Concept albums
 

What exactly constitutes a concept album? Does it need a storyline? Is it enough for songs to share the same general theme?

And what are some of your favourites?

"unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical."

I've always thought of a concept album that way... Like something that somehow all ties in together. My favorite kind of albums are albums that are completely conceptual -- aesthetically, lyrically, etc.

Like Visions by Grimes is definitely a concept album , aesthetically. I think pretty much every album Bjork has made could be considered concept albums.

I think that concept albums tend to be more inaccessible, as they tend to be longer and unrelenting in their motif.

I like to regard concept albums as something where everything ties in together, and there is an underlying theme that courses through on every conceivable level. I personally believe every album should be a concept album. It feels like buzzword terminology and heresay, but oh well.

Deloused in the Comatorium by The Mars Volta is something I would consider a concept album.

My favorite album of all time is...



Shaking the Habitual by The Knife... I think you can look at that album as a concept album in every conceivable way. The underlying message of the album is to question what we perceive as fact and to try to look at things from different angles. It is meant to be regarded in a political sense, but I guess they felt that it would be hypocritical to urge people to question their innate beliefs and how they have been conditioned to view things like gender and sexuality while making an album that didn't question normality in a compositional, aesthetic sense. It's an album that essentially questions everything it can possibly question and foregoes any sense of normality, simultaneously contradicting itself by featuring a series of very linear, drawn out drone and dance pieces, but there are also very dynamic tracks, an allusion to the idea that even dynamic sounds can because normality.

The result is a slightly left field pop duo that completely turns pop on it's head and makes the most abrasive album ever conceived in the realm of electronic pop.

Good question. I think there needs to be a story but that's a broad statement. something like A love Supreme qualifies and has no real lyrics other than the title repeated. But it has an overall theme of spirituality. Some good ones:

The Wall
The hazards of love
A love supreme
Operation Mindcrime

Maybe the best ever.

Operation: Mindcrime - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Man, I wore that album out. Still in my top 20 favorite albums of all time I think.

Have ya seen the DVD?

Oh yeah, several times

I think at its heart, for me anyway, a concept album has to either tell a story or have some loose theme linking the songs. I'd consider among the best, as already mentioned, The Wall, then The Lamb lies down on Broadway by Genesis, 2112 (first side) by Rush, Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War of the Worlds, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Chapter One by Hostsonaten, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman, Misplaced Childhood and also Brave by Marillion, On Air by Alan Parsons as well as The Turn of a Friendly Card by The Alan Parsons Project.

Incredible album and yes, total concept masterpiece.

If you fancy reading my review....
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1403995

Great review!

Interesting contributions so far, gentlemen. How about an album like Dark Side? It doesn't have a storyline, per se, but the songs share the theme, and it has a united feel.

My personal favourite is probably Ziggy Stardust, and another classic that nobody has mentioned yet is The Who Sell Out.

Thank you sir! :thumb:
That's a good one. I'm not so sure DSotM qualifies as a concept album, though it does satisfy my second stated criterion. I never really thought of it as a concept album, but I'm sure someone who's more of a Floyd nut here will tell me if I'm wrong (wouldn't be the first time) --- by the same token, The Final Cut should be viewed as a concept album too. And if Ziggy is one (and I guess it is) is not Diamond Dogs also?

I agree about Dark Side. For similar reasons, I don't consider the oft-claimed Sgt. Pepper's to be a concept album either.

Diamond Dogs certainly is, and I think it follows its concept even better than Ziggy. Bowie actually wanted to produce a musical of 1984, but couldn't acquire the rights.

A lot of Bowie's Discography is to me, if only because they're written from the perspective of a certain character, in much the same way as Sgt Pepper being a fictional band.

A concept album is one that's united conceptually. That can be in form of a narrative or it can be tied together simply in terms of theme, like Animals by Pink Floyd or The Murder Ballads by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

Ween's 'nautical' album The Mollusk is fantastic, and is a good example of a theme concept vs. a narrative

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lbum_cover.jpg

No bull**** story, no stupid theme repeated in every song, the first track isn't called 'Prelude' and the final track isn't called 'Finale' (Something I loathe in concept albums).

Just a trip on ecstasy done to music.

This Heat's Deceit is largely done to emulate what music sounds like when you're high and drunk, so that's a theme.

Do personas in hip hop records count as a concept? I think Billy Woods' Dour Candy fits the bill in that regard. Also Armand Hammer's Race Music sticks to a few overarching themes, but mainly race and racial conflict. Misleading title, I know.

I have a very odd definition of concept albums.

For one, they have to have a consistent theme and not be a collection of singles; it has to explore a consistent theme (or related themes), it has to has a consistent sound and it has to experiment a bit.

I don't know if stories count or not but that's my qualifications for a concept album.

Is it?
I've read it was higly influenced by being paranoid about the possibility of a nuclear war, but nothing about this whole thing.

The Who - Tommy

^ If you're saying that Sgt. Pepper is a concept album, I agree: with the exception of Within You Without You it hangs together so well with its mixture of psychedelic/nostalgic songs. On the other hand, John Lennon agreed with Pet_Sounds and said it was just a collection of songs; he denied any connection between his Day In The Life contribution and Paul's fictional-band conceit. Personally, I put that down to JL's ego - he said it at a time when he wanted to distance himself artistically from all things McCartney.

Personally, I usually get tired of concept albums that tell a story - after all, how many times is it possible to enjoy reading/seeing/listening to the same story? I much prefer the albums like Bowie's that give a kind of kaleidoscopic impression that the listener links together in his/her own way, in his/her own head.

The prob with this definition of a concept album is, where do you stop? For instance I read that Revolver is a concept album - the concept being snapshots of everyday life in modern Britain. Unfortunately, as a concept, that applies to about a zillion other albums too.

So leaving that question hanging, I'd like to mention these albums that are clearly linked by a theme:-

Days of Future Passed
Village Green Preservation Society
Topographic Oceans (Even if Jon Anderson is the only man on planet earth who understands what the concept is)
War War War
...and pardon me for quoting myself:-

^
I'd certainly disagree with Revolver! Far too loose a connection IMO, and as you mentioned, if it's a concept album, so are Rubber Soul… and Pet Sounds… and most rock albums recorded post-1965.

Arthur is another Kinks album that fits the bill. I'd also mention Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run.

P.S. Did you see my PM, Lisna?

^ Yes, old Ray Davies really got hooked on the concept album format !
Born To Run is an album of great songs imo, and a good example of kaleidoscope-style concept album. One benefit of this approach is that you don't have to put in some uninspired song that just serves to advance the story. For me, Tommy and The Wall both have low points for that reason...

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, Pet_Sounds - checked your inbox lately by any chance? :)

PS: lol your location, "the other side". Have you broken on through?

Those both suffered because of the double album format. If each had been paired down to a single disc they would have been much better.

Still both deserve to be mentioned when discussing the best concept albums ever.

this is a sweet ass album, thank you for posting

^ Yes, for a songwriter, a double album is a challenging amount of blank time to fill I imagine. Unless you are John Cage, you need to come up with an awful lot of good ideas. Also a double rather stretches the attention span of the audience - to be involved in the same saga for so long. In fact, for me The Wall , especially, holds out pretty well; it's only the Worms/Trial section that I don't care for.

Talking of sagas that don't hold your attention reminds me of Paul Simon's The Capeman. It has a few decent tracks, but was slammed by the US critics, I believe. Then again, it's the soundtrack for a stage show- and I think people usually exclude those when discussing concept albums, though I'm not sure why.

How about Graceland? It's got no storyline, but is often called a concept album because of its African themes.

Simon did "borrow" some African Themes on that one.

I think I just pissed myself.....

The question is: Is that music?

It was in my pants and pretty muffled so it definitely lacked dynamics.

was this supposed to be a shot at Paul Simon?

One album that holds right across the two discs/four sides. One of my alltime favourite concept albums.
http://www.ioffer.com/img3/item/506/...ouble-17a5.jpg

^ This question has been nagging at me for ages, Pet_Sounds! I never thought of it as a concept album but I wasn't sure why until the other day, when I was jolted into forming a coherent answer.

I don't consider it a concept album because the lyrics explore so many different areas of life; sometimes the African ghetto, sometimes celebrities or politicians, sometimes the New York intelligencia. Then, just the other day, in an All Music review of an unrelated album, I came across this sentence, "The album should be listened to as an entity." For me, this applies very well to Graceland; it's not a concept album, but because of the musical interconnectedness of the songs, it should be considered as an entity.

"Listened to as an entity" is a useful category for all manner of instrumental albums too. Take almost any jazz album, for instance; the songs probably hang together as an exploration of a certain style, mood or period. If there are no lyrics it probably won't be called a concept album as such, but it coud be awarded entity status to differentiate it from some uncoordinated stylistic rag bag.

Does that make sense? At least it's now clear in my head and I can stop worrying about your question!!

I think you misread that, Lis. I think it was "This album must be listened to BY an entity"...
http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-cont...ALIEN-FACE.jpg
You know your album has made it when it's number one all over the Small Magellanic Cloud! :laughing:

Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Maybe the weirdest prog rock concept album of all time. (but most original)

http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/wordp.../03/Peterg.jpg

Superb album, some of Gabriel's best work, just prior to his departure.

^ HaHa ! This is still selling well there, I believe:-



^ I´m not familiar with this album at all, but will give it a listen as it comes so highly recommended!