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Concept Albums

Buzzrock

By Buzzrock
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Buzzrock

Buzzrock 14918

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It would be too easy to name The Wall as my favorite. I do love it, and for me it came along in my formative years, and I even saw the Roger Waters version live...
 
But I think my all timer is this one. Even got to see the live version on the Empire/Livecrime tour.
 
8260020e1c2ee312536465ddf33dcf42.jpg

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TexPx

TexPx 2323

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I don’t think anybody had a string of great concept albums that can compare to The Kinks:
‘68-Village Green Preservation Society
69- Arthur/The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
70-Lola vs. Powerman
71-Muswell Hillbillies


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Scooter Monzingo

Scooter Monzingo 820

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17 minutes ago, TexPx said:

I don’t think anybody had a string of great concept albums that can compare to The Kinks:
‘68-Village Green Preservation Society
69- Arthur/The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
70-Lola vs. Powerman
71-Muswell Hillbillies


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Yeah, those are great examples. Ray Davies was really ahead of his time. And was pretty damn good with a Tele. And Dave was simply bad ass.

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tbone_

tbone_ 14115

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Always loved Operation Mindcrime. I’ll still play the whole thing through sometimes if I’m going to be in the car for a while. Figured someone would make a movie about it eventually.

Red Headed Stranger and The Wall are 1a and 1b for me.

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hullabelew

hullabelew 3723

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That reminds me of another one.  Alice wrote this one with Bernie Taupin around Alice's mental health issues.  Just a fantastic record.  My brother ran in to Bernie Taupin at a radio interview and he said, "Mr. Taupin....I really enjoyed your work with....." Taupin kind of kindly nods and starts to move past him....  "Your work with Alice Cooper on 'Welcome To My Nightmare'."  Taupin turns around and talks to my brother for about 20 minutes.    What a great album.    Davey Johnston and Dee Murray from Elton's band.  also play on the record.   Plus, Marcy Levy (Clapton's background singer) sings a great duet on "Millie and Billy".  I need to pull out that album today.   

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WhatTheBuck

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14 hours ago, Dennis Taylor said:

Does this count? Pretty much all the tracks were about death, drugs, or death by drugs

 

download (1).jpeg

Write what you know.

If teen angst is a concept then there were a whole lot of concept albums coming out of the Seattle grunge scene in the 90’s.

I considered posting In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson but I don’t think it’s a concept album. They’re more of a concept band. When other bands were fusing rock and jazz concepts (which they did too), King Crimson was introducing classical influences and creating the prog rock genre. But just making new and different music doesn’t by itself qualify as a concept. There should be some sort of thematic coherence throughout the work.

We can toss around the concept album label pretty casually. And it’s complicated by the fact that there are albums that were both good albums and also failed concept albums. I’d offer one of my all time favorite albums that I posted above, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus by Spirit, as an example. That’s a complicated story, recorded as the band was breaking up and put together by their producer after-the-fact. It’s about life and sensualities and it’s environmentally aware but it’s hard to say it’s a successful concept album. But it’s a brilliant piece from start to finish. 

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17670

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3 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Great album. I don’t know what the concept is other than good songs on a really well produced album. 

That's fair.  Pet Sounds is oft cited as a concept album, though as you reference above, there's a pretty wide range of definitions of that nebulous term.  I mean, some people use the definition you put forth - good songs on a well produced album - as a starting point.  To me, that's just a good album.  At first blush "concept" tends to conjure up the necessity of a thematic concept about which to revolve, but that's not the only concept that can be available.  The concept in Pet Sounds by Brian Wilson's own description was a perfection of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique.  So maybe we have a spectrum of "concept" albums where on the one hand have a thematic concept (say, madness - for Dark Side of the Moon), or perhaps at the other end of a spectrum, have an artistic concept (wall of sound, country parody).  In any case, I'm here for whatever comes up on the thread.  

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Buzzrock

Buzzrock 14918

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Always loved Operation Mindcrime. I’ll still play the whole thing through sometimes if I’m going to be in the car for a while. Figured someone would make a movie about it eventually.

Red Headed Stranger and The Wall are 1a and 1b for me.


Getting to see Queensryche play the whole thing live at their peak was my #1 show for many many years.
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Dennis Taylor

Dennis Taylor 18812

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1 hour ago, Buzzrock said:

 


I say no. And I love that album.

 

One of my all time favorites.  Managed to get a copy a few days before the official release and was blown away. Couldn't take it out of the CD player 

And I was joking about the concept thing

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28776

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1 hour ago, Buzzrock said:

Google suggests some interesting ones. Drive-by Truckers’ ‘Southern Rock Opera’ is great. I didn’t know Thick as a Brick was a concept album.

I wouldn’t call Thick as a Brick a concept album. I’d just call it an album-long song. 

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Beantown Express 2.0

Beantown Express 2.0 6559

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I have to admit I am not totally sure what a concept album is but here are a few I think qualify.

Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here (I believe the whole album is about Syd Barrett’s demise and how the music business helped with it)

Pink Floyd- Animals (My favorite Floyd album and its all about animals! Kind of)

The Who- Tommy. (Didn’t see it listed above but may have missed it.  Figure a Rock Opera is a concept album)

The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper (I have read that this is considered a concept album with the whole fake band theme and I know some argue it is and some it isn’t.  If you believe it is a concept album it should probably top the list)

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TexPx

TexPx 2323

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I wouldn’t call Thick as a Brick a concept album. I’d just call it an album-long song. 

According to Anderson it was meant to satirize concept albums. He was apparently pissed that people called Aqualung a concept album and he considered it just a collection of songs.


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WhatTheBuck

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12 hours ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

I have to admit I am not totally sure what a concept album is but here are a few I think qualify.

Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here (I believe the whole album is about Syd Barrett’s demise and how the music business helped with it)

Pink Floyd- Animals (My favorite Floyd album and its all about animals! Kind of)

The Who- Tommy. (Didn’t see it listed above but may have missed it.  Figure a Rock Opera is a concept album)

The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper (I have read that this is considered a concept album with the whole fake band theme and I know some argue it is and some it isn’t.  If you believe it is a concept album it should probably top the list)

I’ve got a great bootleg copy of Pink Floyd at Boston Garden on 6/18/75. It opens with Raving and Drooling and You Gotta Be Crazy. Those songs would go on to become Sheep and Dogs, respectively. If you changed the titles of the songs on Animals, would it still be a concept album?

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Beantown Express 2.0

Beantown Express 2.0 6559

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45 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I’ve got a great bootleg copy of Pink Floyd at Boston Garden on 6/18/75. It opens with Raving and Drooling and You Gotta Be Crazy. Those songs would go on to become Sheep and Dogs, respectively. If you changed the titles of the songs on Animals, would it still be a concept album?

Animals is totally a concept album as it is kind of based on George Orwell’s Animal Farm with each animal/song representing a different class of society.  

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