10 Perfect Rock Albums That No One Saw Coming

Some of the greatest music to come out of the emo scene of the '00s tends to be forgotten in a haze of fringe haircuts. For all of the great bands that were making noise around that time like Fall Out Boy, there were just as many bands willing to get clicks on MySpace that never stood a chance in the big leagues. While My Chemical Romance may have been the undisputed leaders of the scene, the Black Parade dared to aim even bigger than the genre tags could handle.

Crafting a full on rock opera about the idea of death, the band went full on rock and roll for their new look, donning different military uniforms to represent the titular parade that comes to greet our protagonist at the very end of his life. Even for non-emo fans, these songs were a bit much to take in all at once, rising to the same level as classic rock bands, whether that's the harmonized guitars from Queen on Welcome to the Black Parade or Gerard Way channeling his inner Steven Tyler on a song like I Don't Love You.

For all of the influences that it has on its sleeve, there's never a moment where it stops being an emo album, with every song built around sadness and trying to make sense of your impending doom, until finally learning to live with wherever you land on the closer Famous Last Words. The cynical streak is still there on every single song, but even when the emo boys grew up, they were still aiming straight for the heart.