"Breakdown" Banned From Wal-Mart

Hello peeps, what's happening? Glad you could join us!

If you have been searching for Green Day's new album, "21st Century Breakdown", at Wal-Mart, you may be surprised to know that the disc is banned from the retailer.

According to The Associated Press, the record is stirring some controversy due to Green Day's refusal to edit the album for content. Billie Joe Armstrong says it's ridiculous what the company asks of artists. I fully agree with the guys and have to give them kudos for not giving in!

"Wal-Mart's become the biggest retail outfit in the country, but they won't carry our record because they wanted us to censor it. They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried there...we just said, 'No.' We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something."

As you may already know, the chain does not stock albums that contain the parental advisory sticker, offering a cleaner alternative by removing profanity and questionable content. 

Associated Press quotes Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Melissa O' Brien on the matter, "as with all music, it is up to the artist or label to decide if they want to market different variations of an album to sell, including a version that would remove a PA rating. The label and artist in this case have decided not to do so, so we unfortunately cannot offer the CD."

Don't think the guys are spending a minute of their time worrying over it, they're more than happy to deal with it, "if you think about bands that are struggling or smaller than Green Day...to think that to get your record out in places like that, but they wont carry it because of the content and you have to censor yourself. I mean, what does that say to a young kid who's trying to speak his mind making a record for the first time? It's like a game that you have to play. You have to refuse to play it," Armstrong told AP.

A spokesperson for Reprise Records could not be reached to speak about the issue. Read all about the shenanigans on MTV.com!

On a different subject, the new video for "Know Your Enemy" is back on the world's largest video site, You Tube! Sure you can find the video itself and the live version, but other clips seemed to be disabled in a way. You just gotta know where to look as a matter of fact!

Last December, Warner Music removed all their videos and songs off the site due to a licensing dispute. Any official comment from WMG, or You Tube has yet to be stated.

Take a look at the article from mediamemo.allthingsd.com, it contains the video for Green Day's new single. What's better is Viacom's video site has a legal version of the tune that won't get taken down.

The trio are on the cover of this June's Big Cheese Magazine. The guys are quoted confidently on the front page as, "we're not politicians-we're a rock 'n' roll band!" Check out the link here.

GreenDay.com has an image on their site for the song, "21 Guns". Could it be the next single off "Breakdown"? We shall see what happens, the site doesn't give any official word. I do have to add that it's a great song, and we wont be disappointed if it is released, keep your fingers crossed!

Here's a clip with Green Day speaking to MTV about their video. It also features their Rhapsody commercial before the interview starts!