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Spin posts "21st Century Breakdown" review

Contributed by an Anonymous Source. Posted by aubin on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 1:00 PM (EDT)

Spin has posted one of the first reviews of Green Day's upcoming album, 21st Century Breakdown, due out May 15, 2009:

Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool push Idiot's conceits even further on 21st Century Breakdown, a slick, class-obsessed, 70-minute, 18-song, three-act cycle that trades Bush-era indignation for Obama-era resignation. [...] There was humor in Green Day's vitriol last time around, and that's sorely missed here. There's some stretching stylistically [...] if the Cars did a tune about impending nuclear winter, it might sound like "Last of the American Girls." [...] for an album-length rock opera about staving off the end of days, 21st Century Breakdown feels terribly comfortable.

Check out the review here.

Green Day (89 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Seriously.

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eazyd2 (May 1, 2009)

hey guys does anyone know who sings the original of that song agony of victory from the new nofx cd? thanks
-Dante

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eazyd2 (May 1, 2009)

come on one of you cunts must know

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

Bruce Springsteen.

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eazyd2 (May 1, 2009)

if you dont know then just say you dont know, no one likes a smart ass

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

NOFX isn't immune to all of the Boss nut swinging going on these days.

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Mike_Killroad (May 1, 2009)

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous- Good Charolette

No shit.

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bathroom_surgery (May 1, 2009)

is it the guy from underoath?

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INDESTRUKTIBLE502guate (May 1, 2009)

read this somewhere: 'There's a side note in the booklet for this songs that reads:
"Note: This is not a NOFX song. This is a song that we covered from a yet to be released soundtrack album. Stay tuned for more details..." '.

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eazyd2 (May 1, 2009)

no shit hence my question moron

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SumWon (May 1, 2009)

Here's my theory: Fat Mike wrote it, but it is going to be performed by another band featuring him (maybe just NOFX with a different name) for whatever the hell this soundtrack is. So it is a Fat Mike song not written for NOFX.

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eazyd2 (May 1, 2009)

interesting ...

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SumWon (May 1, 2009)

The lyrics are just textbook Fat Mike. Notably, the line "let's just fuck and drink and be alive" as compared to "Next stop, Mongolia. Dont get to golf or fuck or bowl with ya" from All Outta Angst.

Very similar.

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BarleyPat (May 1, 2009)

Green Day

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skaboom (May 1, 2009)

Spin sure likes to use hyphens.

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badbrain (May 1, 2009)

Tre Cool is the stupidest fucking pseudonym i've ever heard

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

It's French, you stupid American! (puffs from an elongated cigarette holder and laughs like a frog)

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mikexdude (May 1, 2009)

My last name is French.

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ffwoodycooks (May 1, 2009)

I like turtles

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AlChron77 (May 1, 2009)

who cares?

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AnarchyPants (May 1, 2009)

Are you of the Paris XDudes?

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badbrain (May 1, 2009)

what?

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BarleyPat (May 1, 2009)

Yes.

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AnarchyPants (May 1, 2009)

It's not funny if I have to explain it..

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HeyBarmold (May 1, 2009)

Sooo is it good?

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AnarchyPants (May 1, 2009)

I get the impression they don't like it but they don't want to offend the Green Day industrial complex.

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pinkerton (May 1, 2009)

i got my dookie record in the mail yesterday.

so good.

should have broken up after nimrod?

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leecorsoisapenis (May 1, 2009)

Except Warning came after Nimrod. So no.

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spacemanspliff (May 2, 2009)

This. But after that...

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

So how many copies of it do you own by this point?

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

Also, very wrong on the breaking up comment. Warning is an absolutely fantastic album and the subsequent tours (not Pop Disaster, the ones immediately following) and singles/b-sides were incredible. It was exciting looking at track listings on CDNow each time a new single was released and tracking them down on Napster.

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mikexdude (May 1, 2009)

I back this statement hard.

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chrisafi (May 1, 2009)

I only just remember Warning coming out and Mikexdude your like 12 or something right so you obviously don't remember it coming out at all.

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mikexdude (May 1, 2009)

I agree they shouldn't break up, that Warning is fantastic and so are the b sides/singles. I am turning 18 this year, so fuck you! ; )

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skankbook (May 1, 2009)

The 30 second previews of songs on CDNow were what got me into a bunch of bands, then Napster came along. Kudos on the name-drop.

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

I've got the late 90s on my mind today. Right now I'm writing a piece on Dr. Strange Records and the part I just got finished writing about is when the Doc started to notice MP3/burning technology becoming ubiquitous and taking away sales from his record store.

Exciting times to be young and just getting into punk; it was getting easier but still extremely dependent on buying millions of mostly useless compilations or waiting around forever for the Real Player on your parents 28.8 modem to buffer those samples.

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skankbook (May 1, 2009)

28.8 is a term that may be lost to future generations, it's important kids these days know their roots. That's why if I were ever in a band, I'd include the following sounds mixed in with the songs:

- the dialup connection
- having a song go to static for 2 seconds because you drove under a bridge
- repeated chords because the needle gets stuck in the same place on the record
- the "fastforwarding" on a tape because you KNOW the track you want is coming up, you just forget where

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colin (May 1, 2009)

scour media agent was pre napster and almost as rad.

but napster was great because people would name folders of music "IF YOU LIKE BLINK 182 DOWNLOAD THIS" so when you search blink 182 you suddenly had alllll the smaller bands popping up.

we did it better 10 years ago on our own than itunes is doing now, fuckers.

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spacemanspliff (May 2, 2009)

Scour was the shit. Old-school Napster was pretty cool too. And I definitely agree with your last statement. I wish technology had just stopped there, everything was fine. I can't keep up anymore, it's ridiculous. Those were the days...

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pinkerton (May 1, 2009)

yeah, warning sucks.

it sounds like something that should be played to the credits of a teenage disney movie.

i was being generous with nimrod.

insomniac was where they could have stopped for me.

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the_creeps (May 1, 2009)

got mine too - however wish it was brown vinyl like the original.

disagree with last comment.

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Dante3000 (rich) (May 1, 2009)

A news story about a review? Well, I guess you have to do it since this site doesn't review music and Spin is surely respected by everyone around here...
-Dante

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Reba99 (May 1, 2009)

my thoughts exactly.

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badbrain (May 1, 2009)

I think they just can't help but post anything Green Day related no matter how irrelevant or pointless.

I used to just not care about them, now I hate them

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eazyd2 (May 1, 2009)

i feel the same

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

Welcome to my world with Alkaline Trio, Gaslight and Against Me stories with the last few summers. Apathy and ambivalence went to "christ I'm sick of reading about these guys."

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BarleyPat (May 1, 2009)

Agreed. I'm not blaming the 'org, just the media in general. I'm so fucking sick of green day that any amount of interest I may have had in this album is 100% gone.

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

Absolutely SHOCKING that someone who got a hold of the record this early is giving it a good review. SHOCKING.

That said I'm actually still excited to hear this record.

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

Shit, I just re-read the review and saw the part about it being 70 minutes long. In an era where my favorite LP of last year was 16 minutes this thing is really going to test my attention span.

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mikexdude (May 1, 2009)

The first single is over 4 minutes, and there's like over 20 tracks. It is long as well as psychologically long, I don't know if my attention span could take it either.

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dlangl4 (May 1, 2009)

It would have to be better than Life Won't Wait, and I really doubt that will be the case.

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TheOneTrueBill (May 1, 2009)

Yeah that's a tall order that I don't think will happen.

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leecorsoisapenis (May 1, 2009)

How can anyone take this reviewer seriously. No one uses a Wii anymore. Duh.

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skankbook (May 1, 2009)

I do. Metroid Prime 3 is incredible. MLB 2k8 is fun to play with the throwing and batting motions, but the Phillies won it in real life so there's no point in playing the game anymore.

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usversusthem (May 1, 2009)

I think the people who still listen to Green Day do. You know, 'the kids'.

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Dante3000 (rich) (May 1, 2009)

This just in Conservativepunk.com has a non-exclusive stream of the new Creed album!
-Dante

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TeaEssAre (May 1, 2009)

wow i actually just went to that site...what the fuck

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14theroad (May 1, 2009)

I talked to Scott at the Bouncing Souls show in Boston last night. Lifetime's thinking about doing a 7" or so with No Idea.

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swank (May 1, 2009)

Points for effort but that's been the rumor for a while now.

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Michael_Jackson_Jordan (May 1, 2009)

You felt it was a good review? I felt it read lukewarm at best. A 3 out of 5 to me translates to a 6.0 to me, which is just barely over the midway mark in being bearable.

That said, I feel like Green Day are nothing but slaves to their own success in thier post-American Idiot careers. They're now always going to be stuck writing bloated empty-hearted "protest" songs to serve the masses aka teenagers and radio disc jockeys. It's as if Wal-Mart or Nike has decided to start selling democracy and individualism to consumers with a pricetag attached to it. Top that off with the fact that they're cartoon characters and a parody of punk rock. It's really not even worth arguing or getting upset about.

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spacemanspliff (May 2, 2009)

This, for sure.

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ffwoodycooks (May 1, 2009)

heres a good pull quote from the review:

Tré Cool .... Idiot....a slick.....Bush....sorely.....stretching.

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AnarchyPants (May 1, 2009)

Now there's a news story!

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eazyd2 (May 1, 2009)

so has anyone seen against me! recently? cause in his most recent blog tom gayballs says he cant wait to use the 24 hour gym and im a bit scared now cause i was gonna beat the fuck out of him when i went to his show but i remember him being a skinny prick and now if he is working out and strong i dont know what ill do
-Dante

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skankbook (May 1, 2009)

I understand your joke, but I actually did see them a week and a half ago with Off With Their Heads in Knoxville:

http://www.youtube.com/user/skankbook

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eazyd2 (May 1, 2009)

hey this aint no joke. i cant view youtube at work can you just describe to me in the gayest way possible his new physique?

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FaceOnTheBarroomFloor (May 1, 2009)

He looks like the hen you buy for cheap at the supermarket because of its size, but you take it home and tenderize it and grease it up until it looks nice and fit. Less macho beach, more pop iggy. He's going to kill you.

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skankbook (May 1, 2009)

At first I thought I was seeing a roided-up Henry Rollins. He's replaced the traditional black t-shirt with a new purple-ish mesh tank top (which he unneccessarily ripped off during "White People For Peace"). Four guys in University of Tennessee Crew shirts fought for it in the pit, with each wrestling and eye-gouging for a chance to lick his sweat.

It was a sight I had burried deep in the backs of my memory banks, along with the time Fat Mike challenged El Hefe to a bellydancing competition in Camden and Justin Sane's "Ya Gotta Bench Press for the Government" phase of 2002-04.

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scorpiondeathlock (May 1, 2009)

i just wish it would leak already so i could listen to it and be done with it forever. right now there is like this big dark cloud of impending doom hanging over my life because i know at some point i am going to have to give this shitty record a listen. i just want to fuckin get it over with.

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AnarchyPants (May 1, 2009)

I can strangely relate this.

I'm not excited for the record but I want to get it done with.

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spacemanspliff (May 2, 2009)

x3.

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mike_b (May 1, 2009)

whatever helps you sleep at night.

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kevgren (May 1, 2009)

Rolling Stone gave it 4.5 stars, which means it is 10% better than the last Jonas Brothers album

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lostandclowned (May 1, 2009)

That comment about Sponge. "Probz not."
Corporate magazines still suck.

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Loomis (July 26, 2010)

Ain't got no how whatchamacallit.

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crackpotdemagogue (May 1, 2009)

i can't believe this constitutes 'news' !!!

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fallingupwards84 (May 1, 2009)

Dante is right; why is punknews posting this as news? Are we now going to start posting as news anytime Spin reviews Against Me or Gaslight Anthem or any other "punk" bands? Who cares what Spin thinks?

Their description of the album as a "slick, class-obsessed, 70-minute, 18-song, three-act cycle" is nauseating; at least we know now not to bother picking up the record

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crackpotdemagogue (May 1, 2009)

well said, sir!

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BarleyPat (May 1, 2009)

You always complain about everything that gets posted on here. Maybe you should be an editor yourself if you care so much.

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fallingupwards84 (May 1, 2009)

will do

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Yossarian (May 1, 2009)

Do people really base their purchases on what a review says??? I never have...I'm my own reviewer suckers!

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JayTee (May 1, 2009)

American Idiot was about X-random punk rock kid and his journey from life in the burbs, to women, drugs a new identity, his "own personal suicide" and going back home with his tail between his legs.

It was like a decompressed version of the song "Spike" on The Network's album.

I'm hoping I'm wrong, but this one already seems to sound a little generic.

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ehx82 (May 1, 2009)

Nice! I thought I was the only one who made that connection.
JofS = Spike

You and I are friends now.

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consider_the_ravens (May 1, 2009)

god why can these guys just write a regular punk record instead of trying to make another american idiot. drop the fucking opera concept album crap please

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spacemanspliff (May 2, 2009)

x2. American Idiot was complete and utter garbage. Too big, too slick, too polished, even for Green Day. They're a completely different band now. Why do none of the bands that used to be great have any shame or integrity anymore? Don't they read punknews.org?

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WorryRock (May 2, 2009)

grunder.

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WorryRock (May 2, 2009)

greendar

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WorryRock (May 2, 2009)

grendae

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WorryRock (May 2, 2009)