What is the best pop concept album of all time?

The greatest pop concept albums use a unifying theme, narrative, or visual world to create a listening experience that transcends individual singles. Vote for the pop concept album that best achieves that total vision.

Lemonade

Beyoncé's 2016 visual album is a fully realised concept weaving personal narrative, racial politics, and Southern Gothic imagery.

1/10

American Idiot

Green Day's 2004 rock opera follows the fictional 'Jesus of Suburbia' through a dystopian American landscape.

2/10

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Beatles' 1967 landmark concept album revolutionised the idea of what a pop record could be and still influences music today.

3/10

The Black Parade

My Chemical Romance's 2006 rock-pop concept album tells the story of a cancer patient's final memories through operatic grandeur.

4/10

Dirty Computer

Janelle Monáe's 2018 emotion picture album is a concept record about a queer woman in a future authoritarian society.

5/10

Plastic Beach

Gorillaz' 2010 album uses a fictional garbage island to create a dark concept exploring environmental destruction and celebrity culture.

6/10

Folklore

Taylor Swift's 2020 album weaves interconnected narratives and fictional characters through a cohesive indie-folk world.

7/10

Ziggy Stardust

David Bowie's 1972 glam rock concept album introduced the fictional alien rock star Ziggy Stardust to the world.

8/10

Golden Hour

Kacey Musgraves' 2018 country-pop album uses each song to trace the arc of a new relationship, from infatuation to love.

9/10

Out of the Blue

ELO's 1977 double album is a grandiose pop-rock concept exploring space and science with sumptuous orchestral production.

10/10