The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features
BMPCONCERT_2009_after_2

Green Day | 21st Century Breakdown

Reprise (2009)
By JEFF TAMARKIN  |  June 1, 2009
3.5 3.5 Stars

09052_greenday_main

LISTEN:Podcast on OTD, Michael Marotta review the new Green Day on WFNX.
If anyone had suggested, circaDookie 15 years ago, that Green Day would one day carry the torch for the classic rock opera . . . well, no one would have. But now the band who sang, on that album, "Do you have the time to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once?" have plenty to say — about everything.

21st Century Breakdown not only picks up where the mega-selling American Idiot left off, it ups the ante with one broad-stroke proclamation after the next. In other words, a full-blown Statement. Populated with catch phrases ("I don't want to live in the modern world," "desperate, but not helpless"), the narrative tracks two well-intentioned but beaten-down souls, Christian and Gloria, who are bitterly adrift in the post-Bush malaise that a naive, easily manipulated America brought upon itself.

Every track is an anthem, but Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool, periodically augmented by pianist Jason Freese and produced by Butch Vig, steer clear of excess and cliché as they navigate their tale, which is divvied into three acts. It could have easily gone any of several wrong ways, but Green Day's punk has long since been tempered with pop's most attractive attributes, and 21stCentury Breakdown, like its predecessor, is unapologetically accessible and relentlessly exhilarating. Classic-rock references abound, and that's no doubt deliberate: in a musical climate so driven by disposability, Green Day still believe in making records that define their era. And they've made another one.

GREEN DAY | TD Banknorth Garden, 100 Legends Way, Boston | July 20 | $22.50-$47 |www.livenation.com

Related: Photos: Green Day at TD Garden, The Big Hurt: Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, The Big Hurt: Durst pantsed, Michaels smooshed, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Pop and Rock Music,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

Best Music Poll 2009 winners
BMP_WINNERS_AD
Today's Event Picks
--> -->
ARTICLES BY JEFF TAMARKIN
Share this entry with Delicious

 See all articles by: JEFF TAMARKIN

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group