Green Day — 21st Century Breakdown

Two bloated epics in a row run the risk of making Green Day look as horrible at self-editing as Billy Corgan, but the now-just-as-rock-as-they-are-punkers manage to stay just on the right side of the concept album territory by keeping the focus on the plight of the underdog "in these troubled times," as the cliche goes.

21st Century Breakdown is broken into three acts — Heroes And Cons, Charlatans And Saints and Horseshoes And Handgrenades — and follows the loose narrative adventures of characters Christian and Gloria as they navigate a post-Bush world.

There's little in the way of structured storyline. The characters are used more as convenient tools for the band to vent in song form. Obvious Who-isms are everywhere, from the big riffs in "Song Of The Century" and "21st Century Breakdown" to the coy bah-bahs snuck into the thundering "Before The Lobotomy." Lead single "Know Your Enemy" may be a bit of obvious sloganeering, but it's solidly catchy.

Green Day peak in the Charlatans And Saints mid-section. "East Jesus Nowhere" starts the act with a massive Hives-ish burst before leading into the flamenco-on-fire of "Peacemaker" and, later, the Them-cribbing "Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)." Beyond that, though, there isn't a whole lot to hang on to musicially.

For what it's worth, with Bono turning bitch and trying to work the system from within and Radiohead too caught up in their own artfulness, Green Day are probably the biggest band in the world who still have any rebellion in their souls. They may have made a record that's too long, same-y and tough to follow, but there's still enough righteous rock here to keep the fires burning, and that definitely keeps Green Day on the side of good.

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