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21st Century Breakdown

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Untitled

21st Century Breakdown is the upcoming eighth studio album by the American punk pop band Green Day.[1] This will be Green Day's first album to be produced by renowned producer and Garbage member Butch Vig.

This album follows 2004's critically acclaimed American Idiot. Regarding the pressure, Billie Joe Armstrong said, "We could take a sideways step or go back to our roots. We chose to move forward. It's about reflecting what's been happening the past three years and putting it to melody with some bold statements."[2] The band has also stated that "This album is more... religious," and it is influenced by Bruce Springsteen, The Who, The Beatles,[3] The Clash, and Queen.[4]

The release of this album marks the longest gap between releases of Green Day albums: 5 years (their previous album, American Idiot, was released in 2004).

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, which, according to Armstrong,"Veers from hard-charging garage rockers to oversize Queen-style grandeur. Chronicling the life of a young couple as they deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind..."[10]

The lyrics on this album will be fairly political. Rolling Stone called the song "March of the Dogs" "a biting indictment of contemporary religion," and quoted some anti-war lyrics on the song "21 Guns."[11] Nick Martin of Cinematic Sunrise stated in his blog that retailers are supposedly "flipping out" over the obscene lyrics of the new album.[12]

In the beginning of March 2009, the band began mixing the new 18 tracks.[13]

Release

On February 10, 2009, a one minute teaser of the title track was released on the official Green Day website.

On February 11, 2009, six samples from the album, including "21st Century Breakdown," "Know Your Enemy "Before the Lobotomy," "March of the Dogs," "Restless Heart Syndrome," and "21 Guns" were revealed to Entertainment Weekly.[14] The band also announced a large-scale world arena tour to start in July 2009.[15] The band also sampled the same six songs to MTV, Rolling Stone, Spin Magazine and Billboard.

A teaser trailer for the 21st Century Breakdown album was released on the Green Day Official website on March 15, 2009.[16]

The album will be released on May 15th, which is a Friday.[17]

Artwork

Responding on his personal blog, artist Sixten, creator of the artwork spoke about the artwork of the album: "I actually don't know who they are... they [the couple] were just friends of a friend at a party in Eskilstuna, Sweden, sometime in uh... 2000? 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."[18]

Track listing

Act 1 - Heroes and Cons
  1. "Intro/21st Century Breakdown" [19]
  2. "Know Your Enemy"
  3. "¡Viva La Gloria!"
  4. "Before the Lobotomy"
  5. "Christian's Inferno"
  6. "Last Night on Earth"
Act 2 - Charlatans and Saints
  2. "March of the Dogs"
  3. "East Jesus Nowhere"[20]
  4. "Peacemaker"
  5. "Last of the American Girls"
  6. "¿Viva La Gloria?"
  7. "Restless Heart Syndrome"
Act 3 - Horseshoes and Handgrenades
  2. "Horseshoes and Handgrenades"
  3. "Drama Queen"
  4. "Static Age"
  5. "21 Guns"
  6. "American Eulogy"
  7. "See the Light"
  • The newly-written track "Desperate" is being considered by the band for inclusion. [21]
  • Another song, called "Murder City", have been said to be in Act 2. [22]

References

  1. ^ "Green Day Announce New Album Title". Rocklouder. 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  2. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2009-02-09-green-day_N.htm
  3. ^ www.greendayauthority.com
  4. ^ http://i42.tinypic.com/w6tqb6.jpg
  5. ^ http://www.greenday.com/site/news_black.php
  6. ^ http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/02/green-day-previ.html
  7. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/11/first-listen-green-day-revive-dramatic-political-punk-on-21st-century-breakdown/
  8. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604950/20090212/green_day.jhtml
  9. ^ http://www.spin.com/articles/first-listen-green-days-21st-century-breakdown
  10. ^ http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/green_day_talk_about_new_album.html
  11. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/11/first-listen-green-day-revive-dramatic-political-punk-on-21st-century-breakdown/
  12. ^ New Green Day Too Obscene For The Shops? Rocklouder.co.uk, February 12, 2009
  13. ^ http://www.greendayauthority.com/articles/Big_Cheese/0309.jpg
  14. ^ Green Day's '21st Century Breakdown': We heard (some of) it popwatch, entertainment weekly, February 12, 2009
  15. ^ "First Listen: Green Day Revive Dramatic Political Punk on "21st Century Breakdown"". Idiomag.com. 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  16. ^ http://www.greenday.com/site/news_black.php
  17. ^ "Green Day Confirm 21st Century Breakdown Release Date!". rocklouder.co.uk. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  18. ^ Green Day artist reveals story behind new album cover NME, February 11, 2009
  19. ^ http://i40.tinypic.com/ih42yw.jpg
  20. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/green-day-s-breakdown-coming-may-15-1003955096.story
  21. ^ http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/204/qpage6.png
  22. ^ http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll218/Catski_photos/nme2-1.jpg
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