JESS
This week's very belated review is the eighth full-length from Green Day, entitled 21st Century Breakdown (which is of no relation to the 21st Century Schizoid Man, sadly). According to them, this follows the same style as the previous album, in that it is a “rock opera.” As far as I can tell, it's just a fancy way to say “all of our songs are about the same story.” Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, if done well. However, since these guys have kept the anti-government / anarchy / typical punk ethos, the story of the album revolves around “deal(ing) with the mess our 43rd president left behind.” Just peachy, I know.
I'll get this out of the way first: I don't like punk. At all. Very little in the genre particularly appeals to me in any way. To make this review even worse for me, this album embodies everything that I don't like about punk. Generic power chord riffing, generic chord progression, punk themed lyrics, horrible vocals (singing AND gang shouts), etc., etc., the list goes on and on. What I do like about punk, however, is not present. Emotion, intensity, and speed are all missing, as this is primarily a pop album. No matter what they say, these guys have been making pop punk for years, much to the chagrin of the true punk fans, I'm sure. The only thing that really sets their albums apart from any others in the genre is their misplaced acoustic sections, which have skyrocketed to popularity for no real reason, as far as I can tell (see Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends, and Good Riddance).
Before I make fun of the guitar / bass parts, I do realize that I'll be beating a dead horse on this by saying that it's simple. I do realize that it's not meant to be complex. I do realize that I don't like this at all. Okay, on to the whining. The guitar tone is horrible. I've never liked the sound that they have on any of their records. It's too...punky? Strange, I know, but this is my review, so I'll rate this however I please. Also, I don't think these guys can play anything but power chords. There were only a handful of times that I picked out something that wasn't a power chord, and even then, they were played in the same style as power chords. The bass didn't play a strong presence in the album at all, not because it wasn't mixed high enough, but because it just does the exact same thing as the guitar.
Blah blah, punk drums suck, blah blah blah. Blah blah generic, simple, blah blah.
As with the Miley Cyrus review earlier, the vocals are Green Day's trademark and strongest point. I think anybody that knows anything about music could point out one of their songs just from Armstrong's vocals. They have that certain very nasally quality that makes him stand out from any other vocalist I've ever heard. However, that doesn't necessarily make the vocal lines any good. There were a few sections that it sounded like they just recycled melodies from other songs. Again, that might just be the punk, but near the end of the song “East Jesus Nowhere,” it sounds EXACTLY like something off of American Idiot, which I can't place because I haven't heard that album in years. Nothing has changed in particular from previous offerings, so if you liked the vocals before, you'll probably still like them here.
This album just seems empty. An emotionless void of power chords and random piano sections. There weren't any points in the cd that made me feel anything at all. No hatred towards the government, no happiness that we're in a better place now, nothing at all. The performances are tight and the production is spot-on, but it feels like something is missing, especially compared to the last album (which I don't particularly like anyway).
5/10 for nothing being obviously WRONG with the album, but still not doing anything right either (I thought MCR did it better anyway with The Black Parade)
NP: Wormed - Planisphaerium
BRYAN
It's been a few weeks since the last review, and for that I apologize. Oh wait, no I don't. There is no schedule, so as far as the reader knows this review is right on time. Anyhow, this week's review, Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown, comes from Bilboard's top selling chart. Just the fact that it's a Green Day album put me on edge because I've never been much of a fan. Correction: I've never been ANY of a Green Day fan. I've always found Green Day repetitive, boring, whiny and wholly uncreative. This album was no different. Green Day got the suck going REAL fast with the obligatory “radio search” intro track, which soon faded into Billie Joe Armstrong's strained singing and forced vibrato. It was at this moment that I got slapped in the face with just how long this album was going to be: 18 tracks of what Green Day has prided itself with from the beginning, which is over-played, identical sounding garbage, just the way Ma used to make.
The music itself was entirely unimpressive. As with the majority of main-stream music these days, it is written almost entirely in 4/4. The drums serve to pound out time in traditional rock or punk pattern. Billie Joe Suckstrong plays about the same as he has for years. The vocals on the album are simply terrible. Armstrong has one of the whiniest, nasally, forced, and yet still slightly gravelly voices I've ever heard. Each of those factors alone is bad enough, but having them together in one human makes me want to vomit. The whole album sounds almost exactly like their last album, and the one before that, and the one before that ad infinitum. These were numerous times throughout when I would listen closely and could hear someone faintly singing about a lonely road or about waking up in early October. Most of the songs have caught a terminal case of Linkin Park (while Linkin Park is not the only band to do this, they are by far the worst perpetrators) and have a somewhat catchy chorus which they just put on repeat. I'm pretty sure Jess will bring up something like this as well, but it is worth mentioning.
After getting further into the album, I found that there is actually more than one “Radio Search” track. Apparently this technique is VERY innovative even though every rock/pop band since the Beatles has done at least one of them. Deductively, this now means Green Day occupies the number 1 slot in terms of innovation. Speaking of innovation, Green Day has taken it a step further by pushing the cause of passing off “La la”s, “Na na”s, “Hey hey”s and “Doot doo”s as legit lyrics be pervasively using those and more throughout the entire album. “Nonsense” lyrics are the bane of good music. I can't think of any song with any musical merit that contains “nonsense” lyrics.
All things considered, this album was about what I expected: exactly the same as the rest of their albums. It seemed somewhat lacking, though, even by Green Day's standard. I didn't get any of their anti-everything vibe that is usually lurking in all of their songs. The only thing that surprised me at all was the alternate instrument experimentation. There were several tracks that either began with a string quartet or a piano or an accordion or some such thing. While not particularly new or interesting, for Green Day this is quite the leap. Just for the record, am I alone in the thought that GD got the style, chord progression and perhaps the entirety of “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” from The Hives? I can't be sure but I had reoccurring thoughts of Veni Vedi Vicious the entire time I was listening to that song.
SCORE: 2/10
N.P.: Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist
~Join with us (hopefully) next week for our hopefully more fun review from Last.fm!
