My Chemical Romance

Modern alternative acts want to be classic-rock staples when they grow up. In 2006, My Chemical Romance accelerated its musical maturation, shifting from gloomier than usual pop-punk fare to the glorious concept album The Black Parade. From an intro that echoes Pink Floyd's "In the Flesh" to the single "Welcome to the Black Parade," which pivots, like similar epics "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Come Sail Away," on the phrase "carry on," The Black Parade plays like a panoramic survey of bombastic, symphonic '70s rock. The band recently stopped performing Parade in its entirety live, but some of the record's odder selections (a glam-metal rant about teenagers, a breakup ballad that seems to parody Coldplay's "Yellow," a boom-chicka country-cabaret number featuring Liza Minnelli) still make the set.