21st Century Breakdown released May 15th

Reprise Records will release Green Day's long-awaited eighth studio album, entitled 21^st Century Breakdown, on Friday, May 15^th, 2009. The album is the best-selling trio's first studio album since 2004's two-time Grammy Award-winning punk-rock opera American Idiot, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, spawned five hit singles, and went on to sell more than 12 million copies worldwide.

21^st Century Breakdown is divided into three acts: "Heroes and Cons," "Charlatans and Saints," and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades," and follows a young couple, Christian and Gloria, through the mess and promise of the century so far. Songs include "Know Your Enemy," "21 Guns," "East Jesus Nowhere," "Before the Lobotomy," and "Restless Heart Syndrome." In a recent feature, Rolling Stone called the album "even more ambitious than American Idiot" and "a record of die-hard punk ideals...tightly scripted, continually ascending classic-rock excitement."

Singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool have been at work writing, arranging, and recording 21^st Century Breakdown since early 2006 and are currently making finishing touches with producer Butch Vig, who is known for his work with Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, and many others.

The first single from 21^st Century Breakdown is "Know Your Enemy," which will impact radio and be available for purchase from all online retailers this April.

Sauce: 21