As a very big long time fan of Green Day, and an honest reviewer, I can say
quite honestly that this album rightfully deserves 5 stars. The album begins
with a short but sweet speech, entitled "Song of The Century." The first song
then kicks in with a melodic 2 chords, building up and up until the whole song
blows up and kicks in. This one is entitled "21st Century Breakdown," and shares
a familiar theme with the album title, and cover. The song has a sped-up tempo
change, and ends in solo with Billie whispering, "Heroes and Cons," the first
out of three parts of the album. Next up is the single, "Know Your Enemy," in
which the power-pop-punk three chords ring out melodically for 3 minutes. The
next song, a lovely rock ballad, entitled "Viva La Gloria," delivers a sad, but
sweet message, presenting the first main character in the album, Gloria. Track
5, "Before The Lobotomy," starts off slow, but eventually breaks in as Billie
screams into the mic, "Im not stoned, Im just f**ked up." Meanwhile, "Christians
Inferno" has violent, angry lyrics, pounding to a Clash like familiar mixture of
swelling instruments, and hard, course vocals. The final song in that chapter,
"Last Night On Earth," is simply a soft love song. Now the album presents the
second "act," "Charlatans & Saints." The act kicks off with track 8, "East Jesus
Nowhere," a catchy song, however with varying religious views nonetheless.
"Peacemaker" is next in line, with an almost "Misery" like beat, as if a Russian
gypsy song. "Last of The American Girls" begins quite similar to "Whatsername,"
and is just a straight-forward Green Day song. Nothing else. "Murder City," with
a familiar sound to "Gloria," and "Letterbomb," appears to be about loss of
hope, but still having a little courage left in you. "Desperate, but not
helpless," is one of the key bullet points in the song. "Viva La Gloria? (Little
Girl) appears as #12 on the album, and in my opinion, is the roughest cut, but
still good nonetheless. The final track in this act, "Restless Heart Syndrome,"
delivers almost and 80s, Coldplay, U2 sound, only better. This concludes the
second stunning act of "21st Century Breakdown." The final and third act in this
amazing work of out now begins. The album beings to wrap up, and draw closer to
its conclusion. "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" is the name of this act, and the
first song contained in it. It starts off brutally violent, and quite intense,
but stunning at least, with the lyrics, "Im not f**king around, I think Im
coming out." 4 songs away from the end of the album, "The Static Age" is
presented, a fun song to play live about t.v. and radio. "21 Guns," probably the
best, saddest, and most meaningful tracks on the disc, presents a song about
war. It begins similar to the outro on "Wake Me Up When September Ends," and
kicks in with an acoustic guitar, with a Minor chord progression in D. Halfway
through the first verse, Mike and Tre kick in, and by the time the chorus rolls
around, its a full-blown pop-punk-rock song. Track 17 rolls around, and this
ones a two-part song, called "American Eulogy." "Mass Hysteria" is the first
part. It begins with an intro like "Song of the Century," and kicks in in a
rather weird chord progression and sound, but quickly turns into a Green Day
song, where surprisingly, Billie shouts "Its just a bunch of n***ers throwing
gas into the hysteria." Then, the second part breaks in out of nowhere, shouting
"I Dont Want to live in the MODERN WORLD," the name of the second part. At the
end of the song, both party are screaming over each other, right before "See The
Light" begins. It starts off as a sped-up "21CBdown," and fortunately, ends the
album on a thoughtful, peaceful, and very hopeful note, explaining how theres
still hope left in the world. So in conclusion, take this review into
consideration, and really think as you listen track by track.  I know I will. i
also know that Ill be rocking out to this album for a long time. Peace. Enjoy.