21st Century Breakdown

I missed this CD so much, I had to buy it again. I saw Billie Joe, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool at Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Chicago, and they played East Jesus Nowhere for me! Thank you! This rock opera beats American Idiot, hands down. Green Day rocks! As long as you use fire to burn that green, because you can’t get electricity without fire first. Don’t let the light go out. Yahweh awesome!

I was absolutely, sinkingly disappointed in this album when I first listened. Shades of 1970's music (which is fine if you like that sort of thing; I don't). More rock, less punk; but I promised myself to listen through three times straight before I posted a review. The more I listened, the more the lyrics became clear, and depths of complexity began to show themselves. I had hoped for an album which I could play straight through without skipping a lot of songs, and this does it. It's a long album: 18 songs I think, and most of them are singles-quality.A few notes: I didn't even notice the "Christian and Gloria" theme for quite some time. The lyrics are somewhat hard to understand at first, and I listen in the car, so reading the liner as it plays is not really an option. Finally, while waiting for someone in a parking lot, I got to read the titles and lyrics and realized that there was an operatic quality to this album, like American Idiot. Now, I come from the age of Pink Floyd's The Wall, and was exposed to Tommy during my teen years. I love the idea of a whole integrated collection of songs which make a story. In the early '80's, I spent hours imagining what Pink looked like (Pink the character in The Wall, not the pink-haired diva)and imagining what it all meant. I'd love to see a Green Day movie, with Jimmy or Christian, which would play at the midnight movie for decades.Secondly, the sound of the album is often scratchy and sometimes sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a well. I know this is intentional, but it was really bothersome at first; seemed to be used too much. Oddly, now I don't even notice it, but I play it louder as I've come to know the words.Billie Joe fights the establishment with his lyrics, and this album is no exception. The lyrics are well thought out, if not somewhat repetitive in places(I agree with the reviewer who states that _Know Your Enemy_ is one of the weaker offerings), but definitely gives listeners the famous Green Day attitude. Again, if you don't get the first time, give it a couple more tries and I think you'll be hooked on an album you can listen to without interruption...

I bought this album the day it came out, because I knew it was going to be another outstanding release from an outstanding band. But, I (as well as several other million fans) have such a high expectation of this band, that its totally ridiculous to expect great all of the time. Yes people "American Idiot" was groundbreaking and one of the best releases of 2004, but their NOT gods people, their flesh and blood, like you and I. I don't fault them for making another rock-opera. If this is the direction they want to take in their careers, that is fine with me, I'll keep buying their albums. If they produce a more 'normal' album in a couple of years, I'll buy that too. I've liked this band since their "Kerplunk!" days, and my fondness of them and their music will probably never change. Their inspired by a little more than a lot of the 'typical' rock/punk bands out there, so yeah they've became a little more political, and in some ways, mature. Their not young anymore and to me, their writing and producing how they see the current state of America. The next time you insult them for being too much of something, stop and think about the rest of the world of music and see what their doing/writing about, and then take a look at the garbage in our musical landscape, and realize that Green Day at least stays relevant. Also, don't forget, the freedoms we enjoy in America that allowed Green Day to produce great works such as "Dookie" and "American Idiot".If Amazon had a rating of more than five stars, I'd give Green Day at least 10 or more for this album. Keep up the great music Green Day and I hope you come to Hawaii someday, since that's where I live. I can't wait to see what their next album will bring us, I just hope they don't wait so darn long this time.