Entertainment, Music - Army Times

It’s a new, motivated Green Day for “21st Century”

If the Green Day that recorded 1994’s “Dookie” were cast in the band’s ambitious new concept album, they’d be among the indolent dupes letting society implode.

Back then, the snotty trio’s mantra was, “I got no motivation.” On “21st Century Breakdown,” out May 15 and streaming now on Rhapsody and MTV’s “The Leak,” punk’s prophets holler, “Gimme gimme revolution.”

Green Day’s modern protest album (3½ out of four) again unfurls a battle flag first waved on 2004’s Bush-bashing “American Idiot,” which sold 12 million copies worldwide and established the Bay Area threesome as a formidable voice.

This time, rather than celebrate regime change or the renewal of hope, singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong angrily assesses the damage in a dark post-Dubya allegory and broadly assigns blame to include the complacent and apathetic masses. His chief beef? Our dreams and values are obscured by a ceaseless storm of confrontations.

A punk opera in three acts, “Breakdown” delivers an intriguing, cohesive narrative as it blasts the pharma boom in Zeppelinesque “Restless Heart Syndrome” and religious hypocrisy in “East Jesus Nowhere.” The story loosely follows idealist Gloria and nihilist Christian, lovers betrayed by a decaying nation’s leaders and gullible citizens.

Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool build an effective sonic framework that leans on teeth-gnashing punk rave-ups but also dips into U2/Springsteen drama and flips the dial to classic rock radio.

Playing with passion, confidence and ferocity, Green Day effortlessly masters the sugary harmonies and Beatles stamp in “Last of the American Girls,” the Latin spice in rowdy “Peacemaker” and the majestic swell of “21 Guns.” They even pull off a ’70s soft-rock patina on “Last Night on Earth.”

Butch Vig’s glossy production and the music’s propulsion help offset tense polemics and unfortunate lack of comic relief on “Breakdown.” Though no longer pop-punk pranksters, Green Day could use a little snark to peddle its agitprop song cycle.

• Download: “21st Century Breakdown,” “Restless Heart Syndrome,” “East Jesus Nowhere”

• Consider: “21 Guns”