10 Amazing Hard Rock Concept Albums

Throughout most of their career, Pearl Jam were never ones to shy away from real world issues in their music. Other bands of their ilk may have talked about their own inner pain, but you were never going to see any of the copycat acts write a song as hard hitting as Daughter or Better Man. As America was heading off to war, Pearl Jam felt like they needed to dial things up a notch and made a concept album...sort of.

Because out of all of the concept albums on this list, The Avacado Album might be the most contentious amid Pearl Jam fans. Coming after a long string of artsy albums, the initial vision for the record was supposed to be much more akin to a rock opera, following a soldier as he makes his way through a war that he doesn't want to fight. While Eddie Vedder had said that the band had decided to abandon the concept altogether when making the songs, all of the foundations for that rock opera are still here.

From one track to the next, you can hear how the pieces of the story start to blend together, from Life Wasted talking about not wanting to give up on what you have to the pure anger at the government's insistence on war on World Wide Suicide. When the record mellows out, you can practically see some of the scenes play out in real time, like the emotional closer Inside Job or hoping to find some peace on Parachutes. It might not have been a concept to Eddie, but you can definitely sculp something out of this.