I've been a Green Day fan since the early 1990's, and like millions of other people, I enjoyed their last CD, American Idiot.  As you can imagine, I was looking forward to hearing their next CD, 21st Century Breakdown.  Here's my opinion: It isn't bad, but it wasn't worth the wait.

     21st Century Breakdown contains 18 songs separated into three acts which follow the travails of two people named Christian and Gloria.  My first impression is that it is American Idiot on steroids.  It's bloated and seems to be trying to hard to recapture the success of American Idiot.  I also find some of the religious imagery forced.

     Green Day often gets criticized for not being punk.  They're not, but they are a great pop punk band.  Unfortunately, they've moved closer to the "pop" than the "punk" with with 21st Century Breakdown.  Several of the songs would actually be right at home on a Fountains of Wayne CD.  With that said, there were some songs that jumped out at me.  Two of them were Horseshoes and Handgrenades and East Jesus Nowhere.

     On a positive note, Green Day is embarking on a tour in support of 21st Century Breakdown.  I'm not thrilled with the new album, but I already have tickets to see one of their shows.  It should be a good one.