Punk rock heroes Green Day will release their eighth studio album, “21st Century Breakdown,” on Friday, May 15, the group announced yesterday. Billboard reports that the long-awaited album, Green Day’s first full length since 2004’s “American Idiot,” is produced by esteemed producer Butch Vig, known for his work with Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and his own band Garbage.
The album’s title track, an ultra-melodic midtempo rocker with Green Day’s familiar three-chord verses and Billie Joe Armstrong’s summation of society: “My generation is zero / I’d never make it as a working class hero.” Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong also declared that the album was fuelled by his distrust of politicians.

Like its predecessor, the new LP has a narrative structure, that recalls the story of a young couple, Christian and Gloria: “Veers from hard-charging garage rockers to oversize Queen-style grandeur. Chronicling the life of a young couple as they deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind, the punk opera is divided into three acts: “Heroes and Cons,” “Charlatans and Saints” and “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.”" The album also includes tracks like “21 Guns,” “East Jesus Nowhere,” “Before the Lobotomy,” and “Restless Heart Syndrome.”
Last month, Billboard previewed six songs from “Breakdown.” The album’s first single, “Know Your Enemy” (set to go on sale digitally in April) is a sturdy, catchy rock cut demanding “revolution,” while “Before the Lobotomy” begins as an acoustic wash before shifting into a heavy three-chord riff and lyrics dripping with antipathy: “I’m not stoned / I’m just f*cked up.”
Green Day will begin a North American arena tour in early July, to be followed by shows in Europe. The band is planning to perform all three acts of the album at each stop on their forthcoming world tour and rumored to include a reunited Blink 182. In 2010, the band will hit Japan, Southeast Asia and South America before returning for more North American shows.

Source: billboard.com; angryape.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 9:02 am and is filed under News.