 Green Day began to write new songs for what would become 21st Century Breakdown in January 2006 after touring extensively in 2005 in support of their seventh studio album American Idiot . At the time , frontman Billie Joe Armstrong stated : " We 'll start with silence , and that 's how we 'll be able to find the inspiration to find another record . " The band did not release any details of the writing and recording process until October 2007 , when Armstrong said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he had written " something like 45 songs " . The band members worked on the primitive conceptual stages of the album at their rehearsal studio in Oakland , California . Little was revealed on the themes or musical style of the album , but Armstrong stated : " I want to dig into who I am and what I 'm feeling at this moment – which is middle @-@ aged . " He added that many of the 45 songs were written on piano rather than guitar . 
