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#<li value="19"> "Lights Out" - 2:16
#<li value="19"> "Lights Out" - 2:16
# "Hearts Collide" - 2:39
# "Hearts Collide" - 2:39
# "That's Alright Mama" (iTunes pre-order only)
# "untitled" (iTunes pre-order only)
# "Like A Rolling Stone" (iTunes pre-order only)
# "untitled" (iTunes pre-order only)


* "Lights Out" and "Hearts Collide" are b-sides on the single of "Know Your Enemy".
* "Lights Out" and "Hearts Collide" are b-sides on the single of "Know Your Enemy".

Revision as of 02:21, 29 April 2009

Template:Future album

Untitled

21st Century Breakdown is the upcoming eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day.[1] This will be Green Day's first album to be produced by renowned producer and Garbage member Butch Vig, though he has had minor production jobs in other Green Day albums such as Dookie.

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 Queen, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, The Beach Boys, The Beatles,[3] and The Clash.[4] 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.[5]

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."[6] Musically, the album continues the rock opera style of American Idiot.[7] 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."[8] MTV compared the material to classic rockers like The Who.[9] Spin Magazine claimed the title track is "Green Day's most epic song yet."[10]

Like 2004's American Idiot, the record follows a narrative. Chronicling the life of a young couple as they "deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind..."[11]

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" (now titled "East Jesus Nowhere", because Billie Joe heard this in the film Juno and knew it was right for the album) "a biting indictment of contemporary religion," and quoted some anti-war lyrics on the song "21 Guns."[12] Nick Martin of Cinematic Sunrise stated in his blog that retailers are supposedly "flipping out" over the obscene lyrics of the new album.[13]

In the beginning of March 2009, the band began mixing the new 18 tracks.[14]

The band played their first concert featuring all but two of the songs off of 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.[15]

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 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. [16]

Release

On February 10, 2009 a one minute teaser of a track from the album 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", "East Jesus Nowhere", "Restless Heart Syndrome", and "21 Guns" were revealed to Entertainment Weekly.[17] The band also announced a large-scale world arena tour to start in July 2009.[18] 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.[19]

The album will be released on Friday, May 15.[20]

The first single, "Know Your Enemy", was released on April 16,[21] 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.[22] The music video for the song was premiered internationally on April 24th on the MTV UK website.[23] The video is currently available on the band's Myspace profile.[24]

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.

On April 24, VH1 announced they are going to leak 21st Century Breakdown on their website a week early.

Reception

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 Callum Goff, celebrating its "engrossing narrative".

The Rolling Stone gave it 4 and a half stars out of 5 saying its much more ambitious, self assured and better then American Idiot.

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."[25]

Track listing

  1. "Song of the Century"
Act I - Heroes and Cons
  2. "21st Century Breakdown"[26][27]
  3. "Know Your Enemy"
  4. "¡Viva la Gloria!" -
  5. "Before the Lobotomy"
  6. "Christian's Inferno"
  7. "Last Night on Earth"
Act II - Charlatans and Saints
  2. "East Jesus Nowhere"
  3. "Peacemaker"
  4. "Last of the American Girls"
  5. "Murder City"
  6. "¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)"
  7. "Restless Heart Syndrome"
Act III - Horseshoes and Handgrenades
  2. "Horseshoes and Handgrenades"
  3. "The Static Age"
  4. "21 Guns"
  5. "American Eulogy"
    I. Mass Hysteria
    II. Modern World
  6. "See the Light"

Bonus tracks

  2. "Lights Out" - 2:16
  3. "Hearts Collide" - 2:39
  4. "untitled" (iTunes pre-order only)
  5. "untitled" (iTunes pre-order only)
  • "Lights Out" and "Hearts Collide" are b-sides on the single of "Know Your Enemy".
  • "Hearts Collide" is set to be released on May 8th, while "Lights Out" has already been released.

World Tour

Main article: 21st Century Breakdown World Tour

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. ^ http://greendayauthority.com
  4. ^ http://i42.tinypic.com/w6tqb6.jpg
  5. ^ http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenDayStuff
  6. ^ http://www.greenday.com/site/news_black.php
  7. ^ http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/02/green-day-previ.html
  8. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/11/first-listen-green-day-revive-dramatic-political-punk-on-21st-century-breakdown/
  9. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604950/20090212/green_day.jhtml
  10. ^ http://www.spin.com/articles/first-listen-green-days-21st-century-breakdown
  11. ^ http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/green_day_talk_about_new_album.html
  12. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/11/first-listen-green-day-revive-dramatic-political-punk-on-21st-century-breakdown/
  13. ^ New Green Day Too Obscene For The Shops? Rocklouder.co.uk, February 12, 2009
  14. ^ http://www.greendayauthority.com/articles/Big_Cheese/0309.jpg
  15. ^ http://www.greendayauthority.com/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1239149017&archive=
  16. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/04/15/green-day-bring-21st-century-breakdown-to-life-at-stunning-oakland-gig/
  17. ^ Green Day's '21st Century Breakdown': We heard (some of) it popwatch, entertainment weekly, February 12, 2009
  18. ^ "First Listen: Green Day Revive Dramatic Political Punk on "21st Century Breakdown"". Idiomag.com. 2009-02-12. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  19. ^ http://www.greenday.com/site/news_black.php
  20. ^ "Green Day Confirm 21st Century Breakdown Release Date!". rocklouder.co.uk. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  21. ^ http://www.greendayauthority.com/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1238729282&archive=
  22. ^ http://www.greenday.com/site/news_black.php
  23. ^ http://www.mtv.co.uk/artists/green-day/video/know-your-enemy
  24. ^ http://myspace.com/greenday
  25. ^ Green Day artist reveals story behind new album cover NME, February 11, 2009
  26. ^ http://i40.tinypic.com/ih42yw.jpg
  27. ^ http://www.greendayauthority.com/newalbum/
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