I’s been almost five years since Green Day released an album, and the expectations have been high. In 2004, the band brought out their masterwork, American Idiot, an ambitious pop-punk concept album that captured the politically charged Bush era and became Green Day’s biggest success.

21st Century Breakdown, the band’s eighth studio album, finds the trio working in a similar mode with satisfying results. The record is divided into three acts: “Heroes and Cons,” “Charlatans and Saints” and “Horseshoes and Handgrenades,” and follows the exploits of a young modern couple, Christian and Gloria. This loose narrative line doesn’t really work—Christian and Gloria are only occasionally referenced—but most of the songs are strong and catchy and can stand on their own.

Though the album doesn’t break new ground, it does showcase the variety of musical styles Green Day has incorporated into their sound. There are some smooth, radio-friendly harmonies on the title track and “Last of the American Girls,” and “Restless Heart Syndrome.” Lead singer and songwriter Billie Armstrong taps his softer side on the ballads “Last Night on Earth” and “Before the Lobotomy.”

But it’s the angry, adrenaline-fueled anthems that are Green Day’s signature, and 21st Century Breakdown has plenty. The album’s first single, “Know Your Enemy,” has some blistering stop-and-start guitar licks. Both “Christian Inferno” and “East Jesus Nowhere” are speedy, fist-pumping rants. Influences like The Who, Elvis Costello and even John Lennon can be heard, but Green Day have successfully folded these musicians into their sound.

Armstrong’s lyrics—touching on politics, religion and mass media—don’t always make sense, but the enjoyment is in the delivery, and 21st Century Breakdown more than delivers.

By Robert Rossiello