Studio
Studio 880 / Ocean Way Recording / Costa Mesa Studios / Jet Studios
Label
Reprise Records
Producers
Butch Vig, Green Day
Mixing
Chris Lorde-Alge
Engineers
Chris Dugan, Ted Jensen (mastering)
Arrangement
Tom Kitt (strings arrangement), Patrick Warren (string conducting)
Musicians
Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar, piano), Mike Dirnt (bass, vocals), Tre Cool (drums), Jason Freese (piano)
Artwork
Chris Bilheimer (design, photos, stencils), Marina Chavez (back cover photo) Andrew Black (stencils), Micah Chong (stencils), David Cooper (stencils)
Singles
Know Your Enemy, 21 Guns, East Jesus Nowhere, 21st Century Breakdown, Last Of The American Girls
Awards
Grammys: Best Rock Album (Won), 21 Guns - Best Rock Song (Nominated), Best Rock Performance (Nominated)
Notes: After the longest break between albums of their career, the band returned to the studio with 45 songs to work with along with a new producer in Butch Vig. What emerged from those sessions was another rock opera concept album that once again saw the band hit the top of the charts. In a changing music industry, the album would also mark the last time to date that the band has sold more than 500,000 albums in the US, eventually selling over one million to make it their last platinum album.
Tracklist
Track 19: Japan CD Bonus Track - previously unreleased
Other Bonus Tracks: Burnout (live) [Amazon MP3 Version], Know Your Enemy (live) & The Static Age (live) [Rhapsody edition]
Target Bonus CD - Live In Japan: American Idiot (live), Jesus Of Suburbia (live), Holiday (live), Are We The Waiting (live), St. Jimmy (live), Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (live)
Other Bonus Tracks: Burnout (live) [Amazon MP3 Version], Know Your Enemy (live) & The Static Age (live) [Rhapsody edition]
Target Bonus CD - Live In Japan: American Idiot (live), Jesus Of Suburbia (live), Holiday (live), Are We The Waiting (live), St. Jimmy (live), Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (live)
iTunes Bonus Tracks
Tracks 19-20: iTunes deluxe edition bonus tracks
Tracks 21-22: iTunes pre-order edition bonus tracks
Tracks 21-22: iTunes pre-order edition bonus tracks
Studio Sessions
Key
[O] Officially released
[D] Demo released
[U] Unofficially released
[X] Unreleased
Session Tracks
* These unreleased songs were played in soundcheck on the 21st Century Breakdown tour but it's not officially confirmed that they were studio recorded in these sessions. 'Dream Catcher' was later recorded in the Uno/Dos/Tre sessions but remains unreleased.
- [O]Song Of The Century
- [O]21st Century Breakdown
- [O]Know Your Enemy
- [O]¡Viva la Gloria!
- [O]Before The Lobotomy
- [O]Christian's Inferno
- [O]Last Night On Earth
- [O]East Jesus Nowhere
- [O]Peacemaker
- [O]Last Of The American Girls
- [O]Murder City
- [O]¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)
- [O]Restless Heart Syndrome
- [O]Horseshoes And Handgrenades
- [O]The Static Age
- [O]21 Guns
- [O]American Eulogy
- [O]See The Light
- [X]Wonderful
- [X]Drama Queen
- [X]Oh Girl *
- [X]Olivia *
- [X]Dream Catcher *
- [O]Like A Rolling Stone [Bob Dylan cover]
- [O]That's Alright [Elvis Presley cover]
- [O]Another State Of Mind [Social Distortion cover]
- [O]A Quick One, While He's Away [The Who cover]
* These unreleased songs were played in soundcheck on the 21st Century Breakdown tour but it's not officially confirmed that they were studio recorded in these sessions. 'Dream Catcher' was later recorded in the Uno/Dos/Tre sessions but remains unreleased.
Recording Notes
A demo of '21st Century Breakdown' leaked in February of 2009 with alternate lyrics and a piano intro that differed from the official album release a few months later. It is not known when this demo was recorded.
'Drama Queen' was included on early review copies of 21st Century Breakdown but was later removed. The song would later be re-recorded in the Uno/Dos/Tre sessions.
The b-sides 'Lights Out' & 'Hearts Collide' from the 'Know Your Enemy' single are not included with this session as they are believed to have been recorded during the Cigarettes & Valentines sessions.
The covers of 'Like A Rolling Stone', 'That's Alright', 'Another State Of Mind' and 'A Quick One, While He's Away', were all released as iTunes bonus tracks.
MUSIC VIDEOS
Know Your Enemy
21 Guns
21st Century Breakdown
Last Of The American Girls