Best (and worst) concept albums

[Paul Wesley 3278]

Let's do this.

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13570]

Hotel California is the slow-motion crumbling of the American empire in stereo. 

[Carl Spackler 3479]

The Who were masters of this.  Tommy.  Quadrophenia.  Hell, even Who's Next started out as a concept album.

The Wall 

Sgt. Pepper

 

[jimmyjazz 45880]

I don't think it's possible to make a worse concept album than this:

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13570]

The just-woke-up-from-a-nap eyelids really hammers home the mania of evil. 

"Durh...fuck your world, and such... Uh... Where are my keys?... Why is that on fire? I dunnowhattimeisit ... "

[Whitewater Horn 968]

[Herpa Derpa 6123]

Best

Worst

[South Austin 52442]

2 hours ago, Whitewater Horn said:

Forget concept album.  One of the greatest albums of all time

[Whitewater Horn 968]

6 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Forget concept album.  One of the greatest albums of all time

When I was a little kid, my parents granted me access to their record collection and the phonograph on the condition that I didn’t scratch any of the records or fuck up the needle. Sitting on the floor listening to records with big ass 70’s headphones on, for literally hours at a time, is where my obsession with music was truly born. I discovered this album in 1973, and has remained in regular rotation to this day. The production and songs are just immaculate. Both timeless and a time machine simultaneously. 
 

As others have already submitted, Pink Floyd has to be considered near the top of the mountain in concept albums. To create three concept albums with the quality and lasting relevance of Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall, is an incredible artistic achievement. 

[Al_4_ISU 12447]

[South Austin 52442]

56 minutes ago, Whitewater Horn said:

When I was a little kid, my parents granted me access to their record collection and the phonograph on the condition that I didn’t scratch any of the records or fuck up the needle. Sitting on the floor listening to records with big ass 70’s headphones on, for literally hours at a time, is where my obsession with music was truly born. 

Sort of the same for me. My mom lived in San Francisco in the late 60s/early 70s, so her records that I inherited included stuff like CCR, The Association, Sly and the Family Stone, The Mamas and the Papas. No Marvin Gaye, but driving with my mom as a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, she listened to a lot of “oldies” stations, so I grew up with the broader music of the 60s, including R&B. I’ve loved that stuff since.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Redheaded Stranger and Phases and Stages have to be near the top. 

[hullabelew 3723]

Redheaded Stranger is likely the answer to the question.    I've only recently learned about Phases and Stages.  Been getting in to it a lot lately.

My favorite, by far, is "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" by Elton John.   One this is criminally underrated is "From The Inside" by Alice Cooper.  

Common component is Bernie Taupin.   

 

Edited March 7 by hullabelew

[jimmyjazz 45880]

6 minutes ago, hullabelew said:

Common component is Bernie Taupin.   

Wow, I didn't know that Taupin ever worked with Alice Cooper.  Now that I've looked it up -- Steve Lukather and a couple of guys from Elton John's band, too.

[Al_4_ISU 12447]

Phases & Stages >>>>>>>> Red Headed Stranger

[hullabelew 3723]

2 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Wow, I didn't know that Taupin ever worked with Alice Cooper.  Now that I've looked it up -- Steve Lukather and a couple of guys from Elton John's band, too.

I bought that album because I read Taupin's name on the credits and Marcy Levy sings the duet of Millie & Billie.  
"And I liked your late husband Donald.  But such torture his memory brings.
All sliced up and sealed tight in baggies.  Guess love makes you do funny things"
 

[Celery Man 20930]

 

[jimmyjazz 45880]

36 minutes ago, hullabelew said:

Redheaded Stranger is likely the answer to the question.

I'm going with "The Wall".

[BigOrange1 6432]

For a relatively recent one I thought The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists was pretty good.

[Hard Times 302]

I'll go with The Wall if Dark Side of the Moon isn't considered a concept album. That's debatable. Tommy has to be near the top also. Interesting all 3 were pretty close together in time given the history of music.

And I was going to post the same as JJ even before I saw his post. I like Styx, but damn that thing sucks.

[cactusflinthead 27598]

[cactusflinthead 27598]

4 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

This one too.

 

[yoladu 4090]

aging indie rocker chiming in.

Husker Du - Zen Arcade

Fucked Up - David Comes To Life

The Antlers - Hospice

[66BUFF 2562]

[Nigel Tufnel 199]

Gotta go with   
and

 

[qwertyu1234 496]

Not the best, but definitely deserves a mention: Mars Volta deloused in the comatorium

[C-Man 27183]

Is OK Computer considered a concept album? Some of the guys in the band don't seem to think so: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK_Computer#:~:text=Although the songs share common,not make a concept album

Quote

The songs of OK Computer do not have a coherent narrative, and the album's lyrics are generally considered abstract or oblique. Nonetheless, many musical critics, journalists, and scholars consider the album to be a concept album or song cycle, or have analysed it as a concept album, noting its strong thematic cohesion, aesthetic unity, and the structural logic of the song sequencing.[nb 1] Although the songs share common themes, Radiohead have said they do not consider OK Computer a concept album and did not intend to link the songs through a narrative or unifying concept while it was being written.[30][52][53] Jonny Greenwood said: "I think one album title and one computer voice do not make a concept album. That's a bit of a red herring."[54] However, the band intended the album to be heard as a whole, and spent two weeks ordering the track list. O'Brien said: "The context of each song is really important ... It's not a concept album but there is a continuity there."[52]

 

[C-Man 27183]

Also, Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" is worth mentioning.

[Paul Wesley 3278]

I agree with all the Willie and Pink Floyd nominees.  All remarkable achievements, but for different reasons.  Willie did it in a genre where pretty much no one was even thinking about a "concept" album, and he took simple themes (Phases) and narratives (Stranger) and - even with often bare-bones arrangements and instrumentation - turned those into far-reaching epics.  

Pink Floyd aimed higher in their themes and stories (it seems to me that they set out to make something epic), and also absolutely knocked them out of the stratosphere.  I think DSOTM was on the billboard charts for 19 years (!!!!!).

I was incredibly lucky that I happened to be in London a few years ago when the Who did "Tommy" at Royal Albert Hall.  It was amazing, but that record drops off quite a bit in the back half - they even omitted a couple of of those songs when doing the record in its "entirety" - so that one can't be considered to be on the same level, IMO.  

It would be even harder to pick a "worst" concept album, because 99% of them are shit.  But if you put a gun to my head, I'd pick a guy who grifted evangelical Christians for two decades, making straight trash with zero artistic merit.  Then it got worse.  He tried to grift a whole new audience with shit that had even less artistic merit.  Nothing fails more spectacularly than trying to be outrageous, but just being fucking stupid.

[Nigel Tufnel 199]

One of the best.  Begins with protagonist singing “I am trying to break your heart.”  Ends with: “I have reservations, about so many things, but not about you.”
 

[DixonHur 11292]

Can people start including what the concept is for the albums?  

Flaming Lips

The concept was to play all 4 CDs simultaneously.   

[Goredho 17394]

All of these are albums that I feel are concept albums and enjoy listening to in their entirety as much as any one song.  The first would get my nod as best concept album for my tastes.

[smuggs 9350]

[dogbreath 434]

The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society.  Return to a simpler life  

The Who - Quadrophenia. A Mod teen tries to figure his place in life. 

[BrickHorn 18216]

[GhostOfTomJoad 9323]

Thought about "Astral Weeks" but in the end I don't see it fitting as a Concept Album. It doesn't really fit into any category, although Springsteen probably best described it as "trance music: poetry laid down over basic, repetitive chords that show you the possibility of the divine." It's just a perfect album that seemed to happen without great intent, which in the end is kinda the opposite of a CA.

[Al_4_ISU 12447]

1 hour ago, BrickHorn said:

It begs the question "on what day did God create Spinal Tap and couldn't he have rested that day?".

[ztejas 43411]

Damn 37 posts and still not mentioned.

Probably gets my vote for #1 all-time. 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

While I have seen DSOTM, The Wall and Wish You Were Here, I would argue Pink Floyd's best concept album (and my favorite) is Animals. 

 

[Trey3216 15343]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:59 AM, Whitewater Horn said:

When I was a little kid, my parents granted me access to their record collection and the phonograph on the condition that I didn’t scratch any of the records or fuck up the needle. Sitting on the floor listening to records with big ass 70’s headphones on, for literally hours at a time, is where my obsession with music was truly born. I discovered this album in 1973, and has remained in regular rotation to this day. The production and songs are just immaculate. Both timeless and a time machine simultaneously. 
 

As others have already submitted, Pink Floyd has to be considered near the top of the mountain in concept albums. To create three concept albums with the quality and lasting relevance of Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall, is an incredible artistic achievement. 

I mean, Dark Side is a concept album as well.  They are pretty much a concept band.   

[jimmyjazz 45880]

Interestingly enough, I was pondering Rush as having put out concept albums, but of every album I considered (up through "Moving Pictures"), none really qualified.  Sure, they had concept SIDES, but a whole album?  Nope.

Then I googled it, and the interwebs agreed, up until some album they put out in 2012 that I never listened to, because not in high school.

[LFS 57]

 

[66BUFF 2562]

Would side 2 of Abbey Road count?

[Viper 12098]

 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28772]

On 3/7/2024 at 12:34 PM, Hard Times said:

I'll go with The Wall if Dark Side of the Moon isn't considered a concept album. That's debatable. Tommy has to be near the top also. Interesting all 3 were pretty close together in time given the history of music.

And I was going to post the same as JJ even before I saw his post. I like Styx, but damn that thing sucks.

In what world is Dark Side not a concept album? I’ve never heard that questioned. The Wall is more explicitly so but Dark Side is an icon of a concept album. One of the most important albums of all time  

Some others: Frank Zappa - Joe’s Garage; Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord; Spirit - 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (awesome album despite the concept being poorly defined).

Give me Quadrophenia over Tommy all day every day. I’m not disputing Tommy as a concept album but it just doesn’t do it for me like Quadrophenia. That’s a masterpiece.

I don’t know if it counts but my parents had a copy of Peter & The Wolf when I was a kid and that was part of my musical foundation. They didn’t have much in the way of good music but that was a good one. They also had the soundtrack to West Side Story. That’s just a play. But so is Peter & The Wolf, right? And so are Quadrophenia and Joe’s Garage and The Wall, right? Labels are useful when talking about music but they can get fuzzy on the edges. I think we can safely say the West Side Story soundtrack is not a concept album.

But how about this? I used to have this on vinyl. A college roommate bought it on CD. It’s pretty good.

I haven’t read the whole thread. I see the Styx mention but I’m not sure which album you’re talking about. I assume Kilroy Was Here? That counts but I don’t think it was executed very well. I think Paradise Theater was the better effort. I haven’t listened to it in a long time but I still own that one. And I saw them live on the Kilroy tour. That was one of my first three concerts. I think it was my third after Rush and REO Speedwagon. It was a good show. 

[jimmyjazz 45880]

50 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I haven’t read the whole thread. I see the Styx mention but I’m not sure which album you’re talking about. I assume Kilroy Was Here? That counts but I don’t think it was executed very well. I think Paradise Theater was the better effort. 

I posted about Styx "Kilroy Was Here" because it is the worst concept album ever recorded (which is consistent with the thread title).

[Hard Times 302]

1 hour ago, WhatTheBuck said:

In what world is Dark Side not a concept album? I’ve never heard that questioned. The Wall is more explicitly so but Dark Side is an icon of a concept album. One of the most important albums of all time  

Some others: Frank Zappa - Joe’s Garage; Moody Blues - In Search of the Lost Chord; Spirit - 12 Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (awesome album despite the concept being poorly defined).

Give me Quadrophenia over Tommy all day every day. I’m not disputing Tommy as a concept album but it just doesn’t do it for me like Quadrophenia. That’s a masterpiece.

I don’t know if it counts but my parents had a copy of Peter & The Wolf when I was a kid and that was part of my musical foundation. They didn’t have much in the way of good music but that was a good one. They also had the soundtrack to West Side Story. That’s just a play. But so is Peter & The Wolf, right? And so are Quadrophenia and Joe’s Garage and The Wall, right? Labels are useful when talking about music but they can get fuzzy on the edges. I think we can safely say the West Side Story soundtrack is not a concept album.

But how about this? I used to have this on vinyl. A college roommate bought it on CD. It’s pretty good.

I haven’t read the whole thread. I see the Styx mention but I’m not sure which album you’re talking about. I assume Kilroy Was Here? That counts but I don’t think it was executed very well. I think Paradise Theater was the better effort. I haven’t listened to it in a long time but I still own that one. And I saw them live on the Kilroy tour. That was one of my first three concerts. I think it was my third after Rush and REO Speedwagon. It was a good show. 

You have 26k posts and you don't know some people here question everything?

Good post on WOTW. It completely slipped my mind and it's a great work. Especially with Justin Hayward. And speaking of which, The Moody Blues probably have a number of albums that would qualify. I'd put Days of Future Passed and To Our Children's Children above ISOTLC. ISOTLC has the bigger hit, but personally, I like TOCC better overall.

And interesting, REO was my first concert ever.

[WhatTheBuck 28772]

9 hours ago, Hard Times said:

You have 26k posts and you don't know some people here question everything?

Good post on WOTW. It completely slipped my mind and it's a great work. Especially with Justin Hayward. And speaking of which, The Moody Blues probably have a number of albums that would qualify. I'd put Days of Future Passed and To Our Children's Children above ISOTLC. ISOTLC has the bigger hit, but personally, I like TOCC better overall.

And interesting, REO was my first concert ever.

ISOTLC has sitar. It passes the acid test with flying colors. 

[LFS 57]

 

[Buzzrock 14902]

On 3/7/2024 at 1:15 PM, 66BUFF said:

This wins for me. On the Empire tour they played the entire Operation Mindcrime. Still one of the best concerts I’ve eve seen and I’ve seen hundreds. Even better than The Wall which was awesome.