15 Greatest Rock Concept Albums From The Last 15 Years

5. Thrice - The Alchemy Index

Each "mini album" from this four-disc collection represents one of the four classical elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Most impressively (and perhaps most expected, as well) the band's sound switches drastically between the four parts. Fire finds Thrice at their most ferocious, harkening back to their post-hardcore days (though still much tamer than a song like "Deadbolt"), Water has a groovier, electronic touch, Air presents itself with atmospheric, (even jazzy) string-laden arrangements, and Earth aims toward the acoustic folksiness that frontman Dustin Kensrue pursued in his solo projects. The real beauty of these albums come in the few songs that overlap some of the ideas (which is only natural, considering how that happens with the actual elements). "Moving Mountains," though technically represented by the Earth portion, also contains an ethereal quality to it from the keyboard twinkles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTDS4w395jc