On May 15, 2009, Green Day's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, will hit stores worldwide. This comes after the band's five-year hiatus from recording following the huge success of 2004's American Idiot had resulted in a deluge of speculation at various points over whether or not the album would ever be released. With so many expecting so much from the band's return to the spotlight, can 21st Century Breakdown deliver enough to satisfy the band's many fans?
'American Idiot' And A Legion Of New Fans
The trio's seventh offering, American Idiot, was by far their most successful to date. In departing from their traditional pop-punk sound and delivering an album often referred to as a 'punk rock opera', the band opened themselves up to a world of new possibilities. While the massive success of 1994's Dookie had seen the band's popularity soar, they had never truly reached a mainstream audience.
This mainstream audience was finally achieved in 2004, with American Idiot selling 267,000 copies in its first week. The band found themselves at the number one spot in charts all over the world, and numerous high-profile stadium concerts followed. The youthful twenty-somethings who wowed the punk world back in the mid-1990s had grown up, and their audience had grown with them.
A Hiatus That Left The Fans Wondering
Following the release of the Bullet In A Bible DVD in late 2005, which featured a 65,000 sellout gig by the band at the UK's Milton Keynes Bowl, the band were almost invisible on the type of global stage they had occupied for the previous eighteen months. Rumours circulated that they were heading back to the studio, but did not know when; the only thing that was known for sure was that their new album was a long way off.
A period of sporadic appearances in the public eye also followed, and after collaborating with U2 and recording the theme tune to the Simpsons movie, Green Day were beginning to re-enter the public consciousness as quickly as they had left it. As 2008 arrived, word spread that a new Green Day album could be out before the end of the year; however, despite evidence in October that suggested the band were indeed in the studio, the year came and went with no further developments.
Will The Wait Be Worth It?
It had been a long five years for Green Day fans, therefore, when a one-minute teaser of a track from 21st Century Breakdown was unveiled on the band's official website in February 2009. The wait was over, a new album was imminent; but could it ever be as good as American Idiot?
While opinions on the band's 2004 release were overwhelmingly positive from within the mainstream music community, reviews from traditional punk sources accused the band of 'selling out' in striving for acceptance from a wider audience. With news emerging that 21st Century Breakdown will follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, these voices are sure to emerge once again.
Despite the inevitable backlash from hardcore fans, no band's success is judged by its reception among the minority. There were no doubt those who were not fans of The Beatles in the 1960s, or Pink Floyd in the 1970s, or Queen in the 1980s; but the voices of dissent were quietened by the immense impact made by these bands on the music scene of their era.
Green Day are no different - they have produced iconic, genre-defining albums in two different decades so far, and providing they continue to deliver under the weight of expectations, they will continue to do so long into a third.
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