Though many people run screaming from the phrase “rock opera,” there’s always another hit-maker ready to turn high-concept, and make fans ponder Life’s Big Matters. On his group’s seventh album, bedhead auteur Billie Joe Armstrong courts comparisons to the mama of all rock operas — Tommy by the Who. Armstrong wants to do for Green Day what Townshend’s epic did for his band in 1969: escape a scene (snot-punk, while the Who had mod) and an image (ass jokes instead of guitar smashing).

Trickier structures and posh arrangements (a vibraphone?) quickly defy punk expectations. Two nine-minute tracks introduce characters who struggle for transcendence, but fall under society’s boot. Green Day surround these expanded blockbusters with ballads and rockers that rail against consumer culture, skewer organized religion and family. Heavy stuff, lightly grilled.

The best songs are about girls as well as politics. “She’s a Rebel” is a delightful ode to an activist heroine, while “Extraordinary Girl” uses an ascending riff to show Armstrong’s gift for mixing tough and tender. Other stabs at significance hit and miss — “Are We the Waiting” fails as an anthem by being utter nonsense, but “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is a letter-perfect high school bedroom weepie.

Armstrong’s insights are still bong-fueled, but the way his cracked croon bounces off Mike Dirnt’s popcorn bass and Tre Cool’s murderous drum makes the lyrics sound more intricate than they are. Concept or not, American Idiot is still decent fodder for a mosh pit, a laugh, and a sob session. Just don’t think too hard about it.

DOWNLOAD THESE: “She’s a Rebel,” “Extraordinary Girl”