US metal quintet Avenged Sevenfold sent a few shocks through their fanbase back in 2016 when they released the unashamed prog metal concept album The Stage.
This year they taken everything a few steps further with their supremely avant-garde radical new album Life Is But A Dream..., which Metal Hammer describes as "Bold, ambitious, divisive and, quite frankly, batshit insane" and "Life Is But A Dream... tore up Avenged's rule book, set it on fire, seasoned it with hallucinogens and ingested it."
So we asked Avenged frontman M Shadows to tell us all about his favourite concept albums, and we have to admit, the man has taste.
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon
“This could be the greatest record of all time. Besides Money there are no singles; you go from The Great Gig In The Sky to Us And Them, and it’s this thing that flows and makes you feel something.”
Pink Floyd - The Wall
“This was the first Floyd record that really spoke to me. I was at Lake Powell looking at the stars and put it in, and that night I listened to the whole thing in awe.”
Quyeensrÿche - Operation Mindcrime
“My dad got me into it and said it was the greatest concept record of all time, so I finally gave it a spin and then I would play it everywhere, all the time.”
The Who - Tommy
“It’s just brilliant musicianship and brilliant songwriting. This record spoke to me around the same time as Operation: Mindcrime because I wanted to get more into concept albums.”
The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
“A Day In The Life is probably one of the greatest ending songs of all time. I throw this album on and I’m blown away by how eclectic it is, every song just sounds like
a different band.”
Dream Theater – Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory
“This record was shown to me by The Rev when we were on Warped Tour and I listened to that every day for like six months. It just blew me away. It was my first introduction to Dream Theater.”
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
“This is one of my favourite records of all time. It’s more personal to Brian Wilson and he wrote it by himself, more away from the surf stuff and it was more about his heart and love songs.”
My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
“I’ve always been a My Chem fan, we took them on tour when they did the Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge record, but I think Black Parade took them to a whole new level.”
Rush - 2112
“I love 2112. I could pick this just for Neil Peart’s drumming alone. I’ve loved everything about Rush. I got into them with Moving Pictures but 2112 is one of the all-time greats.”
NOFX - The Decline
“I don’t know if it’s strictly a concept record but it’s five tracks that were one song about the state of America and it’s fucking awesome. It’s poignant, great music, Fat Mike at his best.”