Jump to content

21st Century Breakdown

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 124.177.104.225 (talk) at 12:05, 8 May 2009. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Future album

Untitled

21st Century Breakdown is Green Day's upcoming album.[1] It will be 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 though he has had minor production jobs in other Green Day albums such as Dookie.

This album follows 2004's critically acclaimed American Idiot. 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] Green Day had been working on the 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 as they "deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind..."[10]

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 lyrics on this album will be fairly political. Rolling Stone called the song "March of the Dogs" (later retitled "East Jesus Nowhere" from the film Juno) "a biting indictment of contemporary religion," and quoted some anti-war lyrics on the song "21 Guns."[7]

In the beginning of March 2009, the band began mixing the new 18 tracks.[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 track list and lyrics were released on the official site.

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

Release

On February 10, 2009 a one minute teaser of "Song of the Century" from the album was released on the official Green Day website. The following day, 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.[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 17, 2009.[5]

The album will be released on Friday, May 15.[16]

The first single, "Know Your Enemy", was released on April 16,[17] 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.[18] The video is currently available on the band's Myspace profile.[19]

The album version available for download on iTunes features four bonus tracks, two of which are exclusive to those who pre-order the album in advance.

From Monday, May 4 through Thursday, May 14, various radio stations across the country will play 7 of the new songs. VH1 and MTV announced they are going to leak 21st Century Breakdown on their website on the 8th of May, a week early from the release date. In addition, Rhapsody is streaming the entire album in the U.S. at the moment. [20]

The finished version of the title track, "21st Century Breakdown", was used in the background of a commercial for a IFC program.

Beginning on May 4 and concluding on May 14, 7 tracks of the album - "21st Century Breakdown", "Know Your Enemy", "Before the Lobotomy", "East Jesus Nowhere", "Restless Heart Syndrome", "21 Guns", and "American Eulogy" - were broadcast along with an interview special on many radio stations across the country.[20]

On Friday, May 8, exactly a week before the release, Rhapsody Online released the official album.

Online Leak

The album leaked through several popular music venues online on Thursday, May 7, 2009. It was one of the most popular downloads of the day, registering thousands of downloads in under 24 hours.

Reception

Currently, the album has received positive reviews. The Observer Music Monthly praised the album, awarding it four stars (out of five) and commenting that it could be compared to both the work of Bruce Springsteen and the writing of Chuck Palahniuk, celebrating its "engrossing narrative." Entertainment Weekly stated "AMERICAN GENIUSES: Rockers Green Day give their breakdown of the new millennium"

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]

The Times called the album a masterpiece "because it realizes its ambitions" and states that it carries the spirit of the Who, 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."

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, 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."[23]

Track listing

No.TitleWriterLength
1."Song of the Century"Billie Joe Armstrong0:57
Act I: Heroes and Cons
No.TitleWriterLength
2."21st Century Breakdown"B. J. Armstrong5:09
3."Know Your Enemy"B. J. Armstrong3:10
4."¡Viva la Gloria!"B. J. Armstrong3:30
5."Before the Lobotomy"B. J. Armstrong4:36
6."Christian's Inferno"B. J. Armstrong3:07
7."Last Night on Earth"B. J. Armstrong3:56
Act II: Charlatans and Saints
No.TitleWriterLength
8."East Jesus Nowhere"B. J. Armstrong4:34
9."Peacemaker"B. J. Armstrong3:24
10."Last of the American Girls"B. J. Armstrong3:50
11."Murder City"B. J. Armstrong2:54
12."¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)"B. J. Armstrong3:47
13."Restless Heart Syndrome"B. J. Armstrong4:19
Act III: Horseshoes and Handgrenades
No.TitleWriterLength
14."Horseshoes and Handgrenades"B. J. Armstrong3:14
15."The Static Age"B. J. Armstrong4:16
16."21 Guns"B. J. Armstrong5:21
17."American Eulogy"B. J. Armstrong4:26
18."See the Light"B. J. Armstrong4:35
Total length:69:12
iTunes Deluxe edition
No.TitleWriterLength
19."A Quick One While He's Away" (The Who Cover)Pete Townshend 
20."Another State of Mind" (Social Distortion Cover)Social Distortion 
iTunes Pre-order edition
No.TitleWriterLength
21."That's Alright Mama" (Arthur Crudup/Elvis Presley Cover)Arthur Crudup 
22."Like a Rolling Stone" (Bob Dylan Cover)Bob Dylan 


B-sides

Song Length Release(s)
"Lights Out" 2:17 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'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. ^ "Green Day Confirm 21st Century Breakdown Release Date!". rocklouder.co.uk. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  17. ^ "The Green Day Authority". The Green Day Authority. 2001-07-12. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  18. ^ "Know Your Enemy Video | Green Day | MTV UK". Mtv.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  19. ^ "Green Day op MySpace Music – Gratis gestreamde MP3's, foto's en Videoclips". Myspace.com. 2004-06-30. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  20. ^ a b "News". Green Day. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
  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. ^ Green Day artist reveals story behind new album cover NME, February 11, 2009
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=21st_Century_Breakdown&oldid=288659913"