For those for you who don't follow this sort of stuff, 21st Century Breakdown is the newest album by the band Green Day. Before this album, I never really liked them, with the exception of a few songs o he American Idiot album, that, while good songs, were rather whiny.
This new album blows all their old stuff out of the water, though. First, let's get all the poetic stuff out of the way. The album is about Christian and Gloria, a couple who are fighting to live a better life. Yes, very sappy, and maybe not the most badass subject, but, fortunately, the album is divided between about 4 mainly piano romance songs and 14 rock songs.
The rock songs are about the actual conflict, whereas the piano songs are about the relationship between the couple and their struggle. Which type of song you prefer is a matter of opinion, but seeing as how Green Day is a rock band, I like the rock songs a bit more, even though they are all written beautifully.
For those of you who didn't catch that, yes, there are EIGHTEEN songs on this album, and all of them are good. No filler. The songs are actually linear, in a loosely connected string of lyrics depicting the romantic revolution, and, of course, the inevitable downfall. I, being functionally retarded, copied the songs on to my iPod backwards, so I didn't get the full experience of the album until I realized and corrected my mistake.
When I say the songs are written well, I don't just mean the lyrics, I mean the whole band. The songs are ripe with fills, which are brief sections of songs where only one or two of the instruments are playing, which when done well, sound great. The band also puts their favorite effect, the echo, into use often, which leads to some good riffs by the guitar.
Now for the actual song breakdown- since I'm more for the music than the story, I'm not going to tell you the subject of the song, just a brief review of it. All scores are based on my personal taste.
Song of the Century- A short song, only a minute, and all vocals, the entirety of which are in the echo effect. Not a full song, but the particularly good lyrics make this just as fun to listen to. 7/10
21st Century Breakdown- The title song of the album, as it deserves to be. The song before the midway mark sounds good, but after the midway mark the drum fill comes in, which marks the beginning of an amazing guitar riff that fits in will with occasional echo guitar fills. 9/10
Know the Enemy- The 'hit' song on the album, currently being broadcasted across the country's radios. Almost as good as the Title song, and has a great background drum beat along with an upbeat guitar beat. 8.5/10
Viva Gloria!- Starts with a romantic, but not sappy, piano intro, then goes into a steady riff with a good leading vocal track backed by the bass player, and a good mix of drum and guitar fill combinations. A beautiful song. 9/10
Before the Lobotomy- A sad song, starting with a acoustic/singer intro, and around the 1/3 mark, hits a good guitar fill and turns into a slow, simple beat with build-up drum fills (Drum fills where the drummer slowly hits the drums harder and harder, usually with the toms, to slowly sound louder and louder.) 8.5/10
Christian's Inferno- That is, the character Christian, not the religion. Probably the most upbeat and fast song on the album, with a simple riff that occasionally goes echo for a few seconds. Well put together. 8/10
Last Night on Earth- Debatably the sappiest song on the album. I, being a manly man, who eats steak for breakfast, do not like it so much, but I am not so blind as to overlook the fact that it is a GOOD sappy, romance song. 6/10
East Jesus Nowhere- My favorite song on the album. 2 different riffs, 3 different types of fills, and a vocalist solo section. Amazing song. Lyrics mock the Catholic Church, but do it tastefully. 9.5/10
Peacemaker- A very fast song, though not as upbeat as Christian's Inferno. Acoustic mostly, with good backup vocals. Has the only guitar solo on the album, and even though it's only 3 notes, it sounds great. This song mocks Islam, so, you know, yeah. The song title is ironic. 8.5/10
The Last of the American Girls- A slow song, with more bass than any song by them I've ever heard, and pretty lyrics. Also has a nice riff after the first fill section. 7.5/10
Murder City- Just as fast as Peacemaker, with a similar song structure. Two different riffs, one quiet, and one loud. I love them both, but found the quiet one a bit nicer. 8/10
Viva la Gloria?- The second song in the two-song mini story, basically the same strong structure with the instrumentals and singing changed to make it a slower, sadder song. Very nice to listen to, has great vocal/guitar fill sections. Also some very good piano-ing. 9/10
Restless Heart Syndrome- The other sappy, romantic song, but at least this one has a good drum background and guitar. Well-placed vocalist solos. References the song Know your Enemy. 7/10
Horseshoes and Handgrenades- The most profane and active song in the album, with debatably the most complicated guitar riff. Apart from that, a pretty simple song. 8/10
The Static Age- The song with my favorite drum riff, and third favorite lyrics, the other two being Viva Gloria!, and 21 Guns. Despite it's simplicity, I think it's one of the best written songs on the album. 9/10
21 Guns- My second favorite song on the album. Amazing vocals, and a very slow song. Pretty long, too, 6 minutes, and amazing every second. Definitely the most dramatic song on the album, and the best song to listen to when thinking of fallen heroes, if you're into that. I'm talking about misunderstood heroes returning to their old home town, where everything and everybody has been destroyed by the evil he was trying to protect them from, that they trusted over you. Not Transformers 2. 9.5/10
American Eulogy- Opens up with and excerpt from Song of the Century, and descends into a great socially-aware song with multiple riffs and a great drum breakdown towards the end of the song. 9/10
See the Light- The closing song on the album, with the same structure as 21st Century Breakdown, except, of course, sad. Not always a happy ending. Not as good as the tile song, but not every dong here can be my favorite. 8/10
Buy this motherfucking album. Even if you do it illegally, you will not regret it.
Also my longest post ever.
