After creatively stagnating with the release of two compilations in a row, the last thing anyone would have expected Green Day to do is release a rock opera. But that’s exactly what they’ve done with American Idiot, their seventh studio album.

The truly amazing thing is that they do so without ever sounding bloated or overblown, and leave it to frontman and songwriter Billie Joe Armstrong to write a concept album without it seeming the least bit pretentious.

One way that they manage this is to borrow an idea from rock-op pioneers the Who. And while any album of this scope will get quick comparisons to Tommy or Quadrophenia, Green Day actually utilizes the “mini-opera” approach from “A Quick One While He’s Away” on two tracks on American Idiot, “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Homecoming.” Both clock in at over nine minutes, but are really nonstop, well-paced song cycles that breathlessly move along the plot. That plot is still a bit shaky to me, even after repeated listens and a perusal of the special-edition fake diary included with the CD.

The most I can say is that it has something to do with a young punk calling himself St. Jimmy who tries to start his own socio-political revolution, and please correct me if I’m wrong.

Musically, though, the record shows the band fully rejuvenated after the mostly-acoustic effort Warning (the track “St. Jimmy” almost comes off as hardcore). Unclear plots aside, the individual songs are among the most mature and sincere that the band has yet attempted, with a very wide scope.

The title track and the acoustic “Wake Me Up When September Ends” are anthems of a time and generation right out of the box, that attempt (and mostly succeed) to reflect the changes and feelings in its core audience post-9/11.

With American Idiot, Green Day have released one of the best and probably most important rock records of the year.