Green Day - "21st Gentury Breakdown" (2009)

Keep It Real, Please - 55%

Pretension is not the bane of good music. In fact, many bands can use it to glorious effect; Dream Theater, for example, not only writes ridiculous songs about monsters and heroes, but also has the melodrama of James LaBrie on lead vocals. However, when found in a sub-par band and to such a low degree that some may find it convincing, insincerity can be the determining factor for the quality of an album. Green Day’s second foray into the realm of the rock opera is an example of this tragic situation. As soon as the album starts playing, you know that Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown is not going to be worth your while. “Song of the Century” is an introductory track featuring radio-tuning effects and a sole singing voice which, while being a pleasant melody, is simply over-the-top in terms of album structure. The remainder of the album is told in not-so-cohesive units which Green Day has labeled “acts.”

Overly anthemic choruses permeate all of the album’s full-length songs, as do three-chord progressions (I never would have guessed). Very few exceptions to these compositional rules occur throughout the album, and they sound forced when they do. An odd time signature? It’s simply not right. In this respect, the boring songs on the album (such as “¡Viva la Gloria!” and “The Static Age”) are liable to be the most enjoyable. Even the politics on the album are fake, never expanding intellectually. Billie-Joe Armstrong just doesn’t know what he’s talking about. One track near the end (“21 Guns”), however, managed to pleasantly break the flow through avoiding Green Day’s form entirely and more closely following the power ballad style of the eighties; the song displays Armstrong’s vocal and stylistic range in a flattering instrumental context. But overall, there are far better uses for 69 of your minutes. Well, a mere look at the cover art should be deterrent enough for anyone.

tl;dr: Bright points do pop up in the album. For the most part, though, it is ostentatious and formulaic.
Best Songs: "21 Guns" and "Peacemaker"

~Nilla

1. Song Of The Century
2. 21st Century Breakdown
3. Know Your Enemy
4. ¡Viva La Gloria!
5. Before The Lobotomy
6. Christian's Inferno
7. Last Night On Earth
8. East Jesus Nowhere
9. Peacemaker
10. Last of the American Girls
11. Murder City
12. ¿Viva La Gloria?
13. Restless Heart Syndrome
14. Horseshoes and Handgrenades
15. The Static Age
16. 21 Guns
17. American Eulogy
18. See The Light
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