This is an album that has attracted a lot of hate, specifically from fans of their earlier work. Just look at it’s average on Sputnik compared to their other albums (Dookie has a 4, Nimrod has a 3.6. While a 3.6 isn’t great, it’s still pretty damn good compared to the 2.6 average given to 21st Century Breakdown). As a follow up to the massively successful album American Idiot, that by Kerrang magazine was considered the best rock album of the 2000s (which it isn’t, but it’s still a solid album that’s worth a listen). As most other reviews of the album show, this album is very poorly received, especially by long time fans of their earlier work.
But what exactly makes this album so bad? Why is it that every Taylor Swift release has a higher rating than this album? Is it the fact that Green Day strayed away from their more punk oriented sound, as Blink 182 did with their self titled effort? Is it the fact that the album is very ballad oriented? Or is it just bad? When I came across this album, I really didn’t know a lot of music from Green Day. I heard Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) on the radio before, but I didn’t really know what their music was supposed to sound like. So my listen of the album really didn’t have any bias (as it was the first I listened to, back in 2010 when I decided that there’s better music out there than just U2). Back then, at age 14, I liked the album (recently I’ve been revisiting many of the albums I cherished through middle school, like this one.) But what does the album actually sound like?
Right from the start of the album, you get a filler track. I suppose Song of the Century is supposed to be an intro track, nevertheless it’s a simple filler song. The further you progress into the album, you’ll realize that (similar to albums like The Black Parade or From Under the Cork Tree) that the album is a lot more pop than it is punk. For example, Know Your Enemy is a catchy and simple song, that generally repeats the same sentence over again during the chorus. 21st Century Breakdown is a very pop punk sounding song, except it has very theatrical elements to it. It’s the closest thing to the album’s Jesus of Suburbia. Last of the American Girls, Murder City, and the Static Age are also some of the more pop punk sounding songs on the album.
One thing that is very common on this album is the massive amount of ballad type songs (or in their case, songs that start out as ballads and get louder eventually). Before the Lobotomy has an acoustic guitar beginning, but eventually breaks into a more Green Day sounding song. This album is very dominated with those kind of songs. The two tracks with the name Viva la Gloria (yes, there are two) are that way as well, except both of the tracks appear to be ripping off songs from their earlier albums (Viva la Gloria! is basically Letterbomb with a piano beginning and Viva la Gloria? is basically a mix of Misery and My Chemical Romance’s Mama). 21 Guns (a song that most listeners probably knew before listening to the album itself) beings with volume swells, and then has an acoustic laced verse with an anthemic, distorted chorus (while the song’s chorus blatantly rips off All the Young Dudes by David Bowie, it’s still a nice listen.)
Two of these songs especially stood out to me; Last Night on Earth and Restless Heart Syndrome. What happens with Last Night on Earth is that the listener expects to hear the song pick up into a more “punkish” (because everyone knows that Green Day was only punk in the early 90s) sound, but this song is a genuine ballad. It’s also a first person love song from the band, which you don’t typically expect to hear from Green Day. Restless Heart Syndrome especially surprised me. I never would’ve expected this song to be nearly as musically brilliant as it is. Restless Heart Syndrome starts off with a dark piano sound. Most Green Day music isn’t “dark” sounding. This one impressed me right off from there. At the line of the song “know your enemy”, every bit of slowness and quietness in the song just rips apart with a guitar solo that’s drenched in (I think I might be wrong) a wah effect. Eventually the chords just tear apart the song. It’s a great track, and different to anything they’ve done before.
There are countless amounts of songs that stand out among the others. To start off, Peacemaker is a mariachi type acoustic song, which is a very different and unique thing to anything they’ve done before. Horseshoes and Handgrenades is a heavy anthemic type song where Billie has a very distorted voice. American Eulogy actually has Mike singing on it (which at times he actually has a better voice than Billie sometimes). East Jesus Nowhere has an attack on religion (which you sort of expect from them that this album never really brought). And, while the chorus is incredibly annoying, Christian’s Inferno is a standout track, just to the fact that it isn’t an annoying pop song or a ballad.
One thing that I would definitely change about the album is the fact that the last track on the album is probably the worst. Now Green Day has always been weak with closing albums (Good Riddance would be the perfect closer to Nimrod, yet they chose Prosthetic Head.) However, See the Light is a terrible closer to the album, which definitely makes the album less pleasurable. (For me at least) the album ender is supposed to leave a mark on the listener, so album’s should end strong. See the Light lacks that, as well the song is just a generally boring track. And it fades out. If you make your album fade out, it feels inconclusive, which is clearly what happened here.
So is the album bad? No. Is the album better than their older work? No. Is the album overhated? No. Does the album deserve to be considered a classic, or even excellent? No. Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown is a good listen, with some very catchy songs including some of the band’s best work. However, a lot of of the album’s songs (specifically the lead single Know Your Enemy) are boring, repetitive, unoriginal, and bland. There are plenty of great tunes on this album though. Restless Heart Syndrome, American Eulogy, East Jesus Nowhere, and 21 Guns are some specific songs that I would reccommend. If you want to listen to an album reflective of their older work, then STAY AWAY! This album may be good for the average pop punk fan, but bad for anyone who wants to hear any Dookie/Insomniac/Nimrod type music. Get some real punk instead, like the Clash. If you’re a fan of albums like Blink 182’s self titled, Underclass hero (and god only knows why anyone likes that album), or maybe some older stuff from Fall Out Boy, than you would definitely like this. Musically, it’s superior to anything Green Day’s ever done. Lyrically, it gets its ass kicked. But does this album get too much hate? Yes. It’s not that horrible.
