In 2004, Green Day released one of the most influential albums of this decade, American Idiot. The album gave the band renewed mainstream attention. For the past five years, Green Day fans have been eagerly awaiting new material from the Oakland, California based trio.
After vigorous touring in support of American Idiot, the band took some time off to spend with their families. Then in 2006, the band went incognito and recorded the album Stop, Drop, and Roll under the name Foxboro Hot Tubs. The album had a 1960s garage rock sound. Stop, Drop, and Roll received mixed reviews. Many Green Day fans embraced it, while others felt the album was aluminating.
On May 15, Reprise Records released Green Day’s follow up to American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown. The album is a departure from the band’s punchy pop punk sound to a more classic rock sound, reminiscent of power pop band Cheap Trick and new wave artist Elvis Costello.
21st Century Breakdown like American Idiot is a rock opera. The album is a 1970s style tale about two punk lovers, Christian and Gloria, in post-Bush America.
21st Century Breakdown is broken up into three acts; Heroes and Cons, Charlatans and Saints, and Horseshoes and Handgrenades. The title track is the epitome of seventies rock, with a Bohemian Rhapsody style interlude towards the end. Billie Joe Armstrong represents his rough child hood with lyrics such as “Born into Nixon and raised in hell, a Welfare child where the teamsters dwelled”.
The song Know Your Enemy, which was the first single to be released, has a marching beat and a Rick Nielsen style solo. The chorus is heavily influenced by The Clash, with its use of gang vocals.
Other songs on the album include East Jesus Nowhere, an Anti Bush anthem; 21 Guns, a message from the band to Republicans; Peacemaker, a latin infused punk song, and Last Night on Earth, a progressive rock influenced power ballad.
While the album has a more classic rock sound, the album still has a good amount of an anger-fueled punk sound. Green Day have not abandoned their punk spirit.
Green Day will begin a world tour in support of 21st Century Breakdown on July 3rd. The tour will visit New York City on July 27, and July 28 at Madison Square Garden. British Indie band Kaiser Chiefs will support Green Day for the majority of the tour. 21st Century Breakdown should receive as much recognition as American Idiot did five years ago. Green Day used the album to experiment with a classic rock sound, while retaining their punk spirit. This album should please hardcore Green Day fans, who have seen the band rise to fame with the albums Kerplunk, Dookie, and Nimrod. You will appreciate the new album more by doing so.