Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown” is a three-act rock opera about a young man and woman, Christian and Gloria. It represents what may be one of the most compelling pieces of protest music heard since the 60’s; yet the sheer emotional impact of the album cannot be found in any one of its songs alone. It is only through the intensely personal journey of all eighteen songs taken together that we reach our catharsis. This power does not stem from any particularly novel idea or metaphor, but rather from the way the story of Christian and Gloria is told. As the last note trails slowly away, we still have very little idea about a “plot.” What we do have, though, is even better. While many of the songs are narrative in form, several involve singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong sinking into an “I,” getting into the characters’ heads and putting heart and soul into the music. The strongest parts of the social criticism in the album come thus indirectly, from hearing how mass manipulation has affected these people on a personal level, whether this is the brainwashing of “Know Your Enemy” or the self-condemning revelations of “Restless Heart Syndrome.” The emotion underlying the music is palpable; as Armstrong softly notes that “there is no more laughter” in “Before the Lobotomy” our hearts are nearly broken, and we are reinvigorated as he shouts “I’m not f---ing around!” to open up the third act in “Horseshoes and Handgrenades.” All-in-all, the album is a shining example of the old adage that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

--David Guyott