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Onasis headlines five band show at The House
Green Day disappoints with new album
Last updated on 06/16/2009 at 8:32 p.m.
Green Day’s long-awaited follow-up to “American Idiot” comes up short.
Though “21st Century Breakdown” is a great album by all normal standards, it pales in comparison to the previous release. In the band’s defense, however, it might be easier to build a working perpetual-motion machine than craft a better album than “American Idiot.”
Love it or hate it, Green Day’s “American Idiot” is a likely candidate to go down in history, exactly the same as the band’s ’90s release “Dookie,” as one of the monumental works of the decade – which all other works from the decade will be compared to.
On “21st Century Breakdown,” Green Day tries to capitalize on the sounds that worked on “American Idiot” and “Warning,” but succeeds more often at the latter. Though more ambitious than the band’s typical under three-minute, four-chord anthems, only a handful of tracks hold a candle to the tracks “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Homecoming.”
On the positive side, the title track and “American Eulogy” are both fantastic examples of improving on the multiple-movement structure in “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Homecoming” by tightening the formula. Each song blazes through three movements seamlessly.
The songs “Before the Lobotomy,” and “Viva La Gloria” feature piano-based introductions, which serve as a first section, but would have worked better as separate transition songs.
The tracks “Peacemaker” and “Viva La Gloria [Little Girl]” borrow from Gypsy-rock styling and are the two most enjoyable, conventionally structured songs on the album. The song “21 Guns” is another standout track, even if the guitar solo borrows a few bars from the “Full House” theme song.
The rest of the tracks, however, are good for a few listens, but a lot seem to miss a good hook.
Though progressive rock avoids hooks like the plague, this is pop-punk: it’s supposed to have a hook.
The exception to the case is the lead single “Know Your Enemy,” which is three minutes of a short hook on repeat and a great 16-bar guitar solo. The song’s sum, unfortunately, is far less than its individual parts.
Another problem with “21st Century Breakdown” is that at 17 songs, it’s too long – the introduction doesn’t count since it is reprised in “American Eulogy.” The album would actually be a lot better if the weak songs “East Jesus Nowhere,” “Restless Heart Syndrome” and “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” were cut from the track list.
The inclusion of the three songs as anything other than B-sides feels tacked on. In the MP3 age, the old excuse for including extra songs to fill up space on the CD is void. Even though “21st Century Breakdown” is a concept album that tells a story, the story is loose and really doesn’t benefit the listening experience.
“21st Century Breakdown” is another solid release from Green Day, just don’t expect a revolution.
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I love how the three songs he calls "weak" are actually my fav 3...
I disagree with you on many of the points that you make in this article, but most egregious of all is the suggestion that three songs should have been cut from the album -- East Jesus and Horseshoes are already fan favorites, while Restless Heart has taken Green Day into a completely new level.
This reviewer is an idiot. Horseshoes and Handgrenades is one of the best Green Day songs ever recorded their entire career, hands down. And Restless Heart Syndrome could be the next Boulevard of Broken Dreams. The album wouldn't have been near as good without those gems.
