Update (October 7): The band released a lyric video for their new song, “Youngblood,” today. Watch it and see their 2017 tour dates below.
Original story: Green Day will follow their ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! trilogy of 2012 with a new album, Revolution Radio, on October 7, on Reprise Records, the band has announced. The first single from the album, “Bang Bang,” premiered on August 11. The single has been described by guitarist and vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong as being “about the culture of mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media.” The song is written from the perspective of a mass murderer. Pre-order is available here.
In fact, Revolution Radio, Green Day’s twelfth album, is itself being hailed as a response to the violent and chaotic state of America in 2016. Armstrong said he was inspired by a protest he witnessed—and then participated in—against the killing of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, by a white police officer. “There’s this sort of rage happening, but it’s also now being filmed and we all have ourselves under surveillance,” Armstrong told the RS website. “To me, that is so twisted. To get into the brain of someone like that was freaky.”
Related: Armstrong is in a new movie
Armstrong has been careful not to paint the new album as a sequel to the politically charged American Idiot, however. Unlike that massively popular 2004 release, Revolution Radio also contains songs of a more personal nature, including a ballad, “Ordinary World,” according to a report in Rolling Stone.
Related: Billie Joe Armstrong booted off plane, 2011
Revolution Radio is Green Day’s first new music since Armstrong attended rehab for prescription pill addiction and the band’s first self-produced album since 2000’s Warning. The album was recorded at Green Day’s studio in Oakland, California. The dominant sound on Revolution Radio is said to be something of a return to Green Day’s early, aggressive punk roots.
Watch the lyric video for “Youngblood”…
Green Day 2016-17 Tour Schedule (Tickets are available here and here.)
10/08 New York, NY Webster Hall
10/17 Los Angeles, CA Palladium
10/20 Berkeley, CA UC Theatre
01/10 Turin, Italy Pala Alpitour
01/11 Florence, Italy Mandela Forum
01/13 Bologna, Italy Unipol Arena
01/14 Milan, Italy Mediolanum Forum
01/16 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadion
01/18 Manheim, Germany SAP Arena
01/19 Berlin, Germany Mercedes Benz Arena
01/25 Oslo, Norway Spektrum
01/27 Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm Globe
01/28 Malmo, Sweden Malmo Arena
01/30 Cologne, Germany Lanxesse Arena
01/31 Amsterdam, Holland Ziggo Dome
02/02 Brussels, Belgium Forest National
02/03 Paris, France Accorhotels Arena
02/05 Leeds, UK Leeds First Direct Arena
02/06 Manchester, UK Manchester Arena
02/08 London, UK London The O2
06/23 Scheeßel, Germany Hurricane Festival
06/24 Tuttlingen, Germany Southside Festival
