Walmart have done this forever man. Trent Reznor had a rant about it not long ago. Good thing there's no Walmart in Australia. Though I'm sure the music catalog wouldn't be all that varied. No reason to buy music there at all.
I freaked out when Green Day played "East Jesus Nowhere" last night on Letterman. I wasn't going to watch because I thought they were just going to perform "Know Your Enemy" for the 23182993 time but wow, I'm glad I turned it on last night. Love, love, loved it!!
How is the album faring for you guys? First 20 listens, it was the best thing since sliced bread, but it's getting a bit stale now. I mean it's awesome, the range, musicianship and overall sound, but I don't think it has as much lasting power as AI. I listened to AI after weeks of listening to this and the rock power blew me away. This has a lot as well, but overall, it's less mellow. (e.g. no song on here rivaling Jesus Of Suburbia) I think it's to do with the fact that AI was so emotion-fueled that it was just pure pissed rock-n-roll, and this one is more drama and less of the emotion. Overall, I'd put this behind American Idiot and Dookie now.
There are a few stale songs on the album (e.g. I'm now officially completely fed up of hearing Know Your Enemy) but I'm still loving the album in general.
The only songs I skip over are "Know Your Enemy" and "Last Night On Earth". Other than that, I love this album and can't even imagine myself getting bored with it. *shrugs* Between the two, the American Idiot album is better. It packs a punch that 21st Century Breakdown slightly lacks. I do not love it any less though. I'm satisfied.
I'm definitely satisfied as well, this album is the only thing that could match up to AI, and they almost did it too. Also, in case you guys haven't checked it out, here's a great cover of Like A Rolling Stone by Green Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Svv9zht2u0 (skip to 2:00) And the cover of A Quick One While He's Away ain't bad either: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at8slgXXvGU
I gotta say, it's a good album for what it is, but for Green Day, it feels like they've lost the energy they had in the early days. I like it, but it's not the same listening experience that the other albums, including American Idiot provided. And I can't hold it in - I can't stand Know Your Enemy.
I'm actually sick of it now. Viva la Gloria! and Peacemaker are the only things I want to hear anymore, I have no desire to spin the album in it's entirety anymore. It took all of 2 weeks. Which is a shame, because I was afraid that would happened and intentionally avoided the streams for just that reason. Some good that did.