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| Recorded = 2008–2009 at ] in ], Studio 880 in ], Jel Studios in ], and Costa Mesa Studios in ] | Recorded = 2008–2009 at ] in ], Studio 880 in ], Jel Studios in ], and Costa Mesa Studios in ]
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The musical style of ''21st Century Breakdown'' is similar to the punk rock style of ''American Idiot'',<ref name="rollingstone2"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Gundersen |first=Edna |title=It's a new, motivated Green Day for the '21st Century' |url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2009-05-10-green-day_N.htm |publisher='']'' |date=May 14, 2009 |accessdate=2009-05-25}}</ref> but many critics have claimed that Green Day's sound has evolved in the five years since their last release, incorporating some new influences. Chris Fallon of AbsolutePunk.net said that ''21st Century Breakdown'', "weaving a yarn that while still punk rock in all its context, allowed the band to develop a gratuitous sense of self while expanding their trademarked brand of punk rock."<ref name="absolutepunk"/> Rob Sheffield of ''Rolling Stone'' said the album sports the "sharpest, toughest tunes" and ballads that are "their glossiest ever". He claims Green Day "combine punk thrash with their newfound love of classic-rock grandiosity".<ref name="rollingstone2"/> The musical style of ''21st Century Breakdown'' is similar to the punk rock style of ''American Idiot'',<ref name="rollingstone2"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Gundersen |first=Edna |title=It's a new, motivated Green Day for the '21st Century' |url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/reviews/2009-05-10-green-day_N.htm |publisher='']'' |date=May 14, 2009 |accessdate=2009-05-25}}</ref> but many critics have claimed that Green Day's sound has evolved in the five years since their last release, incorporating some new influences. Chris Fallon of AbsolutePunk.net said that ''21st Century Breakdown'', "weaving a yarn that while still punk rock in all its context, allowed the band to develop a gratuitous sense of self while expanding their trademarked brand of punk rock."<ref name="absolutepunk"/> Rob Sheffield of ''Rolling Stone'' said the album sports the "sharpest, toughest tunes" and ballads that are "their glossiest ever". He claims Green Day "combine punk thrash with their newfound love of classic-rock grandiosity".<ref name="rollingstone2"/>

Critics noticed that some songs of the album have the same riffs as older songs by Green Day (i.e. ''21 Century Breakdown'' and ''Jesus Of Suburbia''). They also noted that the song ''Horseshoes and Handgrenades'' has the same song structure as The Hives' ''Main Offender''. ''21 Guns'' also has similarities in the melody with ''San Francisco'' by The Mamas & The Papas. However, there are no lawsuits concerning those similarities yet.


==Reception and sales== ==Reception and sales==

Revision as of 23:04, 30 May 2009

Untitled

21st Century Breakdown is Green Day's eighth studio album, released on May 15, 2009 through Reprise Records. It is the band's second rock opera, after American Idiot, and its first album to be produced by Butch Vig. Vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong describes 21st Century Breakdown as 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."

The span of nearly five years between American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown was Green Day's longest gap between studio albums in their career. The band had been working on new material since January 2006 but showed no signs of a new album until October 2008, when a video of the group recording in the studio was posted on YouTube. Upon its release, 21st Century Breakdown reached #1 on sales charts in fourteen countries. The album subsequently achieved number one in sales on the European Top 100 Albums chart.

Promotion and release

On March 17 a teaser trailer for 21st Century Breakdown was posted to the band's website. On April 6 a portion of "Know Your Enemy" was used as introductory music to the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship game. On April 7 Green Day performed sixteen of 21st Century Breakdown's songs during a surprise show at The Independent in San Francisco. The event was open to the public but was announced only a few hours before it began. The album's track listing and lyrics were first published on the band's website on April 11. Three days later the band performed the album in full at the Fox Oakland Theatre in Oakland, California. Concertgoers were given programs containing all of the album's lyrics.

21st Century Breakdown was released internationally on May 15, 2009 through Reprise Records. A vinyl version was released, limited to 3,000 copies and consisting of three ten-inch records (one for each of the album's "acts"), a CD copy of the album, a sixty-page art booklet, and a digital download of the full album at midnight on the day of release. 21st Century Breakdown was only released in a Parental Advisory version containing explicit lyrics and content. Wal-Mart refuses to sell albums with a Parental Advisory sticker, and it requested that Green Day release a censored edition. Green Day chose not to release a censored edition and responded to Wal-Mart's request by stating, "There's nothing dirty about our record... They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there. We just said no. We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something."

The first single, "Know Your Enemy", was released on April 16, and the world premier of the song's music video occurred on April 24 on the MTV UK website. It was subsequently posted to the band's MySpace profile. The second single, "21 Guns", was released to radio stations on May 25.

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 were just friends of a friend at a party in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Something like that. I wasn't even there." The artist explained that 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."

Structure, themes, and musical style

21st Century Breakdown continues the rock opera style of its predecessor American Idiot. The album is divided into three acts: "Heroes and Cons", "Charlatans and Saints", and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades". Its loose narrative follows a young couple named Christian and Gloria through life in the United States following the presidency of George W. Bush, as they "deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind".. Bassist Mike Dirnt told Alternative Press 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." MTV compared the material to classic rockers like The Who, while Spin called the title track "Green Day's most epic song yet." 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 musical style of 21st Century Breakdown is similar to the punk rock style of American Idiot, but many critics have claimed that Green Day's sound has evolved in the five years since their last release, incorporating some new influences. Chris Fallon of AbsolutePunk.net said that 21st Century Breakdown, "weaving a yarn that while still punk rock in all its context, allowed the band to develop a gratuitous sense of self while expanding their trademarked brand of punk rock." Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said the album sports the "sharpest, toughest tunes" and ballads that are "their glossiest ever". He claims Green Day "combine punk thrash with their newfound love of classic-rock grandiosity".

Critics noticed that some songs of the album have the same riffs as older songs by Green Day (i.e. 21 Century Breakdown and Jesus Of Suburbia). They also noted that the song Horseshoes and Handgrenades has the same song structure as The Hives' Main Offender. 21 Guns also has similarities in the melody with San Francisco by The Mamas & The Papas. However, there are no lawsuits concerning those similarities yet.

Reception and sales

Reception of the album has generally been favorable and positive. The DailyMusicGuide called the album "enthused, fresh, punchy and melodic", claiming the band has "pulled Green Day up from being just a punk band to a true anthemic stadium band." The Observer Music Monthly praised the album, awarding it four of five stars and likening it to both Bruce Springsteen's music and the avant-garde writing of Chuck Palahniuk, celebrating its "engrossing narrative." Entertainment Weekly stated, "AMERICAN GENIUSES: Rockers Green Day give their breakdown of the new millennium." The Tune gave the album an A grade, stating that "Green Day, in their ode to the Age of Technology - the Age of Disconnection - have created one of the best albums of the decade, one that reflects the culture and the times with occasional biting wit and frequent fist-pounding fury." Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone gave the album 4½ stars out of 5, 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." The Times called the album a masterpiece "because it realizes its ambitions" and stated that it carries the spirit of The Who, David Bowie, Queen, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and The Clash. 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."

Criticism has tended to center on the concept of the album. The BBC, while not overly critical, criticized the concept and lyrics of the album, saying it is "griping vaguely against 'authority'" and that "too many buzz words obscure incisive meaning". Spin Magazine's Steve Kandell wrote that the humor in American Idiot was "sorely missed" and the energy of the album seemed "directionless". The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote that "the storyline becomes impossible to follow". Sputnikmusic reviewer, Adam Downer, was the most critical professional reviewer of the album, questioning the clarity of the lyrics and calling it "more conceptually vague/ridiculous than American Idiot" He went on to say that the album "spirals out of control in its own heroic glory and never regains focus, thus ending with a product that Green Day couldn’t afford to produce: an average record... 21st Century Breakdown's general sound is rooted firmly in the 20th century (and features few to no breakdowns)."

Upon its release, 21st Century Breakdown reached #1 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling 215,000 copies in its shortened three-day first week. The album also debuted at the top of sales charts in thirteen other countries. It reached number one on the European Top 100 Albums chart.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Billie Joe Armstrong; all music is composed by Green Day

No.TitleLength
1."Song of the Century"0:58
Act I: Heroes and Cons
No.TitleLength
2."21st Century Breakdown"5:09
3."Know Your Enemy"3:11
4."¡Viva la Gloria!"3:31
5."Before the Lobotomy"4:37
6."Christian's Inferno"3:07
7."Last Night on Earth"3:57
Act II: Charlatans and Saints
No.TitleLength
8."East Jesus Nowhere"4:35
9."Peacemaker"3:24
10."Last of the American Girls"3:51
11."Murder City"2:54
12."¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)"3:48
13."Restless Heart Syndrome"4:20
Act III: Horseshoes and Handgrenades
No.TitleLength
14."Horseshoes and Handgrenades"3:14
15."The Static Age"4:17
16."21 Guns"5:21
17."American Eulogy" (A. "Mass Hysteria" / B. "Modern World")4:26
18."See the Light"4:36
Total length:69:16

Bonus tracks

All lyrics are written by Billie Joe Armstrong; all music is composed by Green Day, except where noted

Amazon.com MP3 version
No.TitleLength
19."Burnout" (live)2:21
iTunes deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
19."A Quick One While He's Away" (originally performed by The Who)Pete Townshend7:59
20."Another State of Mind" (originally performed by Social Distortion)Mike Ness2:46
iTunes pre-order edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
21."That's All Right" (originally performed by Elvis Presley)Arthur Crudup2:01
22."Like a Rolling Stone" (originally performed by Bob Dylan)Bob Dylan6:10
Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
19."Lights Out"2:21
Rhapsody exclusive version
No.TitleLength
19."Know Your Enemy" (live)4:47
20."The Static Age" (live)4:30
Live in Japan (Japanese edition / Target exclusive edition bonus CD)
No.TitleLength
1."American Idiot" (live)4:18
2."Jesus of Suburbia" (live)9:22
3."Holiday" (live)4:34
4."Are We the Waiting" (live)3:19
5."St. Jimmy" (live)2:58
6."Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (live)4:41

B-sides

Song Length Release(s)
"Lights Out" 2:16 B-side of "Know Your Enemy"
"Hearts Collide" 2:39 B-side of "Know Your Enemy"

Personnel

Green Day

Additional musicians

Recording and production staff

  • Micah Chong – guitar technician
  • Chris Dugan – engineer
    • Wesley Seidman, Keith Armstrong, and Nik Karpen – assistant engineers
    • Brad Kobylczak, Joe McGrath, Brad Townshend, and Andrew Schubert – additional engineering
  • Mike Fasano and Kenny Butler – drum technicians
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing engineer
  • Bill Schneider – band coordinator, guitar technician
  • Shari Sutcliffe – production coordinator
  • Butch Vig – producer

Album artwork

  • Chris Bilheimer – design, photography, and stencils
  • Marina Chavez – back cover photo
  • David Cooper, Micah Chong, and Andrew Black – stencil crew

Chart performance

Chart (2009) Peak
position 		Certification Sales
Australian ARIA Albums Chart 2 Platinum 23,892
Austria Album Charts 1 - -
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) 2 - -
Canadian Albums Chart 1 - 30,000+
Czech IFPI Albums Chart 1 - -
European Top 100 Albums 1 - -
Finnish Albums Chart 3 Platinum 40,000+
French SNEP Albums chart 1 - -
German Album Charts 1 - -
Italian FIMI Albums Chart 1 - 15,000+
Japan Oricon Albums Chart 1 Gold 100,672
Mexico Albums Chart 1 - -
New Zealand Albums Chart 1 Gold 7,500+
Norway VG-lista Albums Chart 1 - -
Polish Albums Chart 6 - -
Portuguese Albums Chart 2 - -
Spain Spanish Album Charts 1 - -
Swedish Albums Chart 1 Gold 20,000
Switzerland Album Charts 1 - -
UK Albums Chart 1 Gold 145,585
US Billboard 200 1 - 380,810
Preceded byTogether Through Life by Bob Dylan UK Albums Chart number one album
May 17, 2009 - May 24, 2009 		Succeeded byRelapse by Eminem
Preceded bySongs for My Mother by Ronan Keating New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart number-one album
May 18, 2009 - May 25, 2009 		Succeeded byRelapse by Eminem
Preceded byEpiphany by Chrisette Michele Billboard 200 number-one album
May 30, 2009 - June 6, 2009 		Succeeded byRelapse by Eminem
Preceded byWe All by Hideaki Tokunaga Japanese Albums Chart number one albums
May 25, 2009 – June 1, 2009 		Succeeded byRelapse by Eminem
Preceded byStupida by Alessandra Amoroso FIMI artists chart number-one album
May 21, 2009 - 		Succeeded by
Preceded byTogether Through Life by Bob Dylan Swedish Sverigetopplistan number-one album
May 25, 2009 - 		Succeeded byMZN by Måns Zelmerlöv
Preceded bySounds of the Universe by Depeche Mode European Top 100 Albums artists chart number-one album
May 28, 2009 - 		Succeeded by

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