12 '00s Hard Rock Albums All Fans Should Own

12. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

The emo heroes’ last great album defines mid ‘00s rock like few other records. It was a time when big hearted, ambitious emo had found its way into the mainstream, and the kings of the genre were free to release works as bold and colossal as this on a major label and reap the rewards.

MCR turn up all the dials from their previous album, donning the eye shadow and marching band outfits to stride into battle once again. "Welcome to the Black Parade" stays just on the right side of self parody as it builds to one of the most guaranteed singalong choruses of recent years.

“Cancer” continues the band’s Queen fandom, and their new resources are put to great use with gorgeous swelling strings supplementing Gerard Way’s impassioned vocals. They change things up with “Mama”, which marches to an Eastern European stomp.

The story driven concept behind the album allows the band to experiment with style and form. It’s a wild and fascinating album - not everything works, but when you set your sights as high as they did, it’s no shame to fall a little short.