Best music recordings of 2011

The Toronto sextet caps a prolific first decade (in which they released more than 50 singles, EPs, mixtapes and albums) with a four-part, 18-song, 78-minute rock opera. Guitars weave counterpoint melodies and build to anthemic peaks. The five-character narrative about love, death and redemption is equally ambitious, a landmark that transcends the band's hardcore-punk origins.