American Idiot is the seventh studio album by American rock band Green Day. Produced by Rob Cavallo, the album was released on September 20, 2004 by Reprise Records. Green Day first achieved popularity in the 1990s with a string of successful albums. Following disappointing sales of their sixth album, Warning (2000), the band took a small break. They later reconvened to record their next album, titled Cigarettes and Valentines, a process cut short when its master tapes were stolen. Rather than re-record that material, the group decided to start over.