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Rolling Stone

21st Century Breakdown is even better, so masterful and confident it makes Idiot seem like a warm-up.

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Los Angeles Times

Its musical and lyrical themes recur without fuss, and each track has its own strong identity that speaks to but isn't weighed down by the larger (and beneficially looser) narrative.

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The Phoenix

It could have easily gone any of several wrong ways, but Green Day's punk has long since been tempered with pop's most attractive attributes, and 21stCentury Breakdown, like its predecessor, is unapologetically accessible and relentlessly exhilarating.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

Green Day took small steps out of its comfort zone on American Idiot, but Breakdown finds the band going bolder, mixing in elements of mariachi ('Peacemaker') and klezmer ('¡Viva La Gloria!'). Still, the band members never spend too much time away from their bread and butter: heavily melodic punk.

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Hartford Courant

Green Day's latest is a collection of powerful songs worth waiting nearly five years for.

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All Music Guide

The band manages to have 21st Century Breakdown work on a grand scale without losing either their punk or pop roots, which makes the album not only a sequel to "American Idiot," but its equal.

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New Musical Express

We’re left with a sprawling, obvious, uber-commercial, stoopid punk-pop album that might just stop five million American idiots from voting for a war-mongering Republican baby-slaughterer when they grow up. Works for me.

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Q Magazine

Bold, ambitious and revelling in the chaos of the age, 21st Century Breakdown is another perfect document of our times. [Jun 2009, p.114]

Billboard

The album is a call to arms for the digital age, and 20 years into its career, Green Day's ambition continues to dazzle.

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Observer Music Monthly

It's a state of the union address, an apocalyptic protest album. It also sounds phenomenal.

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musicOMH.com

More remarkable than the variety and risk-taking pursued by the band are the melodies themselves.

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Austin Chronicle

While the third and final act charges toward resolution with supreme fury, 21st Century Breakdown ultimately gets caught between panic and fledging promise.

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Entertainment Weekly

Give credit where thrashing, three-chord credit is due, however: No matter how arrested their style and subject matter, Green Day remain remarkably good at high-blast anthems that burrow directly into the pogo-ing, lizard-brain id.

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Boston Globe

As a thinker, Armstrong isn't always comprehensible or original, but he knows how to communicate his frenzied thoughts enjoyably.

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Delusions of Adequacy

21st Century Breakdown is far from a bad album, and, like Idiot, will likely be the best release this year from such a popular band.

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Alternative Press

While the disc does get bogged down with a little too much force-feeding of the Christian and Gloria characters (just like Idiot's Jimmy and Whatshername), it's a safe bet that the listener will come out the other end having largely enjoyed the last 70 minutes and 18 tracks.

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Mojo

Armstrong's anti-establishment shtick has lost some of its impact. [Jun 2009, p.102]

Trouser Press

Like its predecessor, 21st Century Breakdown delivers less than it promises; it’s more successful as a rock album than as a rock opera.

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The Guardian

If it seems a little less bold, a little less surprising than its predecessor, you still wouldn't bet against 21st Century Breakdown repeating its success.

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Spin

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.

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No Ripcord

Melodic pop-punk is the point, after all, and on that level it’s a success. Even with a muddled message, credit is due for the ambition it takes to vent these modern frustrations and break free from the shackles of verse-chorus-verse.

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PopMatters

Such quality care is evident throughout most of Breakdown, and, as such, individual moments positively glisten, even if the widescreen view of Breakdown feels a bit muddled and confused, the whole actually being less than the sum of its parts.

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NOW Magazine

The story is hard to follow, but after a few listens the band’s rallying cries take shape.

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Dot Music

Bloated, culturally inconsequential and decidedly average, the net result is a band getting far too high on an over-inflated sense of self-importance to the deafening chimes of cash registers the world over.

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MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

I don't like right-wing Christianists either. But as every oppressed teen in the right-wing orbit knows full well, they're not as garbled and simplistic as Armstrong's anthems insist.

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Pitchfork

The performances are blandly professional, because any major-label rock band of Green Day's abilities could shit this stuff out in their sleep, and emotionally inert. This is the crafting of a modern epic as a dreary day-job routine.

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Slant Magazine

Maybe if you've heard one Green Day rock opera, you've heard them all. Anyone who owns American Idiot probably won't need its lesser twin, and those who steered clear won't come groveling for forgiveness.

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Sputnikmusic

It is overbearing, pretentious, huge, and begrudgingly catchy, but most importantly, it unveils a band without direction.

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Uncut

Instead of idling into wry balladry of the later works of their obvious idols The Replacements, which would have suited Green Day well, they've affected the airs of Serious Artists. [Jul 2009, p.88]

Lost At Sea

Mostly, the overkill of professionalism just makes me yearn for the early Green Day material I grew up with: sloppy, abrasive, and most importantly, aware of what they can and can't pull off.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 123 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Darryl C gave it a10:
Simply a great album. You can listen to this album over and over and not get tired of it. I would rate this album superior to American Idiot only because every track is superb. They are able to vary their sound and see be Greenday. Richer melodic material and deeper tonal texture woven together to form a satisfying epic album. Viva La Green Day!

Ikarus14 gave it a9:
Makes American Idiot look mediocre in comparison.

Craig E gave it a0:
This music is total crap. I can't understand why all you IDIOT's would think this deserves a 10. It is simpy & cli.che ridden and sounds as if it was created with no thought. Maybe they like it so much because the recording co. is speading alot of payola around. There is good music out there, its just not on the radio. Wise up you stupid sponges and broaden your listening to music outside of what the recording industry wants you to .

Jake gave it a10:
Better than idiot one truly for the ages.

Tyson B. gave it a10:
It is really good.

Piss Fish gave it a9:
American Idiot achieved the impossible, it made Green Day Cool and Popular and mainstream. But Does this really mean it was a great album ? No, American Idiot (in my opinion) was a bit Tacky and sounded over produced. 21st century Breakdown achieved the long awaited, to make Green Day Brilliant. The title track 21st century is a brilliant capture of 21st century life and songs like before the lobotomy and Viva la Gloria are also master pieces. there is only one BAD song on this album and that is Know your Enemy which sounds like it should have been on American idiot but worse. All together though this album is an amazing slice of Rock History.

Mirth M gave it a10:
Seriously. This is one for the ages. Great album.

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21st Century Breakdown

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