Green Day is getting ready to return to the studio in January to work on the follow up to 2004’s wildly popular, five-million selling American Idiot.

Earlier this year, the band said they had 45 songs for their new album, which is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2008…. sometime. Probably.

The band’s manager said that although the punk-rock trio would be hitting the recording studio, no release date was forthcoming. The manager said that they would be updating the official Green Day website at that time, as well.

Green Day: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool.

On the website, the band announced they would be stepping away from all of its American Idiot themes (political and personal disillusionment), and the new site wasn’t going to be themed around the band’s upcoming album. Stay tuned.