5 best concept albums of all time

Idea albums are a feat in and of themselves. Within the ’70s, a slew of classic-rock heroes expanded the idea album into what we all know immediately — rife with intricate plotlines, complicated characters, and lyrical references that really feel bottomless. Within the digital period, none of that’s misplaced. Giants like Coheed and Cambria and Dan Campbell have deepened the story by way of mediums like comedian books and stay exhibits, providing followers an much more rewarding expertise. That led us to ask our readers to call their favourite idea albums of all time, they usually sounded off with a formidable variety of initiatives, starting from classic-rock worship to modern-day triumphs. These are their prime picks, ranked accordingly beneath.

Learn extra: 10 most criminally underrated Inexperienced Day songs

5. Boys Night time Out – Trainwreck

This one’s a throwback. Helmed by guitarist Jeff Davis, Boys Night time Out’s Trainwreck follows The Affected person, who loses his grip on actuality after murdering his spouse in his sleep. This launches a protracted journey out and in of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, though they do little for him — the track he’s composing in his head, a whole obsession, results in extra carnage, and he can solely hear it when he takes a life. It’s a darkish and wicked story that travels throughout 12 songs, meticulously crafted and a complete left-turn for the Ontario outfit.

4. Pink Floyd – The Wall

Pink Floyd’s The Wall is an bold, typically bloated double album that transcends generations. It’s the report you inherit out of your grandparents or stoner uncle that opens the door to a different world — one the place issues get a bit heady. Following up the George Orwell-inspired Animals was by no means going to be simple, however throughout that tour, Roger Waters received more and more unnerved by the viewers and yearned to type a barrier between him and them, therefore its title. Not like that undertaking, although, The Wall boasted principally shorter, much more approachable songs for individuals to latch onto. “Hey You,” “One other Brick In The Wall, Half 2,” and “Comfortably Numb” nonetheless ring out to this present day.

3. Inexperienced Day – American Fool

American Fool is the album that proved Inexperienced Day weren’t simply ’90s punk darlings — they may thrive within the twenty first century. After starting their subsequent report, Cigarettes and Valentines, the band needed to begin a brand new undertaking from scratch after the grasp tapes have been stolen. The clean slate bred an album that was simply as bold, imaginative, and complicated as Quadrophenia and Ziggy Stardust, providing winding epics that peaked into the dysphoria of the fashionable period. It turned out to be a whole blockbuster, taking the band increased than they ever dreamed and launching them into the giants we all know immediately.

2. twenty one pilots – Trench

Later this month, twenty one pilots will wrap up their immersive multi-album narrative with Clancy, however to understand that sentiment, it is best to look again at Trench. Following up Blurryface and their Fueled By Ramen debut Vessel, Trench is certainly one of their most daring, intensive LPs. Going down inside the metropolis of Dema, the story facilities on a bunch — dubbed the Banditos — who try to liberate its individuals from the 9 ruling bishops. The result’s an exciting journey that makes use of a disorienting mix of genres — rap, reggae, and digital rock, to call a couple of — to unravel the story.

1. My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade

My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade isn’t only a daring, enrapturing idea album — it’s the band on the very prime of their sport, executing a complete imaginative and prescient that’s instructed by way of a few of their biggest songs ever. Revolving round a younger man — aka “The Affected person” — dealing with the tip of his life, then passing on into the afterlife, MCR take notes from Queen, Pink Floyd, and Bowie however elevate the tracks right into a saga match for the fashionable age. Theatrical, tear-jerking, and celebratory in equal measure, The Black Parade nails all the pieces the band got down to accomplish. No surprise readers named it the best idea album of all time.