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We are in the midst of two album landmarks: the 40th anniversary of the self-titled Beatles double LP known as The White Album and the release of Guns N' Roses' 17-years-in-the-making Chinese Democracy. When someone suggested that perhaps the two-disc White Album was a bit self-indulgent and would have been tighter as a single disc, Paul McCartney famously replied, "It’s the bloody Beatles White Album. Shut up." 'Nuff said.

Chinese Democracy, however, is another story. Even though it's only one disc, it's about as self-indulgent as you can get: millions of dollars spent, hundreds of musicians used, and arrangements so dense that only Axl can understand them.

Self-indulgence is a rock rite of passage for many musicians. Every generation has a bunch of artists who decide to make an album (or two or three) that's nearly indecipherable to anyone except the band and their followers. These records have one or more of the following hallmarks:

1. Lyrics with lots of medieval words, such as tempest, screed, manor, shire, cloister, parchment, and pilgrimage.

2. Songs that run more than ten minutes on at least half the album.

3. Covers that look like a Harry Potter book or a Dungeons and Dragons game.

4. Packaging that includes two or three discs.

5. Tracks that feature at least one keyboard solo.

Beyond these characteristics, there's just the vibe of a self-indulgent album. It reeks of self-importance and humorlessness. There's no sense of irony, humility, or humanity. Ultimately lifeless, these projects feel more like musical dissertations than real rock ’n’ roll. The White Album is full of playfulness, humor, heart, and soul. The ones listed below? Not so much.

Here are the five most self-indulgent albums in recent memory. I'm refraining from hitting the easy targets, like ELP's Tarkus, Yes' Tales From Topographic Oceans, and the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed. In fact, I'm avoiding all of the late-'60s/early '70s rock album output. Been there, done that. Here's the new self-indulgence.

Smashing Pumpkins
MACHINA/The Machines of God
Billy Corgan has made a career out of indulging himself musically. This album includes songs with titles like "The Crying Tree of Mercury" and such lyrics as "Into the flow of encrypted movement/Slapback kills the ancient remnants." As if this wasn't enough, Corgan followed up MACHINA with his first solo album, TheFutureEmbrace.

Styx
Kilroy Was Here
From the band that brought us The Grand Illusion and Paradise Theater comes this 1983 concept-album about robots replacing man. The centerpiece? "Mr. Roboto," a song almost too unintentionally funny to be self-indulgent. Almost.

Dream Theater
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
Dream Theater has the perfect prog-rock pedigree: former students at Berklee College of Music, they spent their early years covering Iron Maiden and Rush tunes, and first named their band Majesty. Any of their albums is worthy of this list, but Scenes From a Memory contains nearly all of the self-indulgent hallmarks.

Queensrÿche
Operation: Mindcrime
Yeah, I know people put this album in the pantheon of Pink Floyd's The Wall and the Who's Tommy. I know it's a considered a metal masterpiece. Still, I'll take Racer X over Dr. X any day. Especially when he's played by Ronnie James Dio.
 

Sting

Songs from the Labyrinth
Some would argue that Sting's entire life is an exercise in self-indulgence. This album of 17th-century lute music might prove them right.

Check out the complete list of the most self-indulgent albums ever in our FlipBook. 

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