Green Day is on the verge of a 21st Century Breakdown. The band's eighth album, due in May, doesn't retreat from the seething invective of 2004's Bush-whacking American Idiot, which sold 5.8 million copies and transformed the Bay Area trio from punk brats to serious rockers.
After Idiot's success, "we asked how much more ambitious can we be?" says singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong. "We could take a sideways step or go back to our roots. We chose to move forward."
Expected to be one of 2009's blockbusters (bolstered by a summer tour), Breakdown addresses working-class struggles, internal demons, apathy and the fading American dream. "It's about reflecting what's been happening the past three years and putting it to melody with some bold statements."
The boldest may be March of the Dogs, which rails against religious hypocrisy. "I have nothing against religion," Armstrong says. "It's about preying on people's blind faith. I'm all for spirituality. There's nothing more spiritual than rock 'n' roll."