21st Century Breakdown (Deluxe Version)

Ostensibly, this 2009 album is a throwback rock opera like the kind Pete Townshend used to write. And that’s high praise, especially considering that Green Day did the same on 2004’s worthy American Idiot. This album’s three “chapters” (“Heroes and Cons,” “Charlatans and Saints,” and “Horseshoes and Handgrenades”) follow the highs, lows, and contexts of a young couple in some contemporary urban badlands. Its novel-like storyline is tough and tender but takes a backseat to the 18 songs, all of which stand on their own. The two completely unstoppable numbers are maybe Green Day’s best: “See the Light" and “Know Your Enemy” each max out on old-school punk (like Stiff Little Fingers), untainted power pop (like The Beat), and updated ’60s-styled song narratives (like mid-period Kinks). The all-out guitar pop-smack and longing in “Last of the American Girls” pulls heartstrings, while the punk rock psalm “East Jesus Nowhere” burns the suburban confessional down. And among bits of schmaltz-y (but still good!) ’70s-styled balladizing (“Last Night on Earth”) and cautionary yarns (“Before the Lobotomy”), there’s lots of fist-hoisting Green Day to be had.