21st Century Breakdown Green Day

• 1 Song Of The Century 00:57
• 2 21st Century Breakdown 05:09
• 3 Know Your Enemy 03:10
• 4 ?Viva La Gloria! 03:30
• 5 Before The Lobotomy 04:37
• 6 Christian's Inferno 03:07
• 7 Last Night On Earth 03:56
• 8 East Jesus Nowhere 04:35
• 9 Peacemaker 03:24
• 10 Last Of The American Girls 03:51
• 11 Murder City 02:54
• 12 Viva La Gloria [Little Girl] 03:48
• 13 Restless Heart Syndrome 04:21
• 14 Horseshoes And Handgrenades 03:14
• 15 The Static Age 04:17
• 16 21 Guns 05:51
• 17 American Eulogy: Mass Hysteria/Modern World 03:56
• 18 See The Light 04:36
• Total Runtime 01:09:13

Info for 21st Century Breakdown

Since Green Day were the Nineties punk brats nobody expected to grow up, everything they do comes as a surprise. What's more bizarre: the fact that they sound so ambitious and audacious on their eighth album, or the fact that they even made an eighth album? Either way, the losercore mutts who crashed the radio in 1994 chanting "I got no motivation," with Billie Joe Armstrong wasted on his mom's couch — they've ended up the last band standing, the ones living up to their era's loftiest ideals and still writing their toughest songs long after they should have landed on Sober House. And they did it with a goddamned rock opera.

American Idiot seemed like their career kamikaze — a concept album about American hopes and dreams, with characters named St. Jimmy and Jesus of Suburbia? Nice try! But it not only rescued Green Day from midlife limbo, it charged their musical batteries. With nearly 6 million copies sold and counting, Idiot became the sort of multiplatinum rock blockbuster that isn't supposed to exist anymore, because Green Day blew up into the sort of band that isn't supposed to exist anymore — raging with heart-on-sleeve passion, willing to risk falling on their faces with a grand statement. Even the songs that didn't work or the plot threads that didn't make sense just increased the fun, because Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool were refusing to go down slow.21st Century Breakdown is even better, so masterful and confident it makes Idiot seem like a warm-up. They're back in rock-opera mode, dividing the album into three parts, "Heroes and Cons," "Charlatans and Saints" and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades." But there are no nine-minute excursions this time — only two of the 18 songs crack the five-minute mark — and Green Day focused their ideas into their sharpest, toughest tunes. Armstrong brings a compassionate edge to his snarl, even when he's spitting out self-lacerating lines like, "My generation is zero/I never made it as a working-class hero."

Like American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown is a Seventies-style epic, telling the story of two young punk lovers on the run in the wreckage of post-Bush America. The heroes are Christian and Gloria, two kids sold out by the church ("East Jesus Nowhere"), the state ("21 Guns") and every adult they've ever believed in ("We are the desperate in the decline/Raised by the bastards of 1969"). Christian's the impulsive, self-destructive one ("Christian's Inferno"), while Gloria's more idealistic and political ("Last of the American Girls"), but they're forced to take care of each other — because nobody else will.

All over the album, Green Day combine punk thrash with their newfound love of classic-rock grandiosity — one moment they're quoting Bikini Kill, the next they're wailing away like it's the final minute of"Jungleland." The title tune is a multipart opus that pays cheeky tribute to a host of 1970s-heartland radio anthems — Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," Sweet's "Fox on the Run," Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes." Armstrong takes a tour around the country, from his hard-luck childhood ("Born into Nixon, I was raised in hell/A welfare child where the teamsters dwelled") to the modern age ("Video games to the towers' fall/Homeland Security could kill us all"). He ends with nothing to show for it except his anger — and the heart to turn that anger into actual songs.

The ballads are their glossiest ever; "Last Night on Earth" could be Air Supply, and don't think for a minute they don't love the idea of pissing people off with that. But the highlights are the rage-fueled punk anthems. They barrel through Latin-flavored guitar raves ("Peacemaker"), Clash-size bootboy chants ("Know Your Enemy") and four-chord garage slop ("Horseshoes and Handgrenades"). "Last of the American Girls" comes on as a fabulous left-wing love song to a rebel girl — when Armstrong sings, "She won't cooperate," he's giving her the highest compliment he can imagine.

Green Day set their sights on religion this time, with "East Jesus Nowhere" as their anthemic attack on Christian hypocrisy. But mostly they're singing about America waking up from an eight-year nightmare. In the lofty ballad "21 Guns," they even seem to have a kind word or two for disillusioned Bush supporters ("Your faith walks on broken glass/And the hangover doesn't pass").

Part of the thrill on 21st Century Breakdown is that the Green Day guys don't need to be pushing themselves this hard. It's not like there's anyone left for them to compete with. (What, Sponge are gonna do a three-disc adaptation of Moby Dick? Probz not!) Yet the extra strain is audible in the music, and every song adds to the overall vibe of grown men trying way too hard to communicate, challenging themselves along with their audience. 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. If it's a continual surprise that Green Day are the ones to pick up the torch and run with it, that's part of what makes 21st Century Breakdown so fresh and vital — Green Day sound like they're as shocked as anyone else. (Rob Shefield, Rolling Stone)

"Bold, ambitious and revelling in the chaos of our age, 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN is another perfect document of our times." (Q Magazine)

Billie Joe Armstrong, vocals, guitar, piano
Mike Dirnt, bass, vocals
Tre Cool, drums, percussion
Additional personnel:
Jason Freese, piano

In 1987 friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt created a band named Sweet Children. Their first show of note took place in October of that year at Rod’s Hockey Pit in California. A year later John Kiffmeyer joined their band as a drummer and business manager, helping them create a local fan base. They were signed to Lookout! Records after the owner, Larry Livermore saw them play in one of their earlier shows. In order to avoid confusion with the band Sweet Baby, they changed their name. The band now known as Green Day was born. The name is supposedly related to their liking of marijuana.

Lookout! released their first album in 1990 named 39/Smooth. Included with the album was a letter supposedly from I.R.S. Records saying they had tried to sign Green Day. The band included a response saying they were loyal to Lookout!. Their response called I.R.S. “cheesy and washed up.” Later in 1990 Green Day released Slappy and Sweet Children. Also in 1990 John Kiffmeyer left the band to attend college. Tré Cool, the drummer from The Lookouts became Green Day’s temporary replacement. Once it was apparent that Kiffmeyer did not plan to return, Tré Cool took up the role as permanent drummer. In 1991, 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, a compilation of 39/Smooth, Slappy and 1,000 Hours albums. For most of 1992 and 1993, the band was on tour which included shows in Europe. In 1992, their album Kerplunk sold fifty thousand copies in the United States. This was impressive for the independent punk band.

The success of Kerplunk drew interest from major record companies to Green Day. They decided to leave Lookout! records and sign with Reprise Records under the producer Rob Cavello. This move gave them the name sellouts in the eyes of many punk fans. This did not stop them as they went on to release Dookie. The album was recorded in three weeks and was an immediate success. The airtime given to “Longview,” “Basket Case,” and “When I Come Around” by MTV aided this success greatly. Every one of those songs hit number one on Modern Rock Tracks charts. That same year marked their nationwide tour accompanied by the bands Queercore and Pansy Division. Green Day played at both Lollapalooza and Woodstock 1994. The later performance jump started their publicity and recognition nationwide. In 1995, Dookie won the Grammy for Best Alternative Album.

In 1995, the single “J.A.R.” went right to the number one spot on the Modern Rock Track chart. The album Insomniac quickly followed in the fall of 1995. Insomniac was much darker than the band’s previous work. It did well, getting four of five stars from Rolling Stone Magazine. One of the songs on this album referred to the bands thought that they have gone too commercial in their music. Insomniac was not as successful as Dookie, but it still managed to sell seven million copies in the United States. It also won the band award for Favorite Artist, Favorite Rock Artist and Favorite Alternative Artist in 1996 at the American Music Awards. The video for “Walking Contradiction” was nominated for Best Video, Short Form and Best Special effects at the MTV Video Music Awards. After this, the band pulled out of a European tour, citing their exhaustion.

The band took a break in 1996 and picked up working on a new album in 1997. Right from the beginning, they agreed that the album had to be different than their previous work. The experimental album was labeled Nimrod, released in 1997. The album had a wider variety of music, punk rock, surf rock, ska and an acoustic ballad. Nimrod hit number ten on the charts due to the popularity of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” This same song won an MTV Video award for Best Alternative Video. The video focused on major changes in the lives of a variety of people, overlaid by the guitar part. Other songs from Nimrod included “Nice Guys Finish Last,” “Hitchin’ a Ride,” and “Redundant.”

Warning was released in 2000, which followed the same style change as Nimrod. All Music Guide gave it a four point five out of five, saying that while not innovative, it was a satisfying endeavor. The Rolling Stone magazine was harsher in their rating of a three out of five. They cited the band’s previous hard core work and claimed that people would not want to listen to the lighter style of music from Green Day. Despite the hits, “Minority” and “Warning,” fans began to lose interest in the band because of the album Warning. Most of Green Day’s work had previously hit double platinum, Warning only warranted gold.

In 2001 at the California Music Awards Green Day was nominated for eight different awards, they won them all, those awards were Outstanding Album, Outstanding Punk Rock/Ska Album, Outstanding Group, Outstanding Male Vocalist, Outstanding Bassist, Outstanding Drummer, Outstanding Songwriter and Outstanding Artist. The release of warning was followed by their greatest hits album International Superhits! and an assemblage album called Shenanigans. These sold well, reaching platinum in the United States. Shenanigans was nominated for a Grammy for best Rock Instrumental Performance.

In the summer of 2003 the master tapes with all twenty songs for their new album tentatively called Cigarettes and Valentines was stolen from the studio. Instead of redoing the album, decided to make another, even better album. That same year, they worked with Iggy Pop on two songs on his new album Skull Ring. It was then that the band had serious talks to work out some issues they had with the other members. American idiot was the result and was released in 2004. It hit number one on the Billboard charts, marking the first time Green Day had such a rating. It was commonly called a “punk rock opera” following the “Jesus of Suburbia.” It won the Grammy in 2005 for Best Rock Album and took seven of eight awards in the 2005 MTV music awards.

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