and Cool, their country, and humanity as a whole. But its real triumph, in an age of trimming, of market testing, of self-censorship and lowest common denominators, is not simply to aim insanely high, but to make it to the summit." Criticism centered on the concept of the record; BBC's Chris Jones said that it is "griping vaguely against 'authority and that "too many buzz words obscure incisive meaning". Steve Kandell of Spin wrote that the humor of American Idiot was "sorely missed" and that the energy of the album seemed "directionless". The Guardians Alexis Petridis indicated that "the storyline becomes impossible to follow". Robert Christgau of MSN Music wrote that "I don't like right-wing Christianists either. But as every oppressed teen in the right-wing orbit knows full well, they're not as garbled and simplistic as Armstrong's anthems insist." Adam Downer of Sputnikmusic was the most critical professional reviewer of the album; he questioned the clarity of the lyrics by calling 21st Century Breakdown "more conceptually vague/ridiculous than American Idiot", and he went on to say that it "spirals out of control in its own heroic glory and never regains focus, thus ending with a product that Green Day couldn't afford to produce: an average record". Slant Magazine claims that "...an uncanny sense of familiarity hangs over too much of the album. The melodies of several tracks suggest ghosts of older Green Day songs." Kyle Ryan at The A.V. Club gave the album a B+, noting it as "going [even] bolder" than American Idiot. Ryan also declared "21st Century Breakdown reinforces what American Idiot first revealed: Green Day should never be underestimated." Accolades Album awards Track listing Personnel Green Day Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar, piano Mike Dirnt – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Modern World" Tré Cool – drums, percussion Additional musicians Jason Freese – piano Tom Kitt – string arrangements Patrick Warren – string conducting Production Butch Vig – producer Chris Lord-Alge – mix engineer Chris Dugan – engineer Keith Armstrong – assistant engineer Nik Karpen – assistant engineer Wesley Seidman – assistant engineer Brad Kobylczak – additional engineering Joe McGrath – additional engineering Andrew Schubert – additional engineering Brad Townshend – additional engineering Ted Jensen – mastering Artwork Chris Bilheimer – design, photography, stencils Andrew Black – stencils Micah Chong – stencils David Cooper – stencils Marina Chavez – back cover photo Release