Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

While not technically a sequel to "American Idiot", it is definitely the next step in the progression of Green Day. It's big arena rock that follows Idiot's political leanings. It starts with a pessimistic introduction to a bleak society and never really lightens up. Whereas Idiot was overtly political, this album appears to hover in pressures of modern society. In the same way that we may have done in the grunge era. And that's one of my complaints of the record. It's such a vague portrait of unhappiness, without any insight as to why. This is a concept record after all. What are you bitching about?

One thing that Green Day did get right, as usual, is the over the top pop melody sensibility. This thing is hook-abound. Take the punk riffage out of "Before The Labotomy", and you're damn near a late '80s Mötley Crüe tune. (That's a compliment.) "Last Night On Earth" is a complete re-write of Crüe's "Without You", and is clearly the worst song on this record. The best just may be the 2nd Act's "Peacemaker"; a jacked-up Spanish riot. Like DeVotchKa took some angry cocaine. But Act II's "Restless Heart Syndrome" (can't believe no one else has used that song title yet) ends its point with what I think is a contradiction. "You're a victim of the system/You're your own worst enemy". It doesn't resonate with me, but I'll push on to Act III, which kicks off with a great song, "Horseshoes and Handgrenades". Although, Green Day should really in all good faith, share a writing credit with The Hives. However, the end of the story ends like Act II, with some contradiction. "But it’s gone forever/But never too late" That doesn't really make any sense. Having said that, it actually is a good way to end the album. There's no redemption, there's no grand answer that ties these two kids together. I actually have no idea why Green Day felt the need to have two characters when the themes are the same, and there's no real love story. In the end, they simply "want to see the light" - but here, they never get to see it. I assume we've got a sequel set-up here. I just hope that the follow-up, if it's going to follow storyline style, has a more cohesive thought process. (3/5 stars)

Peacemaker - Green Day