History of 21st century breakdown album.

21st Century Breakdown is the eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day. It is the band's second rock opera, following

American Idiot, and their first album to be produced by Butch Vig. Green Day commenced work on the record in January 2006. Forty-five songs were written by singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong by October 2007, but the band members did not enter studio work with Vig until January 2008. The writing and recording process spanned three years and four California recording studios and was finished in April 2009.

21st Century Breakdown was released May 15, 2009 through Reprise Record. Armstrong has described the album as a "snapshot of the era in which we live as we question and try to make sense of the selfish manipulation going on around us, whether it be the government, religion, media or frankly any form of authority". The singles, "Know Your Enemy" and "21 Guns" exemplify the themes of alienation and politically-motivated anger present in the record.

he album is divided into three acts: "Heroes and Cons", "Charlatans and Saints", and "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" and is set in Detroit, Michigan. Its loose narrative follows a young couple named Christian and Gloria through the challenges present in the U.S. following the presidency of George W. Bush. Bassist Mike Dirnt has compared the relationships between the songs to those in Bruce Springsteen's Born to rule, saying that the themes are not as tightly interwoven as in a concept album, but that they are still connected. Many of the record's themes and lyrics are drawn from Armstrong's personal life and he sings in the first person narrative style style about abandonment and vengeance in "Before the Lobotomy", "Christian's Inferno", and "Peacemaker". Rolling Stone noted that the album is "the most personal, emotionally convulsive record Armstrong has ever written".

The title track's opening lyric "Born into Nixon, I was raised in hell" references Armstrong's birth year of 1972, while "We are the class of '13" references the fact that his eldest son, Joseph, will graduate from high school in 2013. Dirnt has expressed his belief that "Last of the American Girls" was written about Armstrong's wife Adrienne, who he claimed is steadfast in her beliefs and assertively defends them. Armstrong has cited his "disconnected" childhood—he was raised by his five older siblings after their father's death, while their mother worked graveyard shifts as a waitress—as the roots of the discontent expressed on 21st Century Breakdown. "East Jesus Nowhere" rebukes fundamental religion and was written after Armstrong attended a church service where a friend's baby was baptized.