Music Banter - View Single Post

Isbjørn · 02-03-2014, 10:57 AM

Prepared for the worst

Album: 21st Century Breakdown
Artist: Green Day
Year: 2009
Genre: Alternative rock
Expectations: Low, I've heard that none of the Green Day albums released in the noughties go above “decent” (sorry, fans of American Idiot)

Before listening:

Since this album has gotten some hype in the review forum, I decided to dig it out and finally listen to it. The first thing I notice is that it's very LONG, over one hour, when punk albums tend to be really short (Descendents' debut is 22 minutes long). Is Green Day even punk? Let's just call them “alternative”. Anyway, I've heard that this is pretty bad. It's the 4th worst rated album of theirs on Rateyourmusic. But why is ¡Tré! at the bottom? I've only heard the first four tracks or so, but I thought they were just fine!

After listening:

I read some of the (negative) reviews on Rateyourmusic, and I mostly agree with them. What's wrong with this album? There are so many things. The music is what happens when Green Day tries to go progressive (SPOILER: it doesn't work), and the lyrics don't make much sense. This is supposed to be a concept album, but what's the concept? There's some rattle about not wanting to live in the “modern age”, and something about how we're slaves of the system (Green Day, shut up. You're on Reprise). The GOOD part is that this album can serve perfectly as a test in patience. Sitting through all the 18 tracks in one sitting is a pain. Though it's not terrible to the point of being comparable to gassing an orphanage, I don't think I'll sit through it voluntarily again.

2/5

02-03-2014, 10:57 AM	#54 (permalink)
Isbjørn cooler commie than elph Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: In a hole, help Posts: 2,811	Prepared for the worst Album: 21st Century Breakdown Artist: Green Day Year: 2009 Genre: Alternative rock Expectations: Low, I've heard that none of the Green Day albums released in the noughties go above “decent” (sorry, fans of American Idiot) Before listening: Since this album has gotten some hype in the review forum, I decided to dig it out and finally listen to it. The first thing I notice is that it's very LONG, over one hour, when punk albums tend to be really short (Descendents' debut is 22 minutes long). Is Green Day even punk? Let's just call them “alternative”. Anyway, I've heard that this is pretty bad. It's the 4th worst rated album of theirs on Rateyourmusic. But why is ¡Tré! at the bottom? I've only heard the first four tracks or so, but I thought they were just fine! After listening: I read some of the (negative) reviews on Rateyourmusic, and I mostly agree with them. What's wrong with this album? There are so many things. The music is what happens when Green Day tries to go progressive (SPOILER: it doesn't work), and the lyrics don't make much sense. This is supposed to be a concept album, but what's the concept? There's some rattle about not wanting to live in the “modern age”, and something about how we're slaves of the system (Green Day, shut up. You're on Reprise). The GOOD part is that this album can serve perfectly as a test in patience. Sitting through all the 18 tracks in one sitting is a pain. Though it's not terrible to the point of being comparable to gassing an orphanage, I don't think I'll sit through it voluntarily again. 2/5 __________________ fast(ml) Hear me play the guitar Look, mom! I got a journal