Heavy waits: albums that are long overdue

Green Day, follow-up to 'American Idiot'

Years in development: three

Years since last studio album: four

The recording process that eventually led to Green Day’s last album, the wildly successful rock opera “American Idiot,” got held up when their first batch of nearly finished recordings was stolen from the studio. Hopefully they’ll keep their tapes more secure this time around. A recent Internet video shows Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage) behind the mixing board, and rumor has it that frontman Billie Joe Armstrong wrote most of the new tunes at his piano. Could it be “American Idiot 2”? Expect to find out no sooner than summer ‘09. In the meantime, Green Day fans will have to tide themselves over with the trio's garage/rockabilly side project, Foxboro Hot Tubs, which quietly released an album called "Stop Drop and Roll!!!" earlier this year.