Ten years after their explosion into the mainstream, Green Day have released a controversial rock opera — the daring American Idiot.

Reminiscent of the Who’s Tommy, this is a concept album in which the band narrates a story through a roller coaster of fast punk, enigmatic melodies, slow tempos and seemingly innate acoustic ballads.

For better or for worse, Green Day is no longer a punk band. The trio takes a turn for experimentation and creativity on this latest release. Though the album includes such nostalgic sounding tracks as “St. Jimmy,” the album as a whole is too melodic and even serene at times to be labeled a punk record. Overall though, it works.

Despite seeming to be a bit lengthy and drawn out, the record possesses a very strong backbone. It is filled with such notable songs as the politically charged track, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Holiday” and the nine-minute symphony “Jesus of Suburbia,” which contains Beach Boys-influenced chorus sections, piano solos and Billie Joe Armstrong’s still-youthful voice expressing his ever-bleak views on the world.

Green Day throw a plethora of ideas on the wall with American Idiot, but most stick quite pleasingly. If you pick up the album in hopes of hearing the predictable Green Day of a decade ago, you will be shockingly disappointed. Nevertheless, the band has grown up and is taking strides that require more than a banging head to appreciate.