Gig : Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  14. ^ "Green Day Confirm 21st Century Breakdown Release Date!". rocklouder.co.uk. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  15. ^ Green Day's '21st Century Breakdown': We heard (some of) it popwatch, entertainment weekly, February 12, 2009
  16. ^ "The Green Day Authority". The Green Day Authority. 2001-07-12. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  17. ^ "Know Your Enemy Video | Green Day | MTV UK". Mtv.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  18. ^ "Green Day op MySpace Music – Gratis gestreamde MP3's, foto's en Videoclips". Myspace.com. 2004-06-30. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  19. ^ [http://www.dailymusicguide.com/Reviews/green-day-reprise-records-21st-century-breakdown-08052009-1750.aspx}}
  20. ^ "Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (2009)". The Tune. 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  21. ^ (Posted: Apr 27, 2009) (2009-04-27). "21st Century Breakdown : Green Day : Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2009-05-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ "Green Day return bigger and better - Times Online". Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  23. ^ Jones, Chris (2009-05-08). "You may not get any deep insights, but you are getting some great tunes". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  24. ^ Downer, Adam (2009-05-11). "Green Day 21st Century Breakdown". Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  25. ^ Petridis, Alexis (2009-05-08). "Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown". Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  26. ^ 21st Century Breakdown is here Green Day Authority, May 15, 2009
  27. ^ Green Day artist reveals story behind new album cover NME, February 11, 2009
  28. ^ http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=506012933&search_in=i&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=20&start=1
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=21st_Century_Breakdown&oldid=290190556"