21st Century Breakdown
21st Century Breakdown is the eighth studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on May 15, 2009, through Reprise Records. Green Day commenced work on the record in January 2006 and forty-five songs were written by vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong by October 2007, but the band members did not enter studio work until January 2008.[1][2]
This article is about the album. For the song, see 21st Century Breakdown (song).21st Century Breakdown
May 15, 2009
January 2008 – April 2009
Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood; Studio 880, Oakland, California; Jel Studios, Newport Beach, California; Costa Mesa Studios, Costa Mesa, California
69:13
- Butch Vig
- Green Day
21st Century Breakdown is a concept album/rock opera much like their previous album American Idiot (2004). According to the band, the album is a rumination of "the era in which we live as we question and try to make sense of the selfish manipulation going on around us".[3] The singles "Know Your Enemy" and "21 Guns" exemplify the themes of alienation and politically motivated anger present in the record.
To handle the record, they turned to producer Butch Vig, best known for producing Nirvana's Nevermind (1991). Critical response to 21st Century Breakdown was generally positive. The record achieved Green Day's best chart performance to date, reaching number one on the album charts of various countries, including the United States Billboard 200, the European Top 100 Albums, and the United Kingdom Albums Chart. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. As of December 2010, 21st Century Breakdown has sold 1,050,000 copies in the United States[4] and more than 4 million worldwide.
Writing and recording[edit]
Green Day began to write new songs for what would become 21st Century Breakdown in January 2006 after touring extensively in 2005 in support of their seventh studio album American Idiot.[5] At the time, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong stated: "We'll start with silence, and that's how we'll be able to find the inspiration to find another record."[6] The band did not release any details of the writing and recording process until October 2007, when Armstrong said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he had written "something like 45 songs".[1][2] The band members worked on the primitive conceptual stages of the album at their rehearsal studio in Oakland, California. Little was revealed on the themes or musical style of the album, but Armstrong stated: "I want to dig into who I am and what I'm feeling at this moment – which is middle-aged." He added that many of the 45 songs were written on piano instead of guitar.[1]
Green Day began the recording process for 21st Century Breakdown in January 2008.[7] Later that year, it was confirmed that the band worked with producer Butch Vig.[8] The album was recorded with Vig throughout 2008 and into early 2009 at four locations in California: Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, Studio 880 in Oakland, Jel Studios in Newport Beach, and Costa Mesa Studios in Costa Mesa.[9] While recording in Hollywood, the band members bought cheap turntables from Amoeba Music and listened to many vinyl records for inspiration, including albums by The Beat and The Plimsouls.[10] Armstrong cited as inspiration the music of The Kinks' Ray Davies, The Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow, The Doors' The Doors and Strange Days, and Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell.[10] Drummer Tré Cool noted the influence of Eddie Cochran and The Creation on Armstrong's writing.[10] David Bowie is credited as a songwriter on the song "21 Guns" to avoid a potential plagiarism lawsuit, as the melody of the chorus is similar to the Bowie-penned "All the Young Dudes".[11]
While writing at his home studio, Armstrong worked on a cover of The Who's 1966 mini-opera "A Quick One, While He's Away"; Green Day recorded a full-band version of the song during the album sessions.[12] Vig noted that frustrations would sometimes cause delays in the recording process for 21st Century Breakdown.[2] Armstrong kept his lyrics closely guarded and intentionally mixed his demos so that the vocals were low in the mix and thus unintelligible to the other band members.[10] It was not until late 2008 that he chose to share his words with Cool, Vig, and bassist Mike Dirnt by sitting down with them and reading the entire album's lyrics aloud in order.[10] The band members made the finishing touches on the album in early April 2009 and claimed that its release would lead to a "kind of... post-partum depression".[13]