Revolution Radio is the twelfth studio album by Green Day, released on October 7, 2016 through Reprise Records. A self-produced effort, it marked their first release since 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown not to be produced by longtime producer Rob Cavallo. It is also their first release since that album to be recorded as a trio. Green Day‘s previous three albums ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! featured touring guitarist Jason White temporarily joining the band in the studio.
Three singles were released from the album; “Bang Bang”, “Still Breathing”, and “Revolution Radio”. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, appeared on multiple year-end lists, and sold 95,000 first-week album-equivalent units in the US to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Revolution Radio also debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Canada, and New Zealand. Work on what would become Revolution Radio began in 2014, following the 99 Revolutions Tour, in support of ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! (2012).
After acknowledging that the trilogy of albums had “absolutely no direction to them” and were an attempt at being “prolific for the sake of it”, lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong claimed that the record is “not so much a makeover as a make under” . The lead single, “Bang Bang”, described by Armstrong is about “the culture of mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media”.
The album’s lead single, “Bang Bang”, premiered on August 11, 2016. Prior to the album’s release, its title track, “Revolution Radio”, and “Still Breathing” were released on September 9 and September 23, respectively. On the album’s release date, the official lyric video for “Youngblood” was uploaded on the band’s website.
On October 12, a lyric video for the song “Ordinary World” was released. On October 19, another lyric video was released, for the song “Say Goodbye”. On November 7, a music video was released for “Still Breathing”. On January 16, a lyric video was released for “Troubled Times”. On September 8, a lyric video for the song “Too Dumb to Die” was released.
The album’s final track “Ordinary World” was featured in the 2016 film of the same name, which starred Armstrong. On December 13, 2018, an official music video for “Youngblood” was released with the caption “Merry Xmas 2018″ on the band’s YouTube channel.
Revolution Radio debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 95,000 album-equivalent units, of which 90,000 were album sales. The album also debuted at number one in the UK, Ireland, Italy, and New Zealand.
The album had first-week units of 30,880 in the UK, 29,470 of which were from album sales. The album charted at number 10 in the US in its second week with 21,000 units. The album sold 118,000 copies in the first three weeks in the US. Professional reviewers describe the album as punk rock, pop-punk, and alternative rock.
Tracklist:
SIDE A
- Somewhere Now
- Bang Bang
- Revolution Radio
- Say Goodbye
- Outlaws (Green Day, Jon Fratelli)
- Bouncing off the Wall
SIDE B
- Still Breathing (Green Day, The Struts )
- Youngblood
- Too Dumb to Die
- Troubled Times
- Forever Now
- Ordinary World
Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong: lead vocals, guitars, piano, producer
Mike Dirnt: bass guitar, backing vocals, producer
Tré Cool: drums, percussion, producer
Additional musicians
Ronnie Blake: trumpet (“Bouncing off the Wall”)
Production
Chris Dugan: engineer
Andrew Scheps: mixer
Eric Boulanger: mastering
Justin Hergett: mixing assistant
Bill Schneider: guitar tech
Andrew Hans Buscher: guitar tech
Art work
Nick Spanos: cover photo
Frank Maddocks: creative direction, photography, design
Managerial
Pat Magnarella: management
