15 Greatest Rock Concept Albums From The Last 15 Years

12. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

A criminally under-appreciated attempt to evolve their sound, My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade was commonly (and incorrectly) seen as a hop onto the punk rock opera bandwagon that had been kickstarted by Green Day a couple of years earlier. Centered around "The Patient, a character experiencing death in real time, The Black Parade is based on the romantic notion of death appearing to a person as their fondest memory. (Which, in this case, is a parade the character saw as a child.) This was the first MCR album where the band adopted an entirely different persona, appearing live and in music videos as The Black Parade, wearing marching band outfits in the vein of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band. But all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding these alter egos overshadowed some of the band's most emotionally-driven, bombastic songs. Highlights include the Queen-esque "Welcome to the Black Parade," the Tim Burton inspired "Mama," and the aggressively riff-heavy "Famous Last Words." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKJiM9Njr8