Why do you think 21CB didn't do as well as American Idiot?

[darenmay]

Plus, the storyline is more complicated then American Idiot, and requires more thought, which, lets face it, not alot of people wanna do.

I think they need to step away from the whole concept album thing. No more characters and storylines for a bit.

a concept album is just fine for me and i believe green day will have to stick to it. perchance they've already found what they like to do.

but anyways, i agree with that 21stCB has a more complicated storyline than AI and that such attracted less people.

*

also, i think 5 years after AI was way too long for 21stCB. in 2004, people were surprised with this new concept album from green day. it was as well the time that rock music was booming. but 5 years later, people had changed and look what kind of music is so popular now.

if maybe green day had released 21st CB in 2006 or 2007, it would have sold more, as the effect AI left was still there and the fever hasn't died out yet. so yeah, 2009 for 21st CB, and people those who aren't hardcore didn't bother much to check it.

another thing, 21stCB singles had less appeal than those of AI.

how great is american idiot compared to know your enemy?

is 21st century breakdown as epic as JOS?

okay 21 guns might have done well but is it as kick ass as BOBD and WMUWSE?

lastly, is LOTAG as cool as holiday?

[Smoothed Out]

I think it was because everyone wasn't expecting American Idiot, they were expecting it to fail and for Green Day to slowly fizzle away. Whereas that had set the standard so high for 21stCB and they were expecting and wanting another AI, I presume that's why. And the press it's had, I don't think it's been promoted as well as it could have been

[st.idiot]

in my point of view it wasn't material, who produced the album, or the economy. it was 2 things. the first-promotion. promotion for this cd was like almost nothing whereas american idiot's promotion was like the end of the world is coming-like so much more than 21cb. and lastly-number 2-it was the radio. ok so in my point of view know your enemy was a horrible first single. BUT when gd released 21cb (song) it was way better but i hardly ever heard it on the radio. the radio plays too much poppy music and hip hop. i think it's more because of the radio

[NotAnotherSN]

I see as a Tommy vs. Quadrophenia kind of thing. Both are great albums on their own, but it's clear that Tommy is much more recognizable. It was one of the first major rock operas, it was a huge change for The Who and really brought a lot of attention to the band. There's a movie, a Broadway musical, an orchestral album. Quadrophenia? Notsomuch. I could argue to say, though, that Quadrophenia is a much more well thought out, coherent album. The same can be said regarding AI and 21CB.

American Idiot was just as revolutionary for punk as Tommy was for rock. It was the rebirth of the rock opera. 21CB is, in my opinion, much more coherent and well thought out than AI. There are more well-defined characters and a much clearer story. However, it just didn't have that same explosive impact as AI because all it was, in the eyes of the public, was more of the same, much like hoe Quadrophenia seems like more of the same of Tommy.

21CB will have its following, eventually, but it didn't seem any different than AI to anyone who hadn't heard it.

[YehItsRyan]

I agree about the whole timing and promotion issue and the fact they took so long to follow up AI what has led to 21st CB becoming a shadow of American Idiot. In a way American Idiot was another debut album for the band and 21CB was the difficult second album.

Although in saying that I hope Green Day stick to the formula they are working by at the moment because they have gained a reputation as the most entertaining live performance by any band and that is vastly contributing to why they are doing so well.

[HoneyDo666]

I think it ws just poor promotion. Warner probably thought Green Day are unstoppable, but in this economy, things have to be thrown in your face to sell.

I think they just keep getting tighter and better musically and lyrically. As a live band, they're unbeatable. This current tour could help.

i think it's the material... 21st century breakdown is good, but american idiot is just uncomperable.... also it cant be the economy.... lady gaga has sold millions of albums.....

But it's mindless pop. Green Day reminds us that there are issues out there and a big messed-up world. I guess people want mindless music to numb the pain of losing millions in the stockmarket. I think dancing to Green Day is incredibly fun, but it's not your mamma's club music.

[SixtiesJunkiie]

I honestly just think 'American Idiot' was one of those albums with perfect timing. It had the perfect sound and came out at just the right moment, and it really made them big. It was also catchier I think too, and it was really creative in the way that it was made and put together like a story. TBH (to be honest), the only Green Day album I'm not that crazy about is their most recent '21st Century Breakdown'. I can't really describe why, I love all their stuff from '89 to '04 (especially the older stuff, but AI as well.)

But Green Day was able to achieve success in other ways that AI didn't, so I'm happy they're still getting back as much as the efforts and creativity they put out.

[Mar]

The biggest thing that always bothered me was calling the album 21st Century Breakdown. Alot of the casual fans might of thought that this was a repeat of American Idiot without hearing the songs cos it was about the Bush administration and it was Bush that contributed to what some people believe was a 21st century breakdown which started between 2000 and 2004 with 9/11 and the war on terror.

Yeah, I can see that. I myself thought that it would have been a better title had it come out in 1999 or 2000, rather than 9 years after the century started.

[justcause]

What I dislike about this thread is the focus on sales - fuck that. What's important is not about the people who didn't respond to this album - what's important is the people who did.

What's important is this band reuniting with those people, drawing close to them, seeking their collaboration - what's important is what we take from this and what we create, together.

[st.idiot]

What I dislike about this thread is the focus on sales - fuck that. What's important is not about the people who didn't respond to this album - what's important is the people who did.

What's important is this band reuniting with those people, drawing close to them, seeking their collaboration - what's important is what we take from this and what we create, together.

i agree 100% with that. that's prolly the most real thing someone has said in this whole thread

[Take me to Christie Road]

The timing was bad, I think they waited far too long to come out with 21st Century Breakdown. The success of American Idiot had died down and people paying attention to mainstream music had turned their attention elsewhere. And the climate in America wasn't right. Barack Obama had recently been elected and people were still feeling hopeful, they weren't looking for a pissed off, rebellion album. As for the actual music, I think 21st Century Breakdown was too polished sounding. It didn't seem to have that raw energy. Overall I think it was a pretty mediocre album. I like it, but it's definitely my least favorite Green Day album.

This is hard for a lot of people to admit, but it was undeniably the quality of the material. The vast majority of the songs on 21st Century Breakdown were generic, uninspired material with forced lyrics. I hate to sound so negative, but the honest answer is they just weren't as good and the album was a major disappointment. On top of that, the best songs they had, Horseshoes And Hand Grenades and Viva La Gloria! weren't even released as singles. But anyone who compares 21st Century Breakdown to American Idiot cannot possibly justify liking the former more without coming across as ignorant. The musical style may have "evolved", but it evolved into something that was not Green Day. Billie's falsetto voice does not fit in the songs, and worst of all he cannot even really do it live, so it only adds to the overproduced feel the album already has, although the blame for that probably goes to Butch Vig. But regardless, it is pretty difficult to produce a hit album when the material is simply not there, and for 21st Century Breakdown the music is simply not that great.

I couldn't agree more. Frankly, 21st Century Breakdown felt like a lame American Idiot: Part 2.

[UnderClassHero]

i think the main thing is the singles.. 21 guns was a good single to release, but something like american eulogy, east jesus nowhere or the static age would have been much better. i mean, last of the american girls?! catchy, but there were better songs on the album than that. and the video for that was a tad below their usual standard. they soooo need sam bayer and rob cavallo back. i hope they team up with them on the next album! and like everyone else has mentioned, people's taste in music nowadays is raw dookie. lady gaga, justin bieber and rihanna etc is dominating the radio and rock music is slowly dying in the radio now (well at least good sounding rock) and so green day didn't have as much success, but altogether a kickass album, i love it all the same, but american idiot will always be the big kahuna of all albums, it's unbeatable.

[Punk-tastic32]

Green Day is like drugs. They hooked new fans with Dookie, And gave them their fix with all the albums after. Then hooked new fans with AI, and gave them 21CB to keep them happy. The role of 21CB has been more to be enjoyed by the true Green Day 'junkies' then to get sales and radio plays. That's probably not what they had intentioned- but that's what happened. 21CB is successful in it's own way.

Looking at 21CB by itself, it actually is quite successful, but it only looks like it didn't do well because we compare it to AI. It's like comparing Insomniac to Dookie. Personally, I love Insomniac more. But that's not what you see if you look at the charts.