#1 video #1.1 21st century breakdown 21st Century Breakdown is the eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day . It is the bands second rock opera , following American Idiot , and their first album to be produced by Butch Vig . Green Day commenced work on the record in January 2006 and forty-five songs were written by vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong by October 2007, but the band members did not enter studio work until January 2008. The album was released May 15, 2009 through Reprise Records. Armstrong has described the album as a snapshot of the era in which we live as we question and try to make sense of the selfish manipulation going on around us, whether it be the government, religion, media or frankly any form of authority. The singles Know Your Enemy and 21 Guns exemplify the themes of alienation and politically motivated anger present in the record. Critical response to 21st Century Breakdown was generally positive. The record achieved Green Days best chart performance to date by reaching number one on the album charts of various countries, including the United States Billboard 200, the European Top 100 Albums , and the United Kingdom Albums Chart . It was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards held on January 31, 2010. As of December 2010, 21st Century Breakdown has sold 1,005,000 copies in the United States and more than 4 million worldwide. Writing and recording Green Day began to write new songs for what would become 21st Century Breakdown in January 2006 after touring extensively in 2005 in support of their seventh studio album American Idiot . At the time, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong stated, Well start with silence, and thats how well be able to find the inspiration to find another record. The band did not release any details of the writing and recording process until October 2007, when Armstrong said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he had written something like 45 songs.The band members worked on the primitive conceptual stages of the album at their rehearsal studio in Oakland , California . Little was revealed on the themes or musical style of the album, but Armstrong pointed out, I want to dig into who I am and what Im feeling at this moment – which is middle-aged. He added that many of the 45 songs were written on piano rather than guitar. Green Day began the recording process for 21st Century Breakdown in January 2008. Later that year, it was confirmed that the band worked with producer Butch Vig. The album was recorded with Vig throughout 2008 and into early 2009 at four locations in California: Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood, Studio 880 in Oakland, Jel Studios in Newport Beach , and Costa Mesa Studios in Costa Mesa.While recording in Hollywood, the band members bought cheap turntables from Amoeba Music and listened to many vinyl records for inspiration, including albums by The Beat and The Plimsouls . Armstrong cited as inspiration the music of The Kinks Ray Davies, The Pretty Things S.F. Sorrow , The Doors The Doors and Strange Days , and Meat Loaf s Bat Out of Hell .Drummer Tré Cool noted the influence of Eddie Cochran and The Creation on Armstrongs writing. While writing at his home studio, Armstrong worked on a cover of The Whos 1966 mini- opera A Quick One, While Hes Away; Green Day recorded a full-band version of the song during the album sessions. Vig noted that frustrations would sometimes cause delays in the recording process for 21st Century Breakdown .Armstrong kept his lyrics closely guarded and intentionally mixed his demos so that the vocals were low in the mix and thus unintelligible to the other band members. It was not until late 2008 that he chose to share his words with Cool, Vig, and bassist Mike Dirnt by sitting down with them and reading the entire albums lyrics aloud in order. The band members made the finishing touches on the album in early April 2009 and claimed that its release would lead to a kind of... post-partum depression .
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 08:49:08 +0000
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