Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown": Hear the Album and Read the Rolling Stone Review

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In exactly one week, Green Day unleash their eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown. Since you'll have to wait until July 3rd to catch them live on their summer tour (or May 19th if you're one of the lucky fans who score a ticket to their MySpace show in New York), how about some instant gratification — right now. Over at Rhapsody, you can hear 21st Century Breakdown in its entirety, and the Rolling Stone review — four and a half stars — which appears in our current issue is also available on RollingStone.com.

We'll have much more from Green Day as they hit the ground with 21st Century Breakdown, but for now, take a look back at the band's history and the making of their latest punk opera:

• Green Day Swing for the Fences on 21st Century Breakdown
• Green Day Bring 21st Century Breakdown to Life at Stunning Oakland Gig
• Green Day's Hometown Throwdown: Photos From Oakland

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  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
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  MOVIES 'This Is the End' Brings the Goods
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  TV The Women of 'Mad Men'
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  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Karma Chameleon”

Culture Club | 1983

Boy George has said this song was about standing by what you believe in. However, at the time, he was involved in a secret affair with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. "Now people can understand the songs better," he said. "They were written about my relationship with Jon, and they were also written about being a gay man in a homophobic world." The lines "If I listen to your lies, would you say/I'm a man without conviction/I'm a man who doesn't know how to sell a contradiction," described his life at the time, he said. "I was selling this big lie."

More Song Stories entries »

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