Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown 2LP

Green Day's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown (2009), marked the trio's first studio effort since 2004's Grammy-winning Best Rock Album American Idiot, which debuted at #1, spawned five hit singles, and sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Produced by Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage), 21st Century Breakdown continues American Idiot's rock opera format. Divided into three acts, Heroes And Cons, Charlatans And Saints, and Horseshoes And Handgrenades, the songs follow a young couple, Christian and Gloria, as they experience the disappointment and promise of the new millennium.

"The music rocks, only now the snotty, faux-British accent has been replaced by a full-throated cry that owes as much to classic rock as it does to basement punk. Tre Cool has always been the band's secret weapon, his unrelenting drumming the driving force in songs that push higher and harder. But the dynamics have sharpened, the contrasts become more vivid, thanks to the expansive production of Butch Vig (who has worked with Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins)." - Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune (2009)

"Even more ambitious than American Idiot...a record of die-hard punk ideals...(and) tightly scripted, continually ascending classic-rock excitement." - Rolling Stone