Whew, I’m at a loss for words… So much Green Day, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed! I wanted to write something about the new songs, but I’m still a bit frazzled by them. I’ll admit I’m not very sophisticated when it comes to music — mostly I just feel it in my gut — so there’s not a lot I would be able to say, but even my gut is feeling a bit churned up. I think I may like my Green Day best when it’s stripped down and raw, so I’m not really sure if this will be my favorite album (which in itself is something I’m reluctant to say) but it’s too early to tell without hearing the whole opus all laid out in its complete and complex glory. (By the time this is posted, the whole album may be available to listen to, but I haven’t heard it yet as I’m writing this.) The very fact that I can’t quite come to grips with what I’ve heard so far is probably a good sign: there’s so much you can’t take it all in!

The song I’ve been enjoying the most, and this may be in part because I’ve listened to it more, since it’s been out longer, is “Know Your Enemy.” It’s so direct, such a delicious kick in the head.

And I’m liking that even in interviews the band are readier to say what they mean than when American Idiot first came out: they seemed a little shy then, perhaps because they were a bit apprehensive about how the album would be received. I’ve always admired their refusal to try to tell other people what to think, and in a recent interview, they specifically say that their album can be enjoyed on whatever level anyone chooses, whether it’s to listen for a specific message or just to rock out. But they’re also saying now that they were a bit surprised that Republicans liked American Idiot. Even Howie Klein picked up on Billie Joe’s recent comment: “I had Republican friends who were really into American Idiot… that’s cool; it ain’t about you, but that’s cool. Or it is about you, but whatever…” It may be more direct than before, but I think that’s still a very fair and non-judgmental remark.

There’s a very well thought out review of 21st Century in the Chicago Tribune that looks at the message-oriented aspect of the album (and the author is, thankfully, not at all lost for words):

He ventures only one piece of advice: “Silence is the enemy/Against your urgency.” In other words, participate or perish. That sums up the tone of the album, and presents the biggest difference between the new Green Day and the old, the one that celebrated slacker indifference on “Dookie” and the one that challenges a generation of listeners to engage with the world around them on “21st Century Breakdown.”

I would challenge the statement that Dookie was about indifference. I think it was more than anything about frustration, anxiety about the future, and self doubt. (And no, I don’t mean the, ahem, sexual frustration that was the topic of Dookie’s famous hit…) The Guardian also talks about the political content of 21st Century, but it feels less focused. They had a better article on the subject last January, if you’re in the mood for some reading. But virtually all articles insist on painting Green Day as snotty goofballs prior to American Idiot. Not that they didn’t — and still do — enjoy a nice dose of snottiness and goofing around (and would we have Green Day any other way?), but that doesn’t mean they weren’t serious in their thinking, nor that it didn’t show up loud and clear in their songs throughout their career.

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Notes: If you haven’t seen some of these already, don’t miss:
~Green Day’s performance of “Know Your Enemy” on Germany’s TV Total was amazingly good. The YouTube video was deleted and then reposted. If it’s gone, download it here. (You may need the VLC player.)
~The link to Ross Halfin’s photos was in the sidebar, but you have to click through within the site to find all the photos, and there are loads. Links to more pages are in the tiny thumbnails at the bottom of the page.
~Most of the video interviews with the band are a bit repetitive, perhaps not surprisingly since they all seem to have been conducted in the same room, one right after the other. The one with IGN had some different questions, and the band acknowledged their broad appeal to all ages (uh, including some of us…) And they make a funny joke about appealing to broads.
~Keep checking Comcast for new videos, including the live performances from the Fox Theater, here or here. (Some can be downloaded on GDC.)

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