The Five Greatest Concept Albums Ever, Period
June 29th, 2005 - 10:01 pm
In no particular order, because that would be even more pointless and stupid than this list.
Songs for Swingin’ Lovers
Frank Sinatra’s 1956 masterpiece is arguably the first concept album, and still one of the finest. Previously, albums were collections of singles related only by the artist singing them. Sinatra wanted to make an album which would carry a single mood with a single sound all the way through. Well: Mission accomplished. Frank’s vocals are upbeat without being saccharine, and romantic without being coy. But without Nelson Riddle, the whole project might have been doomed. Riddle sticks with a tried-and-true big band
Pink Floyd is my favorite band by a longshot. And The Wall is certainly a great album. But as far as concept albums go, Quadraphenia leads the list with The Wall a close second.
RIGHT ON with Sinatra and Fagen! And I can kinda see the Dick Tracy tunes, too. But, as is required by this kind of entry, I will insist that you replace Floyd with your also-ran, the too-classic One Nation Under A Groove.
Well done, Stephen.
Here are my five (no particular order):
1. 2112 (Rush, of course)
2. Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd)
3. Animals (Pink Floyd)
4. In Search of the Lost Chord (Moody Blues)
5. Tommy (The Who)
Great idea. You should forward it to Michele Catalano.
Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.
Peter Gabriel’s last work with the band, and their magnum opus through surrealism, hallucinations, and one man’s unending pursuit of his missing brother and his own stolen… er… masculine appendage.
Here’s the lyrics to the third track, “Broadway Melody of 1974.”
Echoes of the Broadway Everglades,
With her mythical madonnas still walking in their shades:
Lenny Bruce, declares a truce and plays his other hand.
Marshall McLuhan, casual viewin’, head buried in the sand.
Sirens on the rooftops wailing, but there’s no ship sailing.
Groucho, with his movies trailing, stands alone with his punchline failing.
Klu Klux Klan serve hot soul food and the band plays ‘In the Mood’
The cheerleader waves her cyanide wand, there’s a smell of
peach blossom and bitter almonde.
Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade,
he know in a scent,you can bottle all you made.
There’s Howard Hughes in blue suede shoes,
smiling at the majorettes smoking Winston Cigarettes.
And as the song and dance begins, the children play at home
with needles; needles and pins.
And it only gets stranger from there…
J.
Jay Tea,
I was never a huge Genesis fan – but “Lamb” would make my Top Eleven list for sure.
Wyatt,
As for choosing The Wall over Moon or Quadraphenia… I stand by my pick. But that certainly doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a lot of fine argument.
Good choices. Glad to see “Nightfly” in there. I’ve picked up only a few tracks by Fagan, but “New Frontier” and “Walk Between the Raindrops” touch my memories and emotions in a wonderful way. And “The Wall” was my soundtrack at UNC in 1982, and during my recent depression, there was comfort in “cold as a razor blade / tight as a tourniquet / dry as a funeral drum.”
So, let me blow my credibility and suggest Alice Coopers “Welcome to My Nightmare.” Horror by its nature is over the top, and Alice pushes all the right buttons for creepy songs like “Cold Ethel” and “Only Women Bleed.”
Wha? ‘Im Breathless’?
And I’d put ‘Animals’ and ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ ahead of ‘The Wall’, not that I think that ‘The Wall’ is bad, its just that the other two for the time were far ahead of what the wall eventually became, riding largely on what they learned from those two experiences.
( ok, one my last remaining LP’s is a bootleg from the London Concert of the “The Wall”.It Rocks…)
Now, did you consider and discard the following:
Beatles – Revolver
Beach Boys – ‘Pet Sounds’,
The Who – ‘Quadrophenia’,
Alan Parsons – ‘Pyramid’
Yes – Close to the Edge
Each of these are albums that shatter you idea of what music can be.
(And in the guilty pleasure column – Harry Nilsons – ‘Son of Dracula’. not shattering, but beats the hell out of “I’m Breathless”)
Bill, that’s probably Cooper’s best album — you don’t lose any credibility with me. In fact, it vied with “Seventh Son” for the hard rock spot on my list.
Had to go with Iron Maiden, simply because (I think) it’s an album with broader appeal. Also, I got to see them live on the promo tour the next summer. Never did get to see Alice live, poor me. Anyway, those two facts put Maiden over the top.
Yes, Frank, “I’m Breathless.” A great concept album doesn’t have to come just from the worlds of heavy metal or art- or prog-rock. In fact, branching out a bit makes picking The Greatest a lot more fun.
Then there’s this: Alan Parsons Project? Really?
Magnolia.
Ah, Magnolia. Not only is that a great album, but the movie was one of the most ambitious things I’ve seen in years. I absolutely love that movie.
Good call.
“One” is, as you say, better than the original and “Save Me” is utterly gorgeous. The best song on the album, for me, though is still “Wise Up.” That last line, where she whispers, almost seductively, “Just give up,” is one of the most surprising and painful moments of any song I’ve ever heard (and I know musical melodrama, I tell you).
That said, I would have put Bowie’s Rise and Fall on that list instead of I’m Breathless. But, hell, this isn’t my site, is it?
Zomby, my man, without at least one unsafe selection on the list, what would be the point?
Now get gramps a beer; I’m thirsty.
On a lighter note…
The Point by Harry Nilsson…
A great concept album doesn’t have to come just from the worlds of heavy metal or art- or prog-rock.
Heresy. Simply heresy…
Since I’m up working late tonight, anyway, you inspired me to break out the movie.
Thanks for the nudge, buddy.
And, yeah, you’re right. No point in playing it safe–that’d just be boring.
If you guys are gonna talk unsafe, then I would put forward (semi-seriously) Neil Diamond’s Tap Root Manuscript, mainly for the African Trilogy that takes up one side.
John,
Good point. For a similar reason, I almost went with Paul Simon’s “Graceland.” Only problem was, I wasn’t certain it counted as a concept album. Still one of my all-time faves, though.
Nelson Riddle effin’ ROCKS. I remember listening to “Frank Sinatra: The Capitol Years” and marveling at the arrangements, then reading the liner notes. I then went to Amazon and purchased several Nelson Riddle instrumental albums, and have never regretted it – he’s just fantastic.
Yeah. I wasn’t sure Tap Root Manuscript counted either, though the African Trilogy is clearly a the concept piece.
So what makes a concept album?
Does it count if only half (i.e., one side) is a concept piece? I had some doubts about putting 2112 on my list for that reason.
I love “Operation Mindcrime” by Queensryche, but I’m not sure if it’s up there with “Tommy”. “Porgy and Bess” by Miles Davis wouldn’t really count as a concept album would it?
How about some of the worst?
Styx – “Kilroy was here”
Kiss – “The Elder”
Domo arigato mister roboto. Domo. Domo…
Takes me right back to the early 80s.
Grand Illusion was the pinnacle of Styx for me. Not a concept album, but the A side was great.
Scott,
I’ve already assembled my list of Clunker Concepts, but I’m saving it for later.
As much as I love Yes, I would put “Tales From Topographic Oceans” on the clunker list…
You know its times like this that I fall back on the classics for inspiration.
Y’know, one day, Tito Puente will be dead, and you’ll say, “Oh, yes, I’ve been listening to his work for years.” Bill Murray -Stripes.
I can buy ‘the nightfly’, I can easily understand “the Wall’, Sinatra, well, ok, hed be good if he just lyrically recited the first chapter of ‘Chiltons small engine repair’, but “I’m breathless”? It does beg the question, if you had a 100 repsonses to this list, I wonder how many would have come up with it as well. The thing is, youre probably right and do I trust your stylistic instincts, because frankly, I have none of my own. My only real question and my only remaining “out” is to ask if its really a ‘concept album’ or just another attempt to capitalize on cross marketing of a rather oddly made and hard to describe movie of the early ’90s( shot in three primary colors to give it that authentic sunday cartoon feel, the movie version of ‘Dick Tracy’; a cartoon no one born after the initial cooling of the earths crust can remember reading in the first place…) see what I mean? Is ‘Im Breathless’ blatant cross marketing or does it stand on its own and how much different do you find it from her other works?
my idea of a concept album is something that is so far out that a first time artist could never get it made and is so far out that it usually drives the artist insane trying to create it and that when its heard in the context of the time it was originally released, it changes the way you think about music. A good concept album is ‘lightning in a bottle’, something that rewrites the rules changes the ideas for what you can do and what can be done in the genre.
Some concepts dont work for the origniating artist, but others take the idea and go further. But really great concepts can be found by how many others try to copy the concept, almost all failing to capture the original magic.
and I personally deeply thank you all for not mentioning ‘dexys midnight runners’.
It’s always interesting how one style or art form rises just after another has reached it’s artistic summit. The American popular song reached it’s apex with Sinatra; other great singers have appeared and will continue to do so, but nobody will replicate the artistry of Sintara’s classic Capitol releases. It really couldn’t be taken any further, which meant the time was right for good-lookin’ young man named Elvis to make popular for the masses music that African-American artists had been giving birth to. The old sound couldn’t be done any better, so in came the new.
Will,
I’m not sure whether to say “Amen!” or “Bravo!” so I’ll just say them both.
I wouldn’t expect most people to know this one, but Marillion’s Brave album is a brilliant concept album…it’s based on the story of a girl who committed suicide by jumping off a bridge, and the past that the band imagined for her. “Play it loud with the lights off.”
Ok, Ive rethought my “what about” list to now include artists out of my ‘comfy list’ and in some cases I really dont like but the album impresses me in the ‘greatest concept’ way as described by SG.
Springsteen – Nebraska
Tom Waits – Nighthawks at the Diner
Frank Zappa – Joes Garage.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by the Alan Parsons Project.
Music & Edgar Allan Poe!
Animals over The Wall.
Orff’s Carmina Burana & Holst’s The Planet as concepts, although too remote in the past for albums, as it were.
I’ve never much liked rock (with some exceptions for some punk and punk influenced stuff). So I’ll bring in some more genres and a little less male self-seriousness. Here are three that I’m pretty sure no other readers here would choose (I’ll bet that 99% haven’t even heard of a couple of them)
Love Unlimited – From a Girl’s Point of View We give you …
The first(?) album produced by Barry White features his girl group (headed by wife Glodean James). A bridge between motown smoothness and the later distinctive White sound, it loosely follows a woman from a failed relationship (I should have known) to the beginning of another (Another chance), the high of early love (If this world were mine, the only cover) and the first test which shows the protagonist’s growth (Walkin in the rain with the one I love (on my mind)). At it’s best it soars and floats and shimmers but always stops just this side of ‘too much’ (which cannot be said for the inside album artwork)
Millie Jackson – Caught Up
Previously a mid-range southern soul singer with a distinctive thick voice (which I first mistook for a man’s) Millie Jackson broke through to soul superstardom with this concept album (despite Stevie Wonder, soul in the 70′s was still single driven and an album that was a bigger hit than the sum of its singles was rare). The concept is an extramarital affair told from the girlfriend’s point of view leading to a confrontation with the wife when she decides she can’t share anymore (side one) and the wife’s acceptance that the marriage is over and that she has to get on with her life (side two). It starts with an excellent cover of ‘If loving you is wrong’ and ends (improbably) with a cover of the cheesy Bobby Goldsboro song ‘Summer (the first time)’, not a Jackson song in format, tune or temprement. nonetheless, she triumphs over it and makes it her own.
The biggest change from previous Jackson work however was the incorporation of spoken monologues (called ‘raps’ though they’re not what latter came to be called rap) over instrumental interludes. These had been a part of her live show but putting them on vinyl was an act of genius and are wickedly funny and (for the time) outrageous. Best line from this album is from the girlfriend on the advantages of being involved with a married man “you don’t have to wash nobody’s funky drawers but your own”.
Emmylou Harris “Roses in the snow” not my favorite Harris album (Luxury Liner holds that distinction) but still a remarkable work. The concept is all musical and not lyrical at all. Basically this was Ricky Scaggs’s last work with Harris before he became a solo act and he takes her deeper into country roots (esp bluegrass) than anything she previously did (the even cowgirls get the blues flirted heavily with the genre). Highlights include her remaking the Boxer as a bluegrass/carter family ode about wanderin’ poor boys, the dreamy “Miss the Mississippi” and “the Darkest hour” (perfection from beginning to end).
Syreeta Wright – Stevie Wonder presents Syreeta. I will never, ever, ever understand why this wasn’t one of the biggest albums of the year (74) or decade. Some people may have been put off by the concept, which is roughly “I’m stevie wonder’s ex-wife and he produces and co-writes my material” but I knew several people who bought it just because they heard a few minutes of my copy (different songs). Light, airy latter day motown in the stevie wonder vein but more playful and joyous (despite the occasional reflective moods) than anything he did on his own. Anyone who can listen to “Your kiss is sweet” and not leave the ground in sheer bliss is just too damned serious for their own good and that’s not even necessarily the best track.
I shall give you Sinatra without a second thought. However, I shall have to agree to disagree on the other four.
I shall give you Sinatra without a second thought. However, I shall have to agree to disagree on the other four.
I’ll have to join the chorus of “feh”s on “I’m Breathless”, and suggest in its place “Stormwatch” by Jethro Tull. Not quite as concept-y as “Aqualung” or “Thick As A Brick”, but some pretty good music. Besides, it’s fun to remind the eviro types that when I was a kid, aerosols were going to trigger another ice age…
“Darlings are you ready/For the long winter’s fall?/Said the lady in the parlour/said the butler in the hall.”
Stephen, how do you define “concept album” in this case? Some of us would consider a concept album to be one that is not only thematically consistent, but *continuous* expression of a musical & lyrical idea throughout the story. Albums like The Wall, or 2112, or Tommy are a continous expression.
If “concept album” simply means that all the songs share some theme, then *every* soundtrack is a concept album, and I’m sure it would be easy to name a boy band album where every track was about how much they love some girl. That hardly seems like a “concept” to me.
Criminal that you left Styx’ Kilroy Was Here off the list. Criminal. And Nighthawks at the Diner – that too shoulda been there.
You gotta do more thinking if you’re gonna hold it to five.
Ben
Good list.
Would have been better had you made it a top ten.
Would have been better still had you mentioned “Tommy”.
Great list. My first thought after reading it was: Queen’s “Night at the Opera”. Now that was a concept!
“The Hounds Of Love” is worth mentioning. Talk about unsafe though – people who don’t like Kate Bush really seem to hate her. Could Malcolm McLaren’s “Fans” be regarded as a concept album?
No Kinks?
VP 5 best concept albums
Vodkapundit has listed The Five Greatest Concept Albums Ever, Period.
It’s been mentioned but it bears repeating, Springsteens Nebraska. Stark and real. So far it has stood the test of time, much more so than the neuvo moonbat Springsteen who ranted against all things Bush at his last concert. $200 bucks for three hours of Michael Moore quality political insight.
I humbly suggest for consideration The Passengers’ “Original Soundtracks No. 1″ — U2′s side project in which they made an entire album of fake soundtrack pieces with Brian Eno.
For my money, one of the best concept albums *ever* was Ricki Lee Jone’s “Pirates.” It’s beyond merely evocative- it’s cinematic. You can see the wet, dark streets and smell the traffic on the wrong side of town…
I’m with you on Sinatra, Fagen(still a big favorite) and The Wall.
But what about Tommy(the Who), Sgt. Pepper(Beatles), Village Green Preservation Society(Kinks)….
So many more, so little time
Right on about “The Nightfly.” That album so captures the mood of the time, in the same way that “Dr. Strangelove” captures the Cold War paranoia and insanity better than any serious documentary can. But an even better set of lyrics is from the song “The Goodby Look” which takes place in Cuba, just as the Revolution is getting started, and could be a template for EVERY third world banana republic:
Wake up darling, they’re knocking,
The Colonel’s standing in the sun,
With his stupid face, the glasses, and the gun.
I’ve got to echo John Lanius here:
2112 by Rush. They are the best thing to EVER come out of Canada. The boys get no respect…
I’m with the Rush fans here, 2112 is the best long form multi-part song out there.
But on the Pink Floyd angle, noone has mentioned Amused to Death by Roger Waters, which (and I freely admit that I’m in the Waters camp in the feud between him and Gilmour) is the best Pink Floyd album since Dark Side. The thing I’ve always found amusing about it (especially after reading the reports that Gilmour hired Ezrin to make A Momentary Lapse of Reason sound more like a Pink Floyd album) is that after Waters came out with Amused, he demonstrated by example to Gilmour what a Pink Floyd album should sound like in the 1990′s and Gilmour soon after came out with The Division Bell, which to me is a poor man’s Amused.
Anyway, sorry about rambling, great list.
Definitely agree on Nightfly. Fagen did another concept album, Kamakiriad, which was, frankly, not good (I say this as a fanatical Steely Dan/Becker/Fagen-ista.) Don’t totally discount Becker, though. His one solo album, 11 Tracks of Whack, is great, I would say at least as good as Nightfly. Not really a concept album, but worth checking out. Fagen did have a hand in that one, though.
Time of the Preacher – Willie Nelson – “you can’t hang a man for shooting a woman who was trying to steal his horse”
Oops…Red Headed Stranger is the albumn name Time of the Preacher is the first song.
Yep, “Red Headed Stranger” belongs solidly on any list based on the “‘concept album’ simply means that all the songs share some theme” notion.
As for albums which put forward important musical concepts, Brub@ck’s “Time Out” would lead the list. Like Hot Rod magazine’s XR6 project it was too great an advance to have the impact it should have.
The at sign is there because the filter spotted a banned word in the middle of the name.
What, nothing for Wakefield’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth?”
“But without Nelson Riddle, the whole project might have been doomed.”
Being forced to work with Mitch Miller probably did Sinatra more harm than choosing to associate with mobsters.
Concept Albums
From VodkaPundit, on his choices for the five greatest concept albums: Also, it was a tough choosing between Floyd’s “The Wall” and “The Dark Side of the Moon.” It came down to this. “Moon” has neverending stoner appeal, but I…
Tonights the Night Neil Young
What better concept than cutting an album in one night? Involving something that had not happened until today.
Nice idea for a list. Some thoughts . . .
I love Nightfly. I haven’t listened to it in a while and will dig it out when I am done here. I would not include it, however, in the best concept albums ever.
Same for Magnolia.
Without question, for me, the nod goes to the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Pure genious.
I would take Tommy over Quadrophenia.
Personally, I would put Amused to Death on the list. It was nice to see it mentioned. Realistically, Dark Side of the Moon should probably be on the list.
I really like the mention of Tonight’s the Night. Given the original cut of the album would be even better.
I like Sinatra and will need to check out Songs for Swingin’ Lovers.
Sgt. Peppers deserves more respect. From the same year, how about the Moody Blues Days of Future Passed?
There’s always Wakeman’s The Six Wives of King Henry VIII.
But I wouldn’t put it on a Top 5 list.
“Being forced to work with Mitch Miller probably did Sinatra more harm than choosing to associate with mobsters.”
And the story is that Frank *hated* Mitch Miller with a passion that he usually reserved for newspaper reporters.
Sorry Dude- Technically “Operation Mindcrime” by Queensryche blows them all away. Since maybe 2 people here have heard of it, I’ll forgive you for staying mainstream. Peppers, Wall, and everything Fegan wrote qualify well.
–Songs for Swingin’ Lovers—
My dad was a teenager. I think this is the album which turned him into a life-long Sinatra fan – not of the man, but his music.
We all cried when he went.
My 1st concert was Frank in ’74 at a now long-gone popular Chicago venue and I can’t remember the name. Maybe the Stadium.
Owen: Agree on Kate. I’ve borrowed someone else’s (forget who) description of her voice as “Minnie Mouse on helium.” Not sure how I’d describe her if I didn’t like her…
Erbo: “Brave” is my favorite album. Period. I simply can’t stop the eyes from tearing up a bit at the lines in ‘The Great Escape’ where she confronts her father…
Not that any of them would belong in a top-five list, but extra credit for the following for quantity, if nothing else:
Savatage – 3 or 4 concept albums, plus their two ‘christmas’ concept albums under the Trans-Siberian Orchestra name.
Nightingale – First four albums all continue the same story. And it’s a former death-metaller (Dan Swano) doing Marillion-ish neo-progressive music. He’s got all the boxes checked…
Ayreon – five albums, all concepts, 3 of them two-disc sets. Mostly in the rock-opera style with individual vocalists for different parts. Also did a ‘sci-fi-movie tribute album’ under the name Star One. Really just one guy (Arjen Anthony Lucassen) with lots of guest musicians & vocalists.
What about _The Commercial Album_ by The Residents?
doug
Another Brick in…
The Wall. Damn straight.
“my idea of a concept album is something that is so far out that a first time artist could never get it made and is so far out that it usually drives the artist insane trying to create it and that when its heard in the context of the time it was originally released, it changes the way you think about music.”
Okay: “Freak Out”, Frank Zappa, 1966. (This is also the first double album in rock history.) The only criterion mentioned above that’s questionable in “Freak Out” is no. 2 (“…drives the artist insane…”), and only because it’s arguable whether Frank wasn’t at least halfway down that road all his life. Whatever the case was, however, Frank knew it about himself, and it never got in the way of his self-confidence.
But it was the first “concept album” in rock history and I, for one, have never gotten over it.
Saw one mention. Sgt. Pepper has to be on the list.
Sinatra not only had the good sense to use Nelson Riddle, he also used Billy May.
Listen to Riddle or May’s work without vocalists to appreciate how good they really were.
Thanks to the post who mentioned Billy May, whose daughter was a close friend of mine. According to her, Billy would be writing the charts for the orchestra on the way to the gig!
Good choices, but I do have an annoying quibble. I don’t think Songs for Swinging Lovers really qualifies as the “first” concept album. (Although it is fer shure dude one of my favorites) I think Frank (and Nelson’s) In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning deserves that honor because it came out first. In the Wee Small Hours follows a more melancholy theme (which Frank repeated with great success later on with “Only the Lonely” and “No One Cares”) throughout. If y’all don’t have that album/disc, get it! It’s a masterpiece. (Note to Stephen: In the Wee Small Hours makes great baby bedtime listening music. It’s one of several selections I rotate in the cd player in my son’s room when we put him to bed.)
That’s interesting that so many of you find The Wall to be about “youthful defiance.” For me, it was always about one very miserable person trying to hold on to his sanity. I listened to it daily when I was going through a major depression in high school. It spoke to me in a way no band could till I discovered the Smiths.
Here’s a few more humble recommendations:
Come Fly with Me. Don’t forget Frank’s other legendary arranger–Billy May. Just try to keep that fanny from jiggling when you listen to Brazil.
The Intimate Ella. Just Ella Fitzgerald and a piano. Divine. (Another great baby bedtime album.)
Perfectly Frank. Tony Bennett’s loving homage to Frank. Bennett was/has been producing a string of great concept albums beginning in the 1990s.
Fascinating selections. It’s good to keep an open mind about these kinda things….
My suggestions:
Rush: 2112
#1 with no discussion.
Queensryche: Operation Mindcrime
Underrated band’s adumbrative CD.
Dream Theater: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (the 2nd disc)
Anything by them is epic. Amazing range.
Fates Warning: A Pleasant Shade of Grey
Minimalist and moody.
thankyouverymuchGOODNIGHT!
What’s an album?
Anyway, how about Husker Du’s Zen Arcade?
Not their best music, but that seems to be fairly typical of the concept album effort for most artists. Should qualify as the best “alternative” concept album at least.
If we’re mentioning Dream Theater (which, as a DJ on their fan radio station, I support), we should mention their actual concept album, Metropolis Part II: Scenes From a Memory. (Part one was a single song on another disc.)
Though I suppose the 40-minute track on “Six Degrees” is as long as the old vinyl-days concept albums like Thick As A Brick or Remember The Future, so we could count it. Especially if we keep trying to count 2112…
You all owe it to yourselves to listen to Brian Wilson’s Smile!. Set aside an hour with no distractions, pour a glass of your favorite adult beverage, sit back in a comfy chair, and give it a spin.
The smartest thin\g frank ever did was teaming up with Nelson Riddle!
I have to agree with Iron Maiden. I’d add Queensryche – Operation: Mindcrime, Marillion – Misplaced Childhood, KISS – Music From The Elder and Trans Siberian Orchestra.
I see no mention of “The Wiz”.
I must now go stick my finger down my throat.
If we’re talking Husker Du, then it’s New Day Rising (concept: a new day rising for intelligent punk, it didn’t last long [approximately unitl d. boone died] but was great while it lasted.)
and since someone brought up punk sensibilities …
Minutemen: double nickles on the dime – i’m not sure about the concept (speed limits and music don’t mix?) but as great as american music can be.
Or three albums by X (with their respective concepts)
Wild Gift : the natural home of american punk sensibilities is not with art school hipsters or rebellious suburbanites, but with american semi-urban white trash.
Under the big black sun : death, death and more death, oh and some sex and alcohol before we get to the death, did I mention we’re gonna die? probably in a car crash?
More fun in the new world : it was better before before they voted for what’s his name (and don’t I know it).
And whatever Pink Floyd was about, it wasn’t teenage angst/rebellion. For my money, the best teenage angst album (for those who survived it) was Let it be by the Replacements.
For my money, the concept album debate begins and ends with Quadrophenia.
First, from the “Too Much Information on the Internet Department” here’s a Wikipedia compilation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concept_albums
Otherwise, this wasn’t as fun as I first thought it would be.
In fact, now that I think of it the only concept albums I really respect are Pink Floyd’s (i.e., Roger Waters’). Believe it or not I’d say Final Cut was his best concept. I know, 99% of Floyd fans don’t give Cut any credit at all. But seriously reconsider the lyrics and the story; it’s a brilliant bookend to The Wall (even if David Gimour once mocked Cut as being the leftovers that didn’t make it onto Wall).
Sorry, I can’t muster up much enthusiasm for The Wall anymore. Maybe it’s just too damn overexposed. Maybe I remember how the burnout crowd adopted it and made Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 (“We don’t need no education….”) into their anthem – ironically, because Waters wrote that song and most of the album out of frustration with the “fans” who missed everything he was trying to communicate.
Operation Mindcrime, Queensryche: every song is perfect musically. But let’s be honest, the “concept” (alienated street kids manipulated and used by the powers that be) is pretty darn sophomoric. The Warning was much better; it’s basically the Terminator as a metal album (and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it partly influenced The Matrix).
2112 (side one), Rush: musically it’s the band at its hardest, and it inspired later groups from Metallica to Queensryche. It rocks, it tells an interesting story. But please spare me the encounters with other Rush fans who drone on about how it was their passport into half-baked Ayn Rand worship.
Otherwise I’ll give the usual nods to Quadrophenia and Tommy (even if the movies sucked), Aqualung, and Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Also, Robbie Robertson’s Storyville.
Sometimes I forget just how old all y’all are. Two soundtracks (although Magnolia is admittedly awesome), The Floyd, Donald Fagen, and Sinatra? You rawk, gramps.
Radiohead, OK Computer
Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral
Eels, Electro-shock Blues
Ice Cube, Death Certificate
And the Kinks Village Green Preservation Society is great if you just have to have something archaic.
I totally agree on Sgt. Pepper’s, too. I much prefer Abbey Road or the white album.
Frank, above, mentions Queen’s A Night at the Opera. As much as I love it (and almost every other Queen album) with a passion, I’d say it’s not a concept album. However, I would have included Queen II on the list! Side White and Side Black — brilliant…
Love the list, Stephen. I’d substitute “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music” by Ray Charles for either soundtrack though.
Going back a little further:(1)Bobby”Blue” Bland,”Two Steps From The Blues”;(2)Duke Ellington.”Virgin Island Suite”;(3)Duke again. “Black and Tan Fantasy”;(4)Stan Getz/Charlie Bird.”Jazz Samba”;(5)Miles Davis.”Porgy and Bess”;(6)Miles agin.”Kind of Blue”;(7)Jonny Hodges,”In A Tender Mood”(it swings hard);(8)Jackie Gleason conducting,(believe it or not)”Night Winds”(songs for lovers);(9)The Who,”Tommy”;(10)Its A Beautiful Day,”Its A Beautiful Day”(just re-released)
My list would certainly include Fagen and Sinatra (though “Songs For Only the Lonely” might be my choice over “Swinging Lovers”), and “The Wall” is pure brilliance. But Madonna? I think I’d take XTC’s “Skylarking” over the frickin’ “Dick Tracy” soundtrack… Brilliant song cycle, excellent writing, flawless production.
By the way, Aimee Mann’s new album (The Forgotten Arm) is really good and also a concept album.
And if the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime is a concept album (I don’t think so) then it’s the best ever.
Okay, then. For a definition of the above standard, try “Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music” by Ray Charles. A record that never would have been made without Charles’ prior success, and which proved that soul/blues/jazz and country/western were singing from the same hymnal but just at a different beat. And it is wall-to-wall awesome.
Chris, if you’re going to suggest Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood, how about Clutching At Straws? That’s an album all about bars and drinking…When I ripped it to MP3, I did the first three tracks, “Hotel Hobbies,” “Warm Wet Circles,” and “That Time Of The Night,” as one file, because they have to be listened to in sequence…kind of like “Kayleigh” and “Lavender” from Misplaced Childhood. (Incidentally, Hogarth’s version of those two tracks, on the live album Made Again, is really good…and the entire second disc of that album is Brave done live in Paris all the way through. A must find for true Freaks.)
Personally, I like “Dark Side of the Moon” better that “The Wall” which maybe was a “concept” album, but it’s a more than tedious album.
On the other hand it has been said ..
What do Dale Earnhardt and Pink Floyd have in common ? Their last hit was the wall.
I have to agree with Chris and Erbo – if we’re talking about concept albums, we have to go back to prog-rock, and we’re going back to prog-rock then have to go back to the 1980s, and inevitably Marillion, and even more inevitably “Misplaced Childhood”. Still gives me shivers, 20 years after I first heard it played in full on Polish radio (commies didn’t care much for intellectual property laws).
1) Ziggy Stardust
2) Ambassador Satch — Louis Armstrong as ambassador behind the Iron Curtain, now that’s a concept!
3-5) Pick whatever, I’m still listening to 1 & 2
Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche should definitely be on this list as mentioned by many previous posts. Lyrics, music, and storyline all as good as it gets.
Also, not sure if concept, but for an absolute complete album of well-crafted songs which flow seemlessly together, you can’t beat Don Henley’s End of the Innocence from 1986.
Murder Ballads by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Obscure, and very bleak, but wonderful.
Erbo, I like Clutching At Straws, but Misplaced Childhood just carries more weight with me. I was considering giving Dream Theater’s Metropolis an honorable mention, but I was never really impressed with the story. It just seemed to be their attempt to recreate the movie Dead Again. Although, the music is some their best, the lyrics left me wanting.
Considering that concept albums are one of the things that ruined rock and roll, it’s tough to even encourage this. Nevertheless, agreeing emphatically with Songs for Swinging Lovers, and disagreeing just as emphatically with everything else you listed:
1) The Who Sell Out
2) Rubber Soul (whose concept is, hey, you know what, we’re not just a skiffle band playing for 13-year-old girls any more, we can actually sing about real stuff like going home with arty chicks and not getting laid [Norwegian Wood])
3) The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
4) Doug by The Coolies (Athens band nobody ever heard of does nasty parodies of The Who, REM, John Lennon, Floyd, etc. in the context of a new wave rock opera)
You might also want to check out a concept album put out (I think) in 1958 – “Fancy Meeting You Here” with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, also aided and abetted by Billy May and his orchestra.
Aaron – I hear you about “Kamakiriad”. The problem is, it’s tough to be objective about it when you’re just so damn glad to hear something new after 11 years of silence.
To support Stephen Green’s choice of Songs For Swinging Lovers over other Sinatra albums, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”(from this album) was voted by Sinatra’s fans as their all time favorite Sinatra song.
CONCEPTUAL
Wot, no Sgt Pepper??? Vodkapundit chooses his five greatest concept albums of all time. I’m glad to see Sinatra made the cut. Stevie Wonder would be guaranteed a place on my list, but I’ll have to think hard about the
Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.
OT, but anyone who wonders what Walter Becker contributed to Steely Dan should check out his solo album, 11 Tracks of Whack. The Nightfly and Kamakiriad are relatively optimistic albums IMO compared to many of the Steely Dan albums, but 11 Tracks of Whack is pretty high up on the bitter cynical side of the scale.
Great call on “The Nightfly”, one of my alltime faves, and on “The Wall” and Sinatra. On a similar note, you could’ve picked another Fagen-involved production, “Gaucho”, which is outstanding.
And I’ve got to go along with those who nominated “Quadrophenia.” It’s one of those long albums that when I want to hear it, I need to set aside 2 hours so I can enjoy it all sans interruptions.
The Kinks: Schoolboys in disgrace (but there are so many they did).
Fred Eaglesmith: Dusty – “The Texas is wearing off – of your leather boots, You’re just dusty, there’s flies on you” Puts Nebraska to shame.
I always thought of Aqualung more of a two-concept album, but why not Too Old to Rock and Roll?
Would the Who’s Sell Out count?
In the spirit of concept albums that one might not think as such, I would add “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye, where he merged 60′s “protest” lyrics with a 70′s soul sound. A true classic.
Johnny Cash- Bitter Tears (how did everyone forget this?)
Marvin Gaye-what’s going on
David Bowie- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
Lou Reed -Magic and Loss
Baech Boys- Pet Sounds
Kate Bush-Hounds of Love
Songs in the Key of Life. But probably not obvious enough for this crowd.
http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/948-.html
Bush’s Biggest Failure: Managing the press and public opinion – I agree with the Prof.Thomas Sowell turned 75 and reviews the travails of those years.The US-India Defence Pact: Under-reported important event, in Winds of Change: Click here: Winds of Chang
Period my ass.
No top five concept album list should include any jazz (I have a degree in jazz composition, so “I am NOT the man with whom to fuck” (I love Ron Pearlman)).
“Concept Albums” are a rock phenomenon, and that’s just that. PERIOD!
Nobody mentioned “Jesus Christ, Superstar”. Pssssh.
Quadrophenia was the most well executed of the genera.
I hate slumming.
Oh yeah, check out my music blog. ;^)
I see from the comments that the greater list is all over the place. I think the definition of a concept album is this: Rather than use the vinyl to record 8 to 12 seperate concepts, the songs,(even if they have a common theme), the band uses the vinyl as the canvas for their single concept. In that light, I have to think that Steve Miller’s first album Children of the Future is one of the first concept albums. On your list, although I like some of the albums, I think none but the Wall and perhaps Magnolia are concept albums. Good subject though.
All The Best Cowboys Are On The Dark Side Of The Moon With Layla
“There is no argument by which one can defend a poem. It defends itself by surviving, or it is indefensible.”–George Orwell Stephen Green of VodkaPundit recently posted his list of his favorite concept albums. I’ll argue in a moment with…
All The Best Cowboys Are On The Dark Side Of The Moon With Layla
“There is no argument by which one can defend a poem. It defends itself by surviving, or it is indefensible.”–George Orwell Stephen Green of VodkaPundit recently posted his list of his favorite concept albums. I’ll argue in a moment…
All The Best Cowboys Are On The Dark Side Of The Moon With Porgy And Layla
“There is no argument by which one can defend a poem. It defends itself by surviving, or it is indefensible.”–George Orwell Stephen Green of VodkaPundit recently posted his list of his favorite concept albums. I’ll argue in a moment…
All The Best Cowboys Are On The Dark Side Of The Moon With Porgy And Layla
“There is no argument by which one can defend a poem. It defends itself by surviving, or it is indefensible.”–George Orwell Stephen Green of VodkaPundit recently posted his list of his favorite concept albums. I’ll argue in a moment…
All The Best Cowboys Are On The Dark Side Of The Moon With Porgy And Layla
“There is no argument by which one can defend a poem. It defends itself by surviving, or it is indefensible.”–George Orwell Stephen Green of VodkaPundit recently posted his list of his favorite concept albums. I’ll argue in a moment…
All The Best Cowboys Are On The Dark Side Of The Moon With Porgy And Layla
“There is no argument by which one can defend a poem. It defends itself by surviving, or it is indefensible.”–George Orwell Stephen Green of VodkaPundit recently posted his list of his favorite concept albums. I’ll argue in a moment…
All The Best Cowboys Are On The Dark Side Of The Moon With Porgy And Layla
“There is no argument by which one can defend a poem. It defends itself by surviving, or it is indefensible.”–George Orwell* Stephen Green of VodkaPundit recently posted his list of his favorite concept albums. I’ll argue in a moment…
ELO: Time
I’d take ELO’s “Eldorado” over “Time” any day. Also, I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Tom Waits’ “Franks Wild Years” yet.
And if “song cycles” of thematically similar tracks are enough to be considered cencept albums, then I’d also recommend the best evocation of the cultural underbelly of the American Southwest ever assembled, Wall of Voodoo’s “Call of the West” — “Mah home, it might as well just be a cave…”
Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here is a much better album in pretty much every way to The Wall, and covers much the same themes to boot. Both feature some first-class guitar work from David Gilmore, but The Wall leans a little to long and too often on the ‘narcissistic temper tantrum’ button for my taste.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer “Brain Salad Surgery”
Period.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer “Brain Salad Surgery”
Period.
Bah!
You left off Skylarking by XTC. The only potential clunker on the album is “Dear God.”
No discussion involving which Pink Floyd concept album rocks above the others would be complete without a bid for ‘the Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking’.
Not a Floyd album you say? blasphemy.
One thing that has come to light after reading this list and the many insightful replies that followed is that nobody can agree on what makes a concept album. For me, it is about narrative. A story in the traditional sense that is told over the course of the record. It also helps if the narrative is expressed musically as well, with the repetition and variation of musical themes and motifs throughout much as an opera is composed. For this reason my top 5 is: The Wall, Quadrophenia, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Joe