Green Day

Reissue of Green Day's second album that defined the band's sound with memorable riffs, metal-strength momentum and a decade's worth of attitude.

After two years off following the release of the genre-expanding Nimrod, the usually insouciant trio Green Day are open to some weighty self-analysis. Gone are the raging rants, cartoonish antics, and anthropological musings about the punk scene, replaced by an introspection that brings to mind Michael Stipe and Bono. Like the U2 frontman, Billie Joe Armstrong still hasn't found what he's looking for, but he knows where he's been and is eager to move past the days when Green Day were considered the clown princes of rock. Witness "Jackass," which cautions, "Everybody loves a joke, but no one likes a fool." Proving that they aren't fools, Green Day take a substantial step forward, exploring new rhythms, sonics, and subjects. While many of the tracks are still cheeky and infectious, the deceptively simple melodies belie a quest for meaning, faith, and fulfillment. There's a tentative optimism here that's tempered by irony and flashes of self-loathing. Still, Warning transcends the darkness that clouded 1995's Insomniac. No longer so under the sway of the Buzzcocks and the Ramones, this time Armstrong and company dip into the early rock canon--the Beatles and Bob Dylan, among them. As a result, their first self-produced album is more "Nowhere Man" than "Blitzkrieg Bop." --Jaan Uhelszki

Featuring Green Day's first live DVD, the CD + DVD Bullet in a Bible captures the explosive band on the biggest tour in its career, in support of the Grammy-winning, quadruple-platinum, #1 charting American Idiot punk-rock epic. From two performances filmed in June 2005 before 65,000 fans, both in Milton Keynes in England, to the DVD's documentary segments following the band members around that city as they visit a war museum and various pubs, and share in-depth insights on the making and meaning of American Idiot, Green Day is #1 with a Bullet in a Bible. DVD: Video of the performance with documentary behind-the-scenes footage

Nimrod came along two years after 1995's Insomniac and was the first indication of Green Day's willingness to stretch the boundaries of punk rock. The fullness of the record is first hinted at on "Hitchin' a Ride," which starts out chug-a-lugging and then breaks into a raging rocker."Redundant" is accented with some psyched-out guitar work and has Billie Joe Armstrong singing a good deal more than usual. The wonderful "Platypus (I Hate You)" speed-rocks with abandon and recalls the early days of L.A. punk (a little Dickies here, a little Descendents there). The biting "Take it Back" is a snarling throwback to hard punk, and "Prosthetic Head" is an infectious ditty that counts among the very best on the album. Most surprising is "Last Ride In," an instrumental nod to the sensual surf-and-sun life. Of course, the crown jewel of the collection is the sentimental, acoustic "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," which seemed nearly inescapable when it was released. Beyond these standouts, even the "usual" Green Day fare here has punch. --Lorry Fleming

Green Day takes the title International Superhits literally, offering a no-surprises compilation of all the songs that made a big dent on commercial radio. From the pop-punk heroes' breakthrough album Dookie ("Longview," "Welcome to Paradise") through Insomniac ("Brain Stew"), Nimrod ("Good Riddance [Time of Your Life]"), and Warning ("Minority"), if a record produced a hit, that song is on this album. There are only two new tracks on the Superhits (both recorded a couple of months before the album's release)--the spazzed out rock & roll singalong "Maria" and the puppy-dog love of "Poprocks & Coke." Because International Superhits doesn't pull from Green Day's early EPs and Lookout albums or offer any live variations, though, this album is really only one for the serious-minded collectors who don't want to skip past a single Green Day release. -- Jennifer Maerz

Japanese only SHM pressing. The SHM-CD [Super High Material CD] format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players.

The first original album since 2000 from modern rock superheroes Green Day, American Idiot is one of the most anticipated and controversial albums of the year. Scathing yet self-effacing as it tells the tale of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, American Idiot is the punk rock epic. "A bold, polished punk opera." (Entertainment Weekly) "They're the biggest, most successful, punk band the world has ever seen. What's more, Green Day's next album may well be their masterpiece." (Kerrang!)

Green Day's long-awaited eighth studio album, entitled 21st Century Breakdown will be releasing on Friday, May 15th, 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. 21st 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 21st 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 21st Century Breakdown is "Know Your Enemy," which will impact radio massively!