Erm...'Bout That...

I'm sorry, but due to the absolute maelstrom of college preparation and packing I have to do, I will not be able to do a summer review-athon as promised. I may do the minor articles at a later date, but as it stands right now, you should only be expecting a full summer review some time after I get settled in at college. Sorry to all of you rabid readers out there, but this pony's got other fish in the box.

Summer Review-athon

Well, I don't know how it happened, but it's August. One short, sweet month left of summer vacation. In honor of these precious days, we'll be taking a look back at all kinds of crazy summer-related things in lieu of or in addition to the normal reviews...probably the former. All of this will lead up to the grand finale when I gave you the MitC official rating of Summer 2009.

Stay tuned...

Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown

In the past decade, I don’t know what there have been more of: those who have flocked to Green Day over the new sound and approach they toyed with in American Idiot, or the long-time fans who cried blasphemy when they didn’t hear the same old sound they’d fallen in sweet, sweet love with. The two camps immediately went at each others’ throats in message boards all across the interwebs. Arguments broke out, volcanoes erupted, and the moon went into hiding somewhere out past Saturn. It truly was a mess. Well, for better or worse, I’m here to tell you that I don’t see the madness ending any time soon because 21st Century Breakdown falls into American Idiot’s groove, and does so marvelously.

Much like the album that preceded it, 21st Century Breakdown ventures into the world of political commentary, though this time around it feels a bit more subtle. The storyline follows the characters of Christian and Gloria and their relationship and hardships and whatnot. If I’m being perfectly honest, I’ve only pieced together general ideas and portions of the story, so I’ll leave that to you readers to figure out in whatever way is most meaningful to you. The reality is that the story is there for those who are interested, but you won’t really miss much if you choose to ignore it entirely as the music stands well on its own.

That being said, while there are no tracks I would ever call bad, some are definitely stronger than others. “¡Viva la Gloria!” is one of the stronger ones, starting with a piano and vocal combo, and breaking into a much faster tempo for the remainder of the song. “Peacemaker” is an almost western-sounding (for lack of a better term) tune that has a great driving acoustic guitar line. Add to this “¿Viva la Gloria?,” which has an eastern-European sound to it, and the old radio-style “Song of the Century,” and it’s apparent that there is a wide spectrum of influence. “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades” comes off as a nod to Green Days older material, and is probably the closest you’ll find to that classic sound on this album. And of course, there are the shameless ballads, such as “Last Night on Earth."

On the flip side, some tracks rose minor concerns. “Know Your Enemy” might serve a purpose in setting tone for the story, but it grows old quickly with its unusually repetitious lyrics and melody. “21 Guns” is a great song and has a grand feeling about it, but it is a bit reminiscent of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” The closing song on the album, “See the Light,” is a bit weak (especially lyrically) in comparison to the rest of the songs offered, and it’s all the more noticeable as the parting song. “American Eulogy,” the song that precedes it, would fit much better as the final song. But that’s just my humble opinion.

FINAL VERDICT

“21st Century Breakdown” is by no means a life-changing album, but who says it needs to be? It’s got plenty of strong tracks, many of which will lodge themselves so deep in your head, you’ll need a black hole to suck them out. If you liked “American Idiot,” you’ll probably like this one. If you just crawled out from under a rock and you’re new to Green Day, you might want to pick up the “International Superhits” album to get up to speed first, but you won’t go wrong starting here either.

Tangerine With a Side of Fries