Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown Turns 10 Today

Ten years ago today, American band Green Day officially released their eighth studio album 21st Century Breakdown. My favorite Green Day album, I still enjoy listening to this particular work a decade later.

A lot of you already know I am a die hard David Bowie fan. I am also a Green Day fan as well. And while my love for them doesn’t quite match my love (read: obsession) for Bowie, if you knew my high school self, you would know I loved, and still love, this band.

I first got into Green Day when their highly acclaimed album, American Idiot, was released in September 2004. I was in 7th grade, the emo and iPod era, and remember just how HUGE that album was. Boys were imitating vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong’s look of all black wardrobe, messy hair, and guy liner. Girls wore Green Day band shirts, and you could overhear the album blasting on tinny earbuds. I remember purchasing a few songs on my iPod Nano, the songs “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” being my favorites. In fact, the latter song served as my alarm on my iHome during my middle and high school days.

Once in high school, I started listening to other Green Day songs. My favorite pre tennis match pump up songs were “Welcome to Paradise” and “Brain Stew”. Keep in mind: these songs were already more than a decade old when I truly discovered them; Gen X grew up listening to these early songs and albums.

As much I liked American Idiot, I was ecstatic when Green Day released the single “Know Your Enemy,” in April 2009, to herald their latest album. 21st Century Breakdown is my album, from my era, a contemporary work. I remember watching the “Know Your Enemy” music video on YouTube, and counting down the days till May 15, the official release date. That day happened to be seniors’ last day at my high school. A junior, I distinctly remember standing above the commons, watching the seniors congregate in a mass of school papers flung everywhere, chanting, yelling. Gripping the balcony rail, anxiously tapping my foot, I muttered over and over, “One more year, one more year…”

The timing of the album’s release was poignant. Listening to it then, and even now, I knew that 21st Century Breakdown was, and is ,the soundtrack of my youth, of my teenaged self, my 17th year, my 17th summer. Society makes a big fuss about being 17. Oh to be 17 again…Yes. I get it. I loved being 17. I miss it. I remember purchasing the album shortly afterward, and listening to, memorizing, each track. Each song is so damn good, that I’m hard pressed to say that there’s any tracks where I hit the “Next” button.

And say what you will about Green Day selling out, gone commercial, gone POP instead of punk. I don’t care. You can’t deny that vocalist-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool are all such incredibly talented musicians. The songwriting, the lyrics, the hooks, the melodies: Green Day brings it all on this album. After the gigantic success of American Idiot, fans and critics wondered if Green Day could ever, or even desired, to top or match that success. Now, I’m no music critic, but 21st Century Breakdown is certainly no let down; in my opinion, the work matches the creativity and quality of its predecessor. Sectioned into three acts, the album’s theme, reflected through its title, centers on the bourgeoning hopes, fears, and anxiety that comes with the dawn of a new century. As with American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown‘s narrative is portrayed through characters, these being the young punk couple Christian and Gloria. The album brings Green Day’s signature sound of raucous guitar and sledgehammer drums on tracks such as “Know Your Enemy” and “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades,” with Dirnt’s bass heavy on “East Jesus Nowhere,” and “Last of the American Girls.” The album’s other single, “21 Guns,” is a power ballad with an anti war message. A hard hitting song in both its lyrics and melody, this track once again confirms Green Day’s stellar songwriting abilities. For me however, my personal favorite song on this album is “Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl).” Opening with haunting piano notes, the track then builds into a crescendo of rockabilly sounding guitar and powerful bass lines, with the lyrics describing a woman whose destructive drug habit is forcing her onto the streets.

In this era of auto tune and zilch instruments for many of today’s top selling recording artists, Green Day remains so refreshing, so cathartic, to listen to: an actual band! And a rock band at that. Though many folks scoff at Green Day having long lost any sense of their original punk roots, once again, I do not care. The sheer talent within the melodies and songwriting is gold. This album is a true rock epic masterpiece, just like American Idiot.

For me, 21st Century Breakdown was forever sealed into memory upon listening to it during a Fourth of July weekend trip with my Dad. We were driving along the boundless tracks of eastern Wyoming, blasting it at top volume. My Dad, the one who introduced me to Bowie and many other classic rock artists, knows what good music is. And he loved that album. Still does. My Mom too; she’ll request that I play it for her. How cool is my Mom? 🙂 And to this day, whenever I think of Wyoming, 21th Century Breakdown starts playing in my head. Just last August I drove up to Laramie, and once I crossed the border into the Equality State, I immediately started playing the album: I was 17 again.

Exactly three months after the album’s release, I saw Green Day live at the Denver Pepsi Center. I’d been playing a tennis tournament all day, was sunburned and tired. Didn’t care though. Show time, I dressed in my black skinnies, black Vans, and black shirt; I wanted to wear a red tie just like Billie Joe, but couldn’t find one in time.

And wow, Green Day did not disappoint. They played their new album, older songs, and several covers. It was a looong set: two hours or more. I remember watching the riot of the mosh pit from high above, reveling in a great time. I remember all the emo kids my age, and the Gen Xers who’d known Green Day from their early days. Just as the release of the album heralded summer break, that concert ushered in my final year of high school. The timing of that album could not have been more perfect. Green Day, thank you for the wonderful music and memories.

~LMC