3. "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness" - Smashing Pumpkins
Themes: Read the title of the album.
This is probably the most obvious choice on this list. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that it literally took me years to figure out the titleand album itselfis an allegory for melancholia. At the time, I just thought "Mellon Collie" was a cool, grungy name, but after a few (or few dozen) listens, it became painfully obvious this album is all about those sad, sad feelings all teenagers know too well. Whether it's "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "Zero," or, one of my faves, "1979," this album practically celebrates those adolescent trials and tribulations that take us to dark places and even darker corners in our minds.
I guess you could say that about any Smashing Pumpkins song, but they never got it better than on this superlative double album, which is spilt between songs of "day" and "night." On top of that, creepy, psychedelic illustrations of fairy tale critters fill the liner notes to complete your teenage nightmare. (Incidentally, this is the second album on this list that features a song about a rat in a cage. Coincidence? Yes, yes it is.)