Green Day have paid homage to John Lennon once again on their upcoming album '21st Century Breakdown'.

The Californian trio already covered the John Lennon classic 'Working Class Hero' as a Darfur charity single in 2007, but now on the new album title track they've paid homage to towards The Beatles legend again.

According to Rolling Stone, who recently listened to six tracks on the album, the lyrics read: “My generation is zero / I never made it as a working class hero.”

Other tracks the US publication listened to are 'Before The Lobotomy', the “straight ahead rock” 'Know Your Enemy', the punky 'March Of The Dogs', the mid-tempo 'Restless Heart Syndrome' and the melodic '21 Guns'.

Following on from 2004's epic 'American Idiot', the 16-track album is a concept record of sorts and split into three segments - 'Heroes and Cons', 'Charlatans and Saints' and 'Horseshoes and Handgrenades'.

Speaking to the Associated Press, bassist Mike Dirnt said the tracks “speak to each other the way the songs on (Bruce Springsteen’s) 'Born to Run' speak to each other.

“I don’t know if you’d call it a ‘concept album,’ but there’s a thread that connects everything.”

'21st Century Breakdown' is due to be released in mid-May.

(by Scott Colothan)