"Know Your Enemy" (CD Single) (by Green Day, Alternative Rock)

KNOW YOUR ENEMY is Green Day's first release since the trio's Grammy-winning rock opera American Idiot took the music world by storm. That politically impassioned album showed that the band had matured (literally and musically) to become more than a bunch of young punks making punk-inspired music. Their new album, 21st Century Breakdown has been years in the making, and this single is a hard-hitting anthem that rages against apathy and blindly following leadership.

Green Day knows how to craft a power-packed song, and "Know Your Enemy" has all the angry guitars, pounding drums, and passionate vocals they've become known for. Lyrically, it may seem like a simple song that asks again and again: "Do you know the enemy? Do you know your enemy?" And its repetitive chorus will definitely stick in your head long after the last note. A closer listen, however, reveals more literate, articulate -- and political -- commands and demands such as "Don't be blinded by the lies" and "Rally up the demons of your soul." The boys are back in full force. And even though they cry "Gimme gimme revolution," you'll quickly find that they're not looking for a call to arms, but rather, a call to action.