Just in time for the 2004 presidential election, Northern California’s favorite pop punk brats are back with something a little different: a politically-charged rock ‘n’ roll opera. Green Day’s American Idiot, their first album release in four years, slings mud in the face of their standard musical formula. What fans had grown so accustomed to from the band-three-minute songs, obligatory power chords and, of course, masturbation-has now been transformed into elaborate nine-minute operettas. Singer/songwriter Billie Joe Armstrong, now at the ripe old age of 32, was never known for his poetic prose or his intricate melodies.

So this new project, with its sprawling storylines and hopes of causing societal change, easily qualifies as his most ambitious work to date. The opening title track sounds like classic Green Day, fully equipped with bassist Mike Dirnt’s thumping bass line, drummer Tre Cool’s frenzied beats and Armstrong snarling “don’t wanna be an American idiot… don’t wanna be controlled by the media.” The band has a bone to pick with the average complacent and apathetic American citizen, in which they punctuate with brutal, finger-pointing precision. After listening to the song, you get the raging urge to trash a swanky hotel room… and then register to vote.

But it is from then on that the band gets experimental. The colossal “Jesus of Suburbia”-so long is this song that it’s actually broken into five separate vignettes-introduces us to the album’s central self-titled hero, taking us on a wandering journey as he deals with uncertainty, temptation, and the pitfalls of life. In between the chord changes and tempo shifts of the album’s progression, you get to follow his path as he makes choices, takes forks in the road, and comes of age.

In the most abrasive track, “Holiday,” Armstrong unflinchingly sings “Zieg heil to the President Gasman/Bombs away is your punishment” through a megaphone. No tongues are bit, no punches are pulled – Green Day’s disdain for President Bush and his war on Iraq is made clear.

“Homecoming” makes for another epic-sized track, perhaps an attempt to create the band’s very own “Bohemian Rhapsody.” And “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is the album’s introspective acoustic number, which many have already dubbed the sentimental sequel to their perennial prom song “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”

Whether you agree or disagree with Green Day’s viewpoints, it’s a pleasant surprise to see a band that has so long been revered for its toilet-humor irreverence finally take a stand and produce something that means something. With the rest of the music industry churning out inoffensive, cookie-cutter albums specifically made for the sanctuary of MTV’s Total Request Live, the frustration and anger of American Idiot is a welcomed breath of fresh air. The band is putting their necks out there on the chopping block when so many of their contemporaries are content with simply wearing scarves and turtlenecks.

And hey, even if you aren’t crazy about the untraditional Green Day devices (tinkling xylophones, piano pieces, Indian strings, guest vocal appearance by Bikini Kill lead singer, noted feminist Kathleen Hanna), the super-sized mega tracks, and the potentially unpatriotic lyrics, that’s just fine. No worries, mate. After all, there’s always Dookie.