Green Day : 21st Century Breakdown (Warner)

By Ben Liew  •  12 Jun 2009 in Music

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Arguably the longest running and most commercially successful punk rock band, Green Day, hits a homerun again, this time in post-Bush America. If 2004’s American Idiot made them martyrs, then 21st Century Breakdown casts a bohemian shadow over the Californian trio. That’s not to say that they’ve mellowed out or, God forbid, gone art rock now that the ‘tyranny’ of the Bush administration is over.

Clocking in close to 1 hour and 10 minutes in playtime, this epic concept album is divided into 3 parts and makes American Idiot seem like a warm up EP. Rebel rouser anthems and piano laced emo moments fuel this rock opera which tells the tale of 2 punk lovers on the run. The main characters are Christian and Gloria, two kids sold out by the church (‘East Jesus Nowhere’), the state (’21 Guns’) and every adult they’ve ever believed in (We are the desperate in the decline / Raised by the b@stards of 1969). This masterpiece comes as a surprise though, with everyone disillusioned over big rockstar bands and DJs nowadays, it’s funny that Green Day (once the epitome of 90s brat culture) are the ones holding on to truth and freedom.