10 Amazing Hard Rock Concept Albums

Any rock opera in the world of hard rock is not necessarily going to be the happiest story in the world. This was a genre that was built on thick riffs and bands that were trying to make music sound much heavier than what had come before. Other bands may have told their stories through long songs and countless guitar riffs, but Trent Reznor got to the Downward Spiral with disturbing barrages of noise.

Throughout this entire project, Trent paints a picture of a man who has only the slightest grasp on sanity, looking to satisfy his needs in only the most grotesque of ways. Calling himself Mr. Self Destruct, the entire album follows him slowly trying to break himself down however he can. Despite the shock factor of hearing a song like Closer on the radio back in the day, that's about as PG as the album gets, with the rest of the track listing being filled out by sudden jolts of energy like March of the Pigs and mental descents into Hell like Reptile and Becoming.

While there's definitely some disturbing imagery on here, Trent isn't willing to count himself out by the end, like the song A Warm Place reminding him of the music he loved as a child until eventually trying to give himself a second chance on the final song Hurt. This message may have come a bit too late for Mr. Self Destruct, but it almost doesn't matter. No matter how far you are down the spiral, there's always a chance for you to pick yourself back up.