 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 Guardian 's Alexis Petridis indicated that " the storyline becomes impossible to follow " . 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 . " 
