21st Century Breakdown

Green Day 时隔5年新作《21st Century Breakdown》，花费三年多的制作，朋克歌剧风格，叙事体裁，他们颠覆一切、他们野心勃勃，他们就是这个世界

专辑背景

2004年的“朋克歌剧”《American Idiot》为绿日乐队（Green Day）赢得两座“格莱美”大奖，并让乐队一跃成为世界一线乐队。2009年乐队改换制作人请来Garbage 乐队的鼓手Butch Vig担当制作，虽然改换制作人但新专辑依然延续《American Idiot》的概念之路，以年轻夫妻Christian 和Gloria为主角，《21st Century Breakdown》共分三幕，“Heroes and Cons”、“Charlatans and Saints”和 “Horseshoes and Handgrenades”来讲述一个世纪的兴衰成败。

专辑评测

国外有句谚语叫“If it works, don't fix it.”意思是说如果好好的就不要去改变什么，绿日乐队的主唱Billie Armstrong一定深知其中的道理，所以当2008年他对外宣布乐队将在今年发行新专辑时，包括他在内的所有人都清楚绿日很可能再造一张《美国白痴》，这几乎就是不用揣测的事情。四十年前英国乐队The Who在发行了一张石破天惊的摇滚歌剧《Tommy》之后顺其自然地推出了现场版的摇滚歌剧《Live At Leeds》，他们懂得只要好好的就不要去改变什么；再近一些，2000年U2乐队发行《All That You Can't Leave Behind》从90年代末阴霾的电子舞曲抽身而出，接着2004年发行《How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb》进一步巩固自己伟大乐队的地位，他们同样懂得只要好好的就不要去改变什么。如今同样誓做伟大乐队的绿日也很清楚要将《American Idiot》良好的势头保持下去就只需再造一张《American Idiot》，一张不够就做两张，只要还是“绿日”时代，他们的朋克歌剧就不缺少听众。
除了将合作十年的制作人Rob Cavallo替换掉，《21st Century Breakdown》与《American Idiot》就再无其他差别，同样的音乐风格、同样的概念故事、同样的目标。用一个词定义《21st Century Breakdown》就是“野心”，无论从音乐上还是从歌词内容上，绿日都显示出坚定而且接近完美的野心。对于一只伟大的乐队来说这是必要的，伟大乐队的伟大之处就在于他们能做到别人想都不敢想的事情。
《21st Century Breakdown》音乐上的野心体现在制作人以及歌曲风格上，请来Butch Vig是因为Nirvana 的经典专辑《Nevermind》以及 The Smashing Pumpkins的惊世专辑《Siamese Dream by》都是出自他的监制。绿日乐队动用他的目的很明显，凭他的神奇再造一张经典。事实证明，新制作人的效果是强悍的，一方面他将一个庞大的主题通过编曲很好地连接成了整体，另一方面他让乐队尝试更多风格，除了朋克更加猛烈外，还有多首加入钢琴的作品，甚至还让Billie Armstrong用假声唱起慢歌。这在以前是绝对不会出现，融合多种风格的绿日也可以将流行朋克的帽子彻底拿掉了。新专辑内容的野心体现在歌曲的容量，专辑十八首歌曲讲述跨度一个世纪的庞大故事，如此庞大的概念专辑一般乐队是难以驾御的。新专辑以年轻夫妻Christian 和Gloria为主角讲述对宗教、政治、信仰的反思，当然还少不了小布什，绿日乐队成名于对他的攻击，自然要“善始善终”。小布什的卸任对于“绿日”来说多少算个损失，少了这个倒霉蛋，他们的矛头就不够尖锐，不过战争与和平是永久的话题，况且Billie Armstrong从约翰-列侬(John Lennon)那学来了工人阶级情怀也大有用武之地，专辑同名曲《21st Century Breakdown》即是讲述工人阶级的劳苦处境，歌曲思想上的升华是伟大乐队该有的境界。
绿日乐队的朋克歌剧做得不亦乐乎，《21st Century Breakdown》的野心要远远超过《American Idiot》，他们的灵感来自皇后乐队(Queen)、“冲撞”乐队(The Clash)以及美国蓝领领袖Bruce Springsteen，很宏大很强势，《American Idiot》能获得“格莱美”，《21st Century Breakdown》也很有希望，而问题就在于他们还要继续做几张《美国白痴》？真正的考验还在后头。

21st Century Breakdown is the upcoming eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day.[1] This will be Green Day's first album to be produced by renowned producer and Garbage member Butch Vig.

This album follows 2004's critically acclaimed American Idiot. Regarding the pressure, Billie Joe Armstrong said, "We could take a sideways step or go back to our roots. We chose to move forward. It's about reflecting what's been happening the past three years and putting it to melody with some bold statements."[2] The band has also stated that "This album is more... religious," and it is influenced by Bruce Springsteen, The Who, The Beatles,[3] The Clash, and Queen.[4]

The release of this album marks the longest gap between releases of Green Day studio albums: almost 5 years. Green Day has been working on the album since 2006.

Content
21st Century Breakdown is divided into three acts: "Heroes and Cons," "Charlatans and Saints," and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades," and follows a young couple, Christian and Gloria, through the mess and promise of the century so far."[5] Musically, the album continues the rock opera style of American Idiot.[6] Mike Dirnt told Alternative Press magazine that the songs "speak to each other the way the songs on Born to Run speak to each other. I don't know if you'd call it a 'concept album,' but there's a thread that connects everything."[7] MTV compared the material to classic rockers like The Who.[8] Spin Magazine claimed the title track is "Green Day's most epic song yet."[9]

Like 2004's "American Idiot", the record follows a narrative, which, according to Armstrong,"Veers from hard-charging garage rockers to oversize Queen-style grandeur. Chronicling the life of a young couple as they deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind..."[10]

Rolling Stone called the album "even more ambitious than American Idiot" and "a record of die-hard punk ideals...tightly scripted, continually ascending classic-rock excitement."

The lyrics on this album will be fairly political. Rolling Stone called the song "March of the Dogs" (now titled "East Jesus Nowhere) "a biting indictment of contemporary religion," and quoted some anti-war lyrics on the song "21 Guns."[11] Nick Martin of Cinematic Sunrise stated in his blog that retailers are supposedly "flipping out" over the obscene lyrics of the new album.

In the beginning of March 2009, the band began mixing the new 18 tracksRelease

On February 10, 2009, a one minute teaser of the title track was released on the official Green Day website.

On February 11, 2009, six samples from the album, including "21st Century Breakdown," "Know Your Enemy "Before the Lobotomy," "March of the Dogs," "Restless Heart Syndrome," and "21 Guns" were revealed to Entertainment Weekly.The band also announced a large-scale world arena tour to start in July 2009.The band also sampled the same six songs to MTV, Rolling Stone, Spin Magazine and Billboard.

A teaser trailer for the 21st Century Breakdown album was released on the Green Day Official website on March 17, 2009.[16]

The album will be released on Friday, May 15.

The first single, "Know Your Enemy", will be released on April 20th. A music video for the song will be premiered internationally on April 24th.

Artwork
Responding on his personal blog, artist Sixten, creator of the artwork spoke about the artwork of the album: "I actually don't know who they are... they [the couple] were just friends of a friend at a party in Eskilstuna, Sweden, sometime in uh... 2000? Something like that. I wasn't even there." Instead the artist explained a mutual friend snapped a picture of the pair kissing, which then inspired Sixten. "I love their passion, and just had to make a stencil out of it to spread the love," he explained with images of the original picture and his stencil. "I've painted it a bit here and there on my travels over the years...I have so many memories connected to this image and it really means a lot to me. Glad it inspired someone