HOME | ABOUT | RULES |JOIN |UPDATE | MEMBERS | CODES| EXITS
ABOUT know your enemy
Know Your Enemy" is an alternative rock and punk rock song written and recorded by American band Green Day. It is the first single from their eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown. The single was released through Reprise Records on April 16, 2009. Billboard described the song as being lyrically "just as politically charged as last time (on American Idiot)", having a "Modern Rock radio-ready chorus", whilst the song's producer Butch Vig "brings enough punk/pop sheen for mass appeal,"
Release and reception
Alternative Press called the song a "huge rocker" which is a "fierce call to arms against apathy." It was also referred to by Spin as sounding "like an out-take from the Dookie sessions." About.com's Bill Lamb said the song was "standard issue Green Day", "not a stroke of genius" and "not on par with their last album", but said it was a "great appetizer" for one of the most eagerly awaited albums of 2009. Pitchfork Media described the track as having "pedantic stiffness" and "nothing more than a rote protest song preaching to the converted." Rolling Stone called the song one of the highlights of the album, praising the punk-oriented sound and calling it a "Clash-size bootboy chants". Billboard said that "The lead single from the band's new release, "21st Century Breakdown", finds the group just as politically charged as last time", but also said that "While the subject matter is broad and may be missed by some, "Enemy" has enough charm to amp up the airwaves until (21st Century) Breakdown is released." The song managed to top both the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and the Modern Rock Tracks chart at the same time, while cracking the Top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, so far reaching #28.
Lyrics
Check out Know Your Enemy.com for the song lyrics.
Music video
The music video was directed by Motion Theory's Matthew Cullen (who helmed the video for Weezer's "Pork and Beans" in 2008), and it premiered on MTV and other stations across the globe on April 24, 2009. In the video, the band is performing at night on a stage in a field surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Shots of the band are also frequently seen through night vision closed-circuit cameras that surround the field, as well as on helicopters that patrol the area with searchlights. The final chorus of the song shows fire burning behind the band. The video was shot in Downtown Los Angeles.
[source]