10 Greatest Hard Rock Concept Albums

For as many changes nu metal brought to the world of hard rock, it did end up taking its toll on its heavy hitters. Once the era of baggy pants and adolescent angst ended up going out of style, many bands just didn't know what to do after the crowds dissipated. While Linkin Park managed to transition into alternative rock unscathed, they weren't finished wowing us just yet.

Inspired by dystopian fiction and nuclear war, the band went into the studio and crafted A Thousand Suns, which was their biggest curveball yet. Being almost one part music and another part manifesto, this album is a detailing of what happens after the events of a nuclear attack on the Earth. From the first moments of "The Radiance," every song aims to coat you in an uncomfortable aura, from the ominous "When They Come For Me" to the atmosphere of "Burning in the Skies."

Even the typical Linkin Park sounds on "Robot Boy" and "Waiting for the End" are dripping with an internal melancholy of the apocalypse. The interlude tracks do limit the shuffle factor of the record, but this is an album that you let wash over you rather than throw on at a party. Nu metal may have been on its last legs, but Linkin Park proved they would not go quietly with A Thousand Suns.