21st Century Breakdown (by Green Day, Alternative Rock)

Well, as a massive Green Day fan myself, My review may be slightly biased, but bear with me. Ok, so following up the grand-slam known as American Idiot, Green Day gives us another album with a similar message. The basic idea is that society is not as perfect as some think, and that we all need to wake up and smell the burnt rubber, or somwthing ruffer then a flower. In the end, the album has you thinking, but in a more positive way. As I have dail up, and bought the album from Rhapsody, I got to experiance each song individually, one song per day. This helped me et the message of the album better. For the language, it is used in good taste, and you almost always find yourself thinking of these words as well placed adjectives. In fact, the song Horseshoes and Handgrenades is the only song I think you may want to keep from younger ears. The song 21 guns is not violent, and actualy a buetiful song, so good I got a 64 year old woman to ask me to play it. (wow, right?) In the end, this is a great album, it makes you think, and I must say, from a band who started out singing about mansterbation and smoking drugs, this is a masterpeice. Unless your child is living under a rock, there is nothing I can think anyone would find greatly offensive. (Well, I guess if you can't stop and laugh at the dogma of organized religion, East Jesus Nowhere may not be your new ringtone.) So, I may have said this before, but everything checks out, and if your kid asks anything, just answer them honestly. After all, Honesty is a virtue.

21 Guns is in NO way about weapons or violence. The title references a 21 gun salute (performed to honor a dead military officer) and the song is anti-war and about the trauma that war imposes on pope. It isn't graphic at all and has a very good message. Just had to clear that up a bit.

I have been listening to Green Day since I was about 6, when Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) had begun another extended tour on the radio. I was too young to listen to American Idiot when it was released, but now, I can safely say I adore every track on the album. I was able to rediscover my love for Green Day (I also enjoyed Basket Case when I was about 9) when 21st Century Breakdown was released last year. As with any artist, the repetitive, catchy singles are overplayed to the point of being painful on the radio, and therefore it was easy for some to dismiss the Berkeley punks latest masterpiece as noise pollution. I am here to tell you are wrong! :) Sure, the rock opera portion of the album is a little overlooked (or just too easy to overlook) in the context of the entire album, but even without the contiuous plot reminder that was clearly displayed in American Idiot, Christian and Gloria are still present on the album, with tracks such as !Viva la Gloria!; Christian's Inferno, and Gloria's name becoming a taunting, snarling refrain towards the end of the highly explicit Horseshoes and Handgrenades. But the messages are still there. American Idiot was so successful in its anti-Bush-policy/save us from ourselves crusade mainly because before Green Day released American Idiot in 2004, most had thought the little band-that-could was done for. Not so. :) As this is the dawn of a new administration (whether you like America's leader at this time or not, remember, that isn't relevant now!), there isn't too much of a buck-the-system feel. Rather, Green Day took the streets, bringing back the cries for an end to all wars, head-banging ballads about back-wood corrupt Christian churches, and a potential Best Rock Song of the Year (Grammy Awards; 21 Guns, one of the best songs on the album, and one of the worst offenders are far as overplaying goes). All in all, there are still three-chord power songs, explicit content (one reference to an orgasm, used in a literate way, and the now-standard Green Day f***, god-****, s***; and the occasional hell, though the last one is a reference to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong's birth place-Born into Nixon, I was raised in hell. A welfare child where the teamsters dwell. Last one born, and the first one to run. My town was blind from refinery sun... All in all, the lyrics are consistently fantastic, with lots of sly references and analogies thrown in for good measure. Mix it all together, and what do you get? Quite possibly the Best Rock Album of the Year. What can I say? They have my vote. :)

It would be 5 stars if American Idiot was on here. But, as everyone knows, its not. Oh, and also, 21 Guns isnt violent. The only violence is abit on Know Your Enemy and a song called Murder City. A few songs cuss, but the album overall isnt anything near Drake's Thank Me later or even B.o.Bs adventures of bobby ray.

as you can tell by my username, everyone should be allowed to listen to it

I love this album. So many awesome songs and Green Day is the best punk-rock band anyone could find. The best song on this album is Last of the American Girls. If anyone wanted to know. :)

Amazing album, best of the year. Many concerns include explicit profanity, such as f---, s---, da--, and offensive religous explanations in every song. Also has intense drug references in three songs, and violent ideas in about 3/4 of the songs. Perfect for teens, mature 10-12.

Not a bad album. People get mad at Green day for selling out, but their new stuff is just as good, just a different style. This album isn't punk rock so don't expect it to be like any older Green Day albums. It's 10 times better than any other rock on the radio though that's for sure.

one of my favorite bands