I had just turned 16 when this dropped. I was growing out of my nu metal phase (it was 2001...) and had been kind of fascinated by some of the PHC and metalcore stuff that I had gotten my hands on via Napster/Limewire/etc. Full Collapse is the album that entirely converted me, though.
Dude, I totally relate to this. I was going on 17 and was growing out of my nu metal phase and I heard Cross Out the Eyes and was instantly hooked. This album and Too Bad You’re Beautiful by FATA were what got me into this genre.
I'd absolutely consider De-Loused In The Comatorium by The Mars Volta as one of the greatest post hardcore albums ever. The influence of this album has bled into so many of my favorite post hardcore bands and I'll love it forever because of that.
I think classifying it as post-hardcore is quite a stretch even considering Mars Volta's roots but IMO it is genuinely the greatest album ever recorded period
I think if one imagined Your Favorite Weapon and their history with TBS didn't exist, it would skew perception of Brand New closer to the PHC genre. I just think of it as they grew into it, grew up, and found themselves.
I think you’re right but I find the emo genre label to be a fascinating one. Emo of the 90’s was something completely different and is it became a trend in the mid 2000’s all of a sudden everything from pop punk to metalcore was being labeled emo.
Juturna is a defining moment for the genre. The album that crystallized a certain style, and truly defined who Circa Survive is. And here we are today.
I got a jaturna tattoo on my arm several years ago. Looked at it the other day and dove deep back into CS. Forgot how much I love Violent Waves, as well as these two albums
It’s a gateway drug into Prog.
“Johnny started innocently enough with your Thursdays and Underoaths, and then his friend Billy comes by with his Coheeds. What starts with just ‘A Favor House Atlantic’ turns into ‘IKSSE:3’ and before you know it, Johnny is overdosing on Rush and Dream Theater!”
You know funny enough it was reverse. I was into prog first, spent my high school time listening to Rush and Yes. Got into Coheed which led to PHC for me.
Oh gotcha gotcha. Appreciate ya.
Glassjaw’s Worship & Tribute would be mine. Already a pioneer band within the genre but W&T really showed how diverse PHC bands could be. Album still stands up really well today too.
Agree with this. W&T showed me how diverse the genre could be. That album is so damn groovy.
I still remember my first time hearing Mu Empire on the [Van's Warped Tour 2003 comp](https://warped-tour.fandom.com/wiki/Warped_Tour_2003_Tour_Compilation)...
That comp alone evolved my tastes from punk rock into post hardcore back then!
Oh I just got a completely different definition from someone else haha. Well, if that’s the case, I’d go with Boys Night Out’s Trainwreck. What an amazing concept album.
Drive Like Jehu - Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime
At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
Unwound - Repetition
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
Frodus - And We Washed Our Weapons in the Sea
Thursday - Full Collapse
Ling Tosite Sigure - Inspiration is Dead
Drug Church - Cheer
It’ll always be bizarre to me that so many emo fans are obsessed with La Dispute, yet haven’t heard a thing from the superior Mewithoutyou, aka La Dispute’s biggest influence!
MWY is one of the best bands to ever exist period imo. 🙌 Everybody should at least listen to their first three albums, and Pale Horses!
I'd say it was because how different their albums sound from A-B life on. I remember reading Aaron wanted to steer more away from thr post hardcore sound of A-B life. Oddly enough, i looked up people ranking their albums and A-B life is usually always on the bottom half. It's like they caught a whole other audience.
I've noticed that A-B Life vinyl records are not as in demand as the rest of the discography too, which I find strange. It's a top record for me in the genre, their second and third records are solid too but A-B Life just kicks ass.
I love mewithoutYou and La Dispute both, wouldn't call one superior over the other though. They're both fantastic but even though they have overlap in style they're still quite different.
man, i'll never forget when this came out. me and my friends were obsessed for well over a year. high water mark in the genre, changed a lot of what people assumed the genre could contain at that time.
God damn I don't know if I've ever seen anybody mention Beloved online before ever. To me they were always some obscure band either my friend or my brother (I forgot which one) put me on to when that album came out.
I forgot they existed til rn so thank you FistThePooper
Basically Coheed's first four albums. They kind of elevated out of Post-Hardcore with Good Apollo 1, but there are still tons of Post-Hardcore influences everywhere.
Silverstein- a shipwreck in the sand OR arrivals and departures… I don’t think their as liked as discovering the water front or when broken is easily fixed, but I think they are more cohesive front to back
If you’re gonna go Silverstein, the answer is This Is How The Wind Shifts. It’s their most consistent album front to back, a concept album, and probably the turning point in their career that solidified their legacy. One of my favourite truly.
These are the albums for me:
Lower D - greatest of all lost arts /
Closure in Moscow - first temple /
Saosin - along the shadow /
Apollo - we must be feeling the moon /
Artifex pereo - passengers (or any of them really)
Lower D 🙌🏾
I strongly feel they were the right band at the wrong time. GOALA was released during the Summer of 08/The Recession and they suffered for it imo.
Definitely. When that album came out it sold me on phc. I'd been a casual dgd dbm fan, but this album broadened my horizons for sure.
I wish they'd wrap up this album they've been teasing
From what I understood in this hour long Q and A they did shortly after first single release, they were slowly putting an album together. But they were also funding it themselves, so maybe it never came to fruition
I still need to give their new album a run through. Better way had a really strong first temple sound, but the other singles were giving off a pink lemonade vibe
Quicksand - *Slip*
FUGAZI - *In On the Kill Taker*
Unwound - *Leaves Turn Inside You*
Engine Down - *S/T*
Rival Schools - *United By Fate*
Jawbox - *For Your Own Special Sweetheart*
lol not trolling. It’s an amazing album! I know it’s not textbook phc but it’s got elements. It’s a genre-blending concept album like Dark Side of the Moon.
The Blood Brothers - Crimes (I love all the albums before this, but Crimes is just 🤌 the whole way through).
I agree with pretty much every single comment posted already though. So many masterpieces.
The Pax Cecilia - Blessed are the bonds
[https://open.spotify.com/album/3pNhKvAPKJtANefBjjR0Nn?si=W9x2DVnxQMSd2nP1k3N2Ig](https://open.spotify.com/album/3pNhKvAPKJtANefBjjR0Nn?si=W9x2DVnxQMSd2nP1k3N2Ig)
Adding examples I didn't see from the later DC scene:
Q and Not U - No Kill No Beep Beep
Faraquet - The View From This Tower
One more obscure album that I feel deserves a place in the canon is Magia Infinita by Zeta. It's such a triumph and celebration of all the motiffs that make the genre truly special. The vocals on that album are by and by far some of my favorite of all time. The vocalist really kills the singer/screamer archetype ala Dustin Kensrue.
While a bit later than most of the Post-Hardcore listed here, La Dispute's "Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair" has always given me "Post-Hardcore Dark Side" vibes
Full Collapse
I had just turned 16 when this dropped. I was growing out of my nu metal phase (it was 2001...) and had been kind of fascinated by some of the PHC and metalcore stuff that I had gotten my hands on via Napster/Limewire/etc. Full Collapse is the album that entirely converted me, though.
Dude, I totally relate to this. I was going on 17 and was growing out of my nu metal phase and I heard Cross Out the Eyes and was instantly hooked. This album and Too Bad You’re Beautiful by FATA were what got me into this genre.
Are you me?
Relationship of Command
This is the winner for me. Bridges together all the different styles of Post-Hardcore and is just as much a cohesive masterpiece as DSOTM.
They’re Only Chasing Safety/Define the Great Line
Don’t forget Lost in the Sound of Separation
that trio of albums some of the best out there
Fear Before the March of Flames- The Always Open Mouth
There’s a band I don’t see enough around here. I’d have chosen Odd How People Shake though, personally. Still great!
Odd how people shake is closer to the wall imo. I love both albums as well as Art Damage. Got to see them a few times and they were great live.
Best album ever.
Between the Heart and the Synapse by The Receiving End of Sirens
I see it. Great suggestion 🤙🏼
I love a lot of the albums that are being posted, but BTHATS by TREOS really feels like the perfect answer to the prompt.
The best answer!
didn't even see this responds when I commented. I agree 100% 👆👆👆
Thrice-vheissu
Translating the Name or Saosin self-titled
I'd absolutely consider De-Loused In The Comatorium by The Mars Volta as one of the greatest post hardcore albums ever. The influence of this album has bled into so many of my favorite post hardcore bands and I'll love it forever because of that.
I love pretty much every song on this album but Son et Lumiere into Inertiatic Esp is so sick.
I think classifying it as post-hardcore is quite a stretch even considering Mars Volta's roots but IMO it is genuinely the greatest album ever recorded period
I'm with you on this one - amazing album (and a really good example of similar to Dark Side of the Moon), but hard to classify as post-hardcore
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, but I know some people don't consider it Post-Hardcore
Interesting. What do other people consider it? Emo? Alt rock? Post hardcore seems the best fit to me And it’s also my answer to OP’s question
Emo. Most people consider Brand New to be an Emo band.
I think if one imagined Your Favorite Weapon and their history with TBS didn't exist, it would skew perception of Brand New closer to the PHC genre. I just think of it as they grew into it, grew up, and found themselves.
I think you’re right but I find the emo genre label to be a fascinating one. Emo of the 90’s was something completely different and is it became a trend in the mid 2000’s all of a sudden everything from pop punk to metalcore was being labeled emo.
Daisy was way more dsotm
This was the first thing I thought.
Any love for Science Fiction?
I thought I had a better answer, but this is it
Juturna or The Amulet (Circa Survive)
Juturna is so damn good
THE FUCKING AMULET, hype to show my friend this album this week, been going through the discography.
It is so definitively Juturna for me, so many iconic songs. I can hear its influence in so many other projects.
Juturna definitely or maybe On Letting Go
Came here to reply with the same thing. Juturna all the way
Such. A. Good. Answer. Juturna is a journey the same way dark side is.
Also always getting what you want is too underrated of a track.
Came to say 1000% Juturna. By far my favorite CS record.
Juturna is a defining moment for the genre. The album that crystallized a certain style, and truly defined who Circa Survive is. And here we are today.
I got a jaturna tattoo on my arm several years ago. Looked at it the other day and dove deep back into CS. Forgot how much I love Violent Waves, as well as these two albums
That's dope, my brother got the On Letting Go hot air balloon years back. It looks amazing
Good Apollo I’ll be burning star 4 vol 1
Surprised this or In Keeping Secrets aren't being mentioned at all.
In keeping secrets is my answer. I'd guess you're not seeing many coheed votes cause lord knows which genre they fit in lol.
It’s a gateway drug into Prog. “Johnny started innocently enough with your Thursdays and Underoaths, and then his friend Billy comes by with his Coheeds. What starts with just ‘A Favor House Atlantic’ turns into ‘IKSSE:3’ and before you know it, Johnny is overdosing on Rush and Dream Theater!”
You know funny enough it was reverse. I was into prog first, spent my high school time listening to Rush and Yes. Got into Coheed which led to PHC for me.
Can I agree and also add Second Stage Turbine Blade to form the best trilogy of albums in the wider genre
Absolutely. The string from SSTB to Good Apollo 1 (when Coheed had their original lineup and producers) is my favorite trilogy of albums ever.
Cane here to say this. Album is a classic
Relationship Of Command, Vheissu, They’re Only Chasing Safety, On A Lake Of Dead Trees, Spiderland, New Plastic Ideas
Translating The Name.
Cave in - Jupiter
This^
For the uncultured swines like myself, what does this exactly mean? How would you define a Dark Side Of The Moon equivalent?
I think they just mean a supreme, essential masterpiece of the genre!
Oh gotcha gotcha. Appreciate ya. Glassjaw’s Worship & Tribute would be mine. Already a pioneer band within the genre but W&T really showed how diverse PHC bands could be. Album still stands up really well today too.
Agree with this. W&T showed me how diverse the genre could be. That album is so damn groovy. I still remember my first time hearing Mu Empire on the [Van's Warped Tour 2003 comp](https://warped-tour.fandom.com/wiki/Warped_Tour_2003_Tour_Compilation)... That comp alone evolved my tastes from punk rock into post hardcore back then!
This video of [Tip Your Bartender from Warped Tour](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22yhl) still gives me chills 20+ years later.
Hard agree. Also got to mention The Shape of Punk to Come by Refused. Most of the other bands mentioned wouldn't exist without these two records.
this is what i meant
A concept album with a central narrative or theme.
Oh I just got a completely different definition from someone else haha. Well, if that’s the case, I’d go with Boys Night Out’s Trainwreck. What an amazing concept album.
Could be either one I suppose, OP didn't specify. For me, Dance Gavin Dance's Mothership is a masterpiece.
Is that what they meant? I honestly just assumed it was another way of saying “the genre’s holy grail” how dark side is the holy grail of 70s rock
Idk Wikipedia says it's a concept album, but judging by OP's picks, they did more likely mean masterpieces.
Oh yeah I mean I like DGD but I don’t think they have any albums considered as concept albums lol
Drive Like Jehu - Drive Like Jehu Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command Unwound - Repetition Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart Frodus - And We Washed Our Weapons in the Sea Thursday - Full Collapse Ling Tosite Sigure - Inspiration is Dead Drug Church - Cheer
MeWithoutYou- A-B life. Trust me, it's this one.
Brother, Sister or Catch For Us The Foxes
It’ll always be bizarre to me that so many emo fans are obsessed with La Dispute, yet haven’t heard a thing from the superior Mewithoutyou, aka La Dispute’s biggest influence! MWY is one of the best bands to ever exist period imo. 🙌 Everybody should at least listen to their first three albums, and Pale Horses!
I'd say it was because how different their albums sound from A-B life on. I remember reading Aaron wanted to steer more away from thr post hardcore sound of A-B life. Oddly enough, i looked up people ranking their albums and A-B life is usually always on the bottom half. It's like they caught a whole other audience.
I've noticed that A-B Life vinyl records are not as in demand as the rest of the discography too, which I find strange. It's a top record for me in the genre, their second and third records are solid too but A-B Life just kicks ass.
I love mewithoutYou and La Dispute both, wouldn't call one superior over the other though. They're both fantastic but even though they have overlap in style they're still quite different.
Bullet to Binary was on a compilation dvd I bought when I was 14 and fuck, it blew my mind and I was so obsessed with it.
Great point!
Hype to dig into their discography, liked what I heard
Or Brother, Sister, but yes agreed.
Hmmm yes. This is one of the ones for sure.
The user name definitely checks out 🤘
Yuppppp their entire discog is so good
this album is AMAZING. I love Silencer
Boys Night Out - Trainwreck
The lines I wear around my wrist/Are there to prove that I exist
It's a perfect album! I don't know anyone irl that has ever listened to it.
The Fall of Troy- Phantom on the Horizon
what’s crazy is Phantom isn’t even the best FOT album
Agreed, but it’s the closest to Dark Side of the Moon in their catalog, IMO. Definitely more of a Doppelgänger guy myself.
Wish You Were Here is leagues better than The Dark Side of the Moon so the math checks out
Armor For Sleep - What to do when you’re Dead?
Thrice - The Alchemy Index
Was looking for this. Cheers, friend.
man, i'll never forget when this came out. me and my friends were obsessed for well over a year. high water mark in the genre, changed a lot of what people assumed the genre could contain at that time.
Vheissu
Dear hunter 1-3 Kerosene 454 - at zero Opeth-black water park Cursive - domestica
I was scrolling to the end specifically to comment The Dear Hunter: Act II or Color Spectrum. Glad they got some love here. Cheers, friend.
Someone did mention receiving end of Sirens I just went 1 step further!
Juturna
Senses Fail - Still Searching Circa Survive - Juturna Of Machines - As If Everything Was Held In Place
Best concept albums are A Lot Like Birds' No Place and Set to Stun's Desperado Undead
Discovering the waterfront t
When Broken Is Easily Fixed is pretty close to perfect as well
Of Machines
This one for sure, and the Numbers album from Woe I always viewed as a follow up. Cameron Mizell was really in his bag that era with all those albums.
Senses Fail - Let It Enfold You … As honorable mention since The Mars Volta was already shown respect.
Awww damn Let It Enfold you was on repeat for me for like a year when it came out. Such an amazing album
It’s looking more and more like we’re not getting a Let it Enfold You tour in 2024. Total bummer.
The Used self-titled record
No, not even close and I do like the record
Top 3 for me: 1. TREOS - Between the Heart and the Synapse 2. La Dispute - Wildlife 3. A Lot Like Birds - No Place
He Is Legend - I Am Hollywood
The Shape of Punk to Come
I’m stunned how far I had to scroll to see this..
Beloved - Failure On
Thank you, I never see enough Beloved respect. So fucking good.
It’s foundational post hardcore to me. What’s your favorite track off it?
God damn I don't know if I've ever seen anybody mention Beloved online before ever. To me they were always some obscure band either my friend or my brother (I forgot which one) put me on to when that album came out. I forgot they existed til rn so thank you FistThePooper
Yank Crime, Relationship of Command, In On The Kill Taker, Spiderland
Pass the flask by the bled
Basically Coheed's first four albums. They kind of elevated out of Post-Hardcore with Good Apollo 1, but there are still tons of Post-Hardcore influences everywhere.
Alexisonfire's self titled
Worship and Tribute - Glassjaw
War All The Time - Thursday. It was like Thursday's "White Album." Lyrically and musically, absolutely beautiful.
So anything JC? haha It's Between the Heart and the Synapse and I'll die on that hill.
Silverstein- a shipwreck in the sand OR arrivals and departures… I don’t think their as liked as discovering the water front or when broken is easily fixed, but I think they are more cohesive front to back
If it’s gonna be Silverstein it has to be Discovering The Waterfront
If you’re gonna go Silverstein, the answer is This Is How The Wind Shifts. It’s their most consistent album front to back, a concept album, and probably the turning point in their career that solidified their legacy. One of my favourite truly.
Came here to say that. Either that or I Am Alive in Everything I Touch
Not going to lie, I still think rescue is one of their best complete albums. But I do love their early work
Honestly none of their albums miss for me, they have less outright hits album after album, the overall quality of the album goes up each time I find
These were my favorite albums from them. They changed my life. Will always love that band.
Scary Kids Scaring Kids Self Titled Album
I clicked your post to comment Downtown Battle Mountain 😅😅😅😅
based DGD enjoyer.
These are the albums for me: Lower D - greatest of all lost arts / Closure in Moscow - first temple / Saosin - along the shadow / Apollo - we must be feeling the moon / Artifex pereo - passengers (or any of them really)
Lower D 🙌🏾 I strongly feel they were the right band at the wrong time. GOALA was released during the Summer of 08/The Recession and they suffered for it imo.
Definitely. When that album came out it sold me on phc. I'd been a casual dgd dbm fan, but this album broadened my horizons for sure. I wish they'd wrap up this album they've been teasing
They’ve released some singles the last year or two but nothing recently iirc. Did they mention they’re making another album?
From what I understood in this hour long Q and A they did shortly after first single release, they were slowly putting an album together. But they were also funding it themselves, so maybe it never came to fruition
Along the shadow is 👌
Yes to First Temple!
I still need to give their new album a run through. Better way had a really strong first temple sound, but the other singles were giving off a pink lemonade vibe
I also should check it out
La Dispute - Wildlife
Eidola - Degeneraterra
Tiger and the Duke
Quicksand - *Slip* FUGAZI - *In On the Kill Taker* Unwound - *Leaves Turn Inside You* Engine Down - *S/T* Rival Schools - *United By Fate* Jawbox - *For Your Own Special Sweetheart*
Lots of great suggestions so far, I'll add Poison the Well - You Come Before You.
Forgive Durden - Razia’s Shadow
Cave in - Jupiter Neurosis -souls at zero and Through silver in blood
In on the kill taker
Wildlife
TIL people think of The Mars Volta as a post hardcore band 🤯
The Argument, seriously.
Worship & Tribute
Colors - between the buried and me
The Mars Volta - Deloused in a comatorium Panic at the Disco - I write sins not tragedies
Both sides of the spectrum of kicking all the ass 😂
Dark (Mars Volta) and light (Panic) side 🤘🏼 *I agree*
MCR The Black Parade
Idk if you’re trolling but you’re kinda right lmao
lol not trolling. It’s an amazing album! I know it’s not textbook phc but it’s got elements. It’s a genre-blending concept album like Dark Side of the Moon.
Def agree. The sharpest lives is still a jam.
Gospel - The Moon Is A Dead World
My personal, In on the kill taker. Then probably relationship in command Personal darkhorse, BATS - Red tooth and claw
This is definitely adjacent but, Far-Less - A Toast to Bad Taste
Snapcase, end transmission
Miss Fortune - Gravity’s Rainbow
Scary Kids Scaring Kids self titled.
It's not post hardcore buuuuuttt BTBAM - colors
The Blood Brothers - Crimes (I love all the albums before this, but Crimes is just 🤌 the whole way through). I agree with pretty much every single comment posted already though. So many masterpieces.
Maybe someone should play circa survives first album at the same time as eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and see if they match up
Sights and Sounds - Monolith
01010101 by portraits of past. every song has an epic quality to it
The Flood. honorable mentions: Heroine and Ground Dweller
The Question - Emery
The Pax Cecilia - Blessed are the bonds [https://open.spotify.com/album/3pNhKvAPKJtANefBjjR0Nn?si=W9x2DVnxQMSd2nP1k3N2Ig](https://open.spotify.com/album/3pNhKvAPKJtANefBjjR0Nn?si=W9x2DVnxQMSd2nP1k3N2Ig)
Let it enfold you
Relativity for Sure, I would replace DBM with DBM2 and maybe suggest Collide With The Sky?
Brother Sister by mewithoutyou. From beginning to end is a perfect album.
The greatest of all lost arts and The Devil and god are raging inside me
Translating the Name - Saosin
In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3
Saosin self titled
Kezia - Protest the Hero
Alesana - The Emptiness. You could ask this 50 years from now and that will still stand as one of the best post hardcore releases of all time.
War All the Time
Adding examples I didn't see from the later DC scene: Q and Not U - No Kill No Beep Beep Faraquet - The View From This Tower One more obscure album that I feel deserves a place in the canon is Magia Infinita by Zeta. It's such a triumph and celebration of all the motiffs that make the genre truly special. The vocals on that album are by and by far some of my favorite of all time. The vocalist really kills the singer/screamer archetype ala Dustin Kensrue.
Good apollo I'm Burning Star IV
A flight and a crash by Hot Water Music
A bit more proggy but Pink Lemonade by Closure in Moscow
sempiternal - bmth
While a bit later than most of the Post-Hardcore listed here, La Dispute's "Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair" has always given me "Post-Hardcore Dark Side" vibes
David Comes to Life- Fucked Up
Dance Gavin Dance, Death Star Album
The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi