I listened to the new Green Day album, "21st Century Breakdown" expecting to blown away the way "American Idiot" knocked my pants off. Sadly, it falls far short. Don't get me wrong, Green Day didn't make a BAD album. It's just nearly impossible for a band to get any higher than something as groundbreaking as American Idiot. In listening to these songs, I feel like they were trying to do the same thing that they did on the last album when they should have gone in yet another direction, as they have over the span of their past. You know the songs on American Idiot that weren't singles, that only fit within the context of the CD? Songs like "Homecoming" and "Letterbomb", for example. I feel like 21st Century Breakdown is comprised entirely of songs like these. There is no track that stands out as a song that could be legendary or have any impact on music. They were able to do that with the song "American Idiot" in particular. The first single on this CD "Know Your Enemy" doesn't really have any kind of strong meaning that could take hold in the country today. It's pretty catchy, but then again so is "I Kissed a Girl". Billie Joe again chooses to make characters for a concept line on this album. I can't help but look at this as a little overly trite. If you're gonna make another concept album, it has to be as good if not better than the last. On American Idiot, when the characters were mentioned in the songs and the story tied together, it set off a magical feeling in the listener. Green Day made a good album here, but I can't see it becoming something I listen to over and over.
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