ARTIST: Green Day
ALBUM: 21st Century Breakdown
LABEL: Warner Bros.
RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2009
Green Day — The Master Craftsmen
Written by Brett Bayne
Given the astronomical success of Green Day’s critically acclaimed 2004 concept album American Idiot, it’s not exactly a shock to find that the band has crafted its eight studio album 21st Century Breakdown into a similarly hook-filled rock opera. Stampeding from the imagination of singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong—and sounding every bit as fresh and enthralling as its Grammy-winning predecessor—Breakdown is a meticulously produced punk-pop magnum opus about the unfulfilled promises of religion, politics and becoming an adult.
A reaction to the broken policies of the Bush administration, American Idiotjuggled two-minute songs with tunes totaling nearly 10 minutes, albeit divided into shorter sections. Breakdown’s 18 linked songs are never as lengthy, but still occasionally feature their trademark patchworks: the title track is actually two short songs spliced together, while the fun “¡Viva La Gloria!” is another twofer, starting as a lush piano-and-string number before abruptly shifting into high gear with a freneteic guitar raveup.
The album is divided into three sections: “Heroes and Cons,” “Charlatans and Saints” and “Horseshoes and Handgrenades.” The story, such as it is, revolves around a young couple named Christian and Gloria, punk lovers howling from the wreckage wreaked by Dubya-style political conservatism and religion. In fleshing out their adventure, Armstrong frames his contempt with the same crunchy guitars and insanely infectious melodies that helped propel American Idiot into a chart and sales phenomenon. “My generation is zero / I never made it as a working-class hero,” he sings with heartfelt disillusionment.
This is heady stuff, but the music never strays from economical, punchy and melodic. Best of all, Green Day have mastered the art of the ballad, shrewdly breaking up their signature uptempo material with their best love songs: the heartfelt “Last Night on Earth” unashamedly recalls the Dave Clark Five’s 1964 hit “Because” melodically, while “Restless Heart Syndrome, a torch song that gradually builds in intensity, seems destined to follow in the #1 single footsteps left by “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
The overriding charm of Green Day continues to be its relentless pop-thrash—simple hooks built into mini-masterpieces, such as the three-minute “Know Your Enemy,” and Armstrong’s delicious guitars on confections like the album-ending “See the Light,” with its obvious melodic nod to AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.” If fans have to wait another five years for a record, may it be as stylishly executed as this one.