The Most Lamentable Tragedy (Merge Records), the fourth proper Titus Andronicus full-length and their first-ever rock opera, is a beast of a record. Documenting frontman Patrick Stickles’ battle with manic depression in 29 songs at 93 minutes, it takes some effort to process. Luckily, for our convenience—or perhaps to avoid being entirely misconstrued—Stickles posted all of the lyrics (with annotations to boot) on genius.com. If you take on the burden of reading and listening through TMLT, it’s supremely rewarding, and should this be Titus Andronicus’ last record, as Stickles has indicated it might be, it would be the finest finale for any rock band this century.

One’s enjoyment of TMLT is enhanced by understanding its narrative and, if possible, Titus Andronicus’ curriculum vitae. This is what largely sets it apart from comparisons to similar concept records like Zen Arcade or David Comes to Life. At the risk of summarizing too much, the story follows a somewhat nihilistic hero and his relationship with another version of himself (serving as a metaphor for his mental instability). The hero then tangles with romance and prescription drugs before ultimately passing away. Or so I think—the story is pretty convoluted and one can really only get the gist of it.

Luckily, there are Easter eggs throughout the album to maintain enticement, often referencing previous Titus Andronicus songs and lyrics. Stickles has always been a referential songwriter, and its most pronounced on TMLT. The references here range from the obvious (the nod of “More Perfect Union” to The Monitor’s “A More Perfect Union”) to inconspicuous lyrical spots (the use of “castrate” and “frustrate” in “Lonely Boy” for repetitive diction) to even deeper odes to Titus Andronicus’ inspirations (the seven seconds of silence that precede “Stable Boy” are in honor of punk band 7 Seconds). This is just glossing over, too; you could spend a day delving into TMLT and not find everything Stickles has embedded.

For all the parts that make TMLT a rock opera—from the scene-setting silences and vamps to the dreary piano drone that follows the choral “Auld Lang Syne”—this album is still a rock record. Lead guitarist Adam Reich supplies Thin Lizzy–like riffage throughout, but most noticeably on “I’m Going Insane” and “Fatal Flaw.” A New Jersey songwriter is never too distant from his Bruce Springsteen roots, and the swinging styles of a poppy E Street Band are present on “Mr. E. Mann,” “Lonely Boy,” and “Fired Up.” The Irish traditional–leaning lament of “More Perfect Union” is pure Pogues, as is the mildly edited cover of “A Pair of Brown Eyes.” Most vividly, Stickles shows an empathy for Daniel Johnston in a cover of his “I Lost My Mind” as well as the aesthetic homage, “Stable Boy.” Titus Andronicus has always put its influences out in the open, and they surely aren’t hidden here. Rock operas risk being hackneyed or self-indulgent, and while it’s hard to deny the latter entirely, the drama crafted on TMLT is impressively tasteful.

Stickles clearly had a great deal of foresight when it came to composing TMLT. (He’s been talking about doing this for years.) However, the potency of his vision extends beyond the album’s sheer grandiosity and ambition. TMLT holds the final two parts of Titus Andronicus’ five-section “No Future” suite, with parts four and five serving as the de facto introduction and conclusion to this record, respectively. If you dig back into the Airing of Grievances and The Monitor and listen to all five parts of “No Future” as a piece in and of itself, it can serve as a rough Sparknotes for the Titus Andronicus/Stickles story. It’s an epic about persevering despite having to cope with manic depression and adversity—not in the trite “brighter days ahead” or “be proud of who you are” sense, but just accepting yourself living with it. This theme is ubiquitous in the work of Titus Andronicus, and in the format of TMLT, it’s at its most effervescent. As our hero meets his seemingly definitive end in “No Future Part V: In Endless Dreaming,” we come to understand his drive to live normally, as well as the inherent meaningless of living. It recalls one of Titus Andronicus’ most poignant lyrics ever, taken from The Monitor’s “No Future Part Three: Escape from No Future”: “You will always be a loser, now and that’s okay.”