Punk Rock Concept Albums
With American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day may have become one of the most famous punk bands to do a concept album (or two), but they are by no means the first (or even the best). In fact, many punk and hardcore bands have used their talents to span a story across an entire album. Here are some of the best (and most interesting) concept albums put out by punk bands.
The third (and arguably best) album from one of America’s most innovative and influential hardcore bands, Zen Arcade told a first-person story about a teen who runs away from home, seeking refuge in both drugs and religion, and eventually discovering that the world is a scary place. At the end, it’s revealed that running away was a hallucination, brought on by insanity.
While the record was well received, the band’s label was overly cautious and didn’t press enough copies initially. The album quickly sold out, and production was unable to keep up with demand for quite some time. Due to this, one of the most innovative punk records of all time probably never reached the sales peak it should have.Buy from Amazon »
An ambitious album from the British punk band, Setting Sons was an ambitious concept record intended to tell the story about three childhood friends who go to war and then reunite, discovering where the world has taken them. At some point, unfortunately, production was rushed, and it’s readily apparent that only half of the album follows the original concept, and that some filler, like a cover of "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave," was added to complete the album and get it into stores.
The songs that do speak to the original concept, like “Little Boy Soldiers" and “Thick As Thieves,” show a solid dedication to the original concept, and given more time, the album could have been even more cohesive. Even as is, Setting Sons is a classic.More »
Chicago’s Madina Lake has made their entire discography revolve around a concept. It all began with The Disappearance of Adalia EP in 2006, which was funded with $50,000 that brothers Nathan and Matthew Leone (who front and play bass for Madina Lake) won on Twin Fear Factor. The EP tells the story of the fictional 1950s town called, not surprisingly, Madina Lake, and what happens after its most famous resident disappears.
The band's two subsequent releases, 2007’s From Them, Through Us, to You and 2009’s Attics to Eden, have continued the story, which the band plans on spanning three albums, a book, and a Web site devoted to including the fans in the mystery, solving the case through clues hidden in the band’s lyrics, artwork and online.More »
Longstanding cowpunk band Dash Rip Rock get literary with Hee Haw Hell, a cowpunk retelling of Dante’s Inferno.
With Ol' Virg as a guide, Hee Haw Hell travels through an infernal landscape populated by such demonic denizens as the ghosts of Skynyrd, some hippie jam bands and the people who sold out punk rock. The guest appearances are impressive as well, with Mojo Nixon as Beelzebubba, and Jello Biafra as the "punk rock demon.”
If you’re familiar with the Inferno story, the parallels made by Dash Rip Rock are hilarious, but even if you’ve never cracked Dante, the record and storytelling are still a solid, entertaining trip through hell.More »
Making their own literary reference, British hardcore band Fall of Efrafa are producing the The Warren of Snares Trilogy, three albums that explore the mythology and politics explored in Richard Adams’ Watership Down.
Beginning with 2006’s Owsla and 2007’s Elil and completed on Inle, due out in fall of 2009, the band is representing the cycle of a civilization as it was represented in the book. Because their story of civilization and mythology is cyclical, the trilogy is also cyclical, with the end of the third album making its way into the first again.More »
Based on Craig Hamilton-Parker’s new age book about the afterlife with the same title, What To Do When You Are Dead finds post-hardcore band Armor For Sleep exploring their own story relating to the afterlife, based on the book’s ideas.
What To Do When You Are Dead tells the story of a protagonist who, after a fight with his girlfriend, commits suicide driving his car into an body of water. After his death, he returns to locations from his past, completing old business and tying up loose ends. By the album’s end, the protagonist has come to terms with his decision and moves on to the afterlife.More »
Probably the most well known album to make this list, My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade is another album that shows a band wrapping a record around ideas of the afterlife.
The Black Parade surrounds a character known as “The Patient,” and as he dies, relives his fondest memories of life, and is greeted into the afterworld by a parade.
With The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance truly embraced the idea of the concept record, creating theatrical shows and alternate identities, as well as musical tributes on the album to classic rock. All of these served to draw comparisons to famous classic concept records like The Wall and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust.More »
Murder By Death have a classic dark side of Americana-styled sound, lifting elements of punk, goth, western and roots music, creating a sound that is perfectly crafted for storytelling, and 2003’s Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? is a classic example of this.
Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? takes place in a small Mexican town where the devil is drinking in a local bar. He makes a local angry and is gunned down. He then vows to get revenge, and over the course of the album proceeds to wipe the town off the map.
Featuring appearances by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and Thursday’s Geoff Rickly, it’s a dark course of events that exemplifies the band’s ability to tell complex stories through their music.More »
Concept albums share roots with musical theater, and in fact, many concept albums have been translated to the stage (including American Idiot). As such, I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one album that is a reinterpretation of a classical stage musical.
The only full-length release by this Bay Area punk band, Punk Side Story is a drunken punk rock version of West Side Story, which was in itself a reinterpretation of the story of Romeo and Juliet, recast in ‘50s New York among a bunch of juvenile delinquents. Based on that, it’s not much of a stretch to set the story on the West Coast, played by street punks.
In fact, it works very well, and the sloppy drunk punk style of Schlong is a fitting style for retelling the story.More »
Another hefty concept is this four-parter from Thrice. The Alchemy Index was a four-disc concept spread out between two releases.
Each album focused on a particular element, with a disc devoted to each of water, fire, air and earth. Each album also employed distinct and diverse music styles, as each band member brought a different set of influences to the studio. In what helps make this one of the artsiest releases on the list, the band wrapped up each disc with a sonnet composed as if it were written by the element that the disc was about.
It may have been a bit on the high art end for a post-hardcore band, but fans of Thrice loved all four releases.More »
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1. Husker Du – 'Zen Arcade' (1984)
The third (and arguably best) album from one of America’s most innovative and influential hardcore bands, Zen Arcade told a first-person story about a teen who runs away from home, seeking refuge in both drugs and religion, and eventually discovering that the world is a scary place. At the end, it’s revealed that running away was a hallucination, brought on by insanity.
While the record was well received, the band’s label was overly cautious and didn’t press enough copies initially. The album quickly sold out, and production was unable to keep up with demand for quite some time. Due to this, one of the most innovative punk records of all time probably never reached the sales peak it should have.Buy from Amazon »
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2. The Jam – 'Setting Sons' (1979)
An ambitious album from the British punk band, Setting Sons was an ambitious concept record intended to tell the story about three childhood friends who go to war and then reunite, discovering where the world has taken them. At some point, unfortunately, production was rushed, and it’s readily apparent that only half of the album follows the original concept, and that some filler, like a cover of "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave," was added to complete the album and get it into stores.
The songs that do speak to the original concept, like “Little Boy Soldiers" and “Thick As Thieves,” show a solid dedication to the original concept, and given more time, the album could have been even more cohesive. Even as is, Setting Sons is a classic.More »
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3. Madina Lake - The Adalia Series (2006- )
Chicago’s Madina Lake has made their entire discography revolve around a concept. It all began with The Disappearance of Adalia EP in 2006, which was funded with $50,000 that brothers Nathan and Matthew Leone (who front and play bass for Madina Lake) won on Twin Fear Factor. The EP tells the story of the fictional 1950s town called, not surprisingly, Madina Lake, and what happens after its most famous resident disappears.
The band's two subsequent releases, 2007’s From Them, Through Us, to You and 2009’s Attics to Eden, have continued the story, which the band plans on spanning three albums, a book, and a Web site devoted to including the fans in the mystery, solving the case through clues hidden in the band’s lyrics, artwork and online.More »
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4. Dash Rip Rock – ‘Hee Haw Hell’ (2007)
Longstanding cowpunk band Dash Rip Rock get literary with Hee Haw Hell, a cowpunk retelling of Dante’s Inferno.
With Ol' Virg as a guide, Hee Haw Hell travels through an infernal landscape populated by such demonic denizens as the ghosts of Skynyrd, some hippie jam bands and the people who sold out punk rock. The guest appearances are impressive as well, with Mojo Nixon as Beelzebubba, and Jello Biafra as the "punk rock demon.”
If you’re familiar with the Inferno story, the parallels made by Dash Rip Rock are hilarious, but even if you’ve never cracked Dante, the record and storytelling are still a solid, entertaining trip through hell.More »
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5. Fall of Efrafa – ‘The Warren of Snares Trilogy’ (2006-2009)
Making their own literary reference, British hardcore band Fall of Efrafa are producing the The Warren of Snares Trilogy, three albums that explore the mythology and politics explored in Richard Adams’ Watership Down.
Beginning with 2006’s Owsla and 2007’s Elil and completed on Inle, due out in fall of 2009, the band is representing the cycle of a civilization as it was represented in the book. Because their story of civilization and mythology is cyclical, the trilogy is also cyclical, with the end of the third album making its way into the first again.More »
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6. Armor For Sleep - 'What To Do When You Are Dead' (2005)
Based on Craig Hamilton-Parker’s new age book about the afterlife with the same title, What To Do When You Are Dead finds post-hardcore band Armor For Sleep exploring their own story relating to the afterlife, based on the book’s ideas.
What To Do When You Are Dead tells the story of a protagonist who, after a fight with his girlfriend, commits suicide driving his car into an body of water. After his death, he returns to locations from his past, completing old business and tying up loose ends. By the album’s end, the protagonist has come to terms with his decision and moves on to the afterlife.More »
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7. My Chemical Romance – ‘The Black Parade’ (2006)
Probably the most well known album to make this list, My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade is another album that shows a band wrapping a record around ideas of the afterlife.
The Black Parade surrounds a character known as “The Patient,” and as he dies, relives his fondest memories of life, and is greeted into the afterworld by a parade.
With The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance truly embraced the idea of the concept record, creating theatrical shows and alternate identities, as well as musical tributes on the album to classic rock. All of these served to draw comparisons to famous classic concept records like The Wall and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust.More »
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8. Murder By Death – ‘Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?’ (2003)
Murder By Death have a classic dark side of Americana-styled sound, lifting elements of punk, goth, western and roots music, creating a sound that is perfectly crafted for storytelling, and 2003’s Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? is a classic example of this.
Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? takes place in a small Mexican town where the devil is drinking in a local bar. He makes a local angry and is gunned down. He then vows to get revenge, and over the course of the album proceeds to wipe the town off the map.
Featuring appearances by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and Thursday’s Geoff Rickly, it’s a dark course of events that exemplifies the band’s ability to tell complex stories through their music.More »
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9. Schlong – ‘Punk Side Story’ (1995)
Concept albums share roots with musical theater, and in fact, many concept albums have been translated to the stage (including American Idiot). As such, I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one album that is a reinterpretation of a classical stage musical.
The only full-length release by this Bay Area punk band, Punk Side Story is a drunken punk rock version of West Side Story, which was in itself a reinterpretation of the story of Romeo and Juliet, recast in ‘50s New York among a bunch of juvenile delinquents. Based on that, it’s not much of a stretch to set the story on the West Coast, played by street punks.
In fact, it works very well, and the sloppy drunk punk style of Schlong is a fitting style for retelling the story.More »
){kind=link}
10. Thrice – ‘The Alchemy Index’ (2007-2008)
Another hefty concept is this four-parter from Thrice. The Alchemy Index was a four-disc concept spread out between two releases.
Each album focused on a particular element, with a disc devoted to each of water, fire, air and earth. Each album also employed distinct and diverse music styles, as each band member brought a different set of influences to the studio. In what helps make this one of the artsiest releases on the list, the band wrapped up each disc with a sonnet composed as if it were written by the element that the disc was about.
It may have been a bit on the high art end for a post-hardcore band, but fans of Thrice loved all four releases.More »
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