Nothing to add, really, but more love should be shown to Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade than a simple aside.
It's rather cliche to call something "the White Album of insert genre here," but Zen Arcade was a mammoth of a record (23 songs in 70 minutes) that did tear down the constrictive rules of hardcore music. Loud, aggressive guitars and throaty screaming could have a pretty, melodic side.
And, going even further, a fine triple album is the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs. It's fantastic, though I'll be damned if I ever listen to all three discs consecutively.