Concept Albums...

[Tips_of_Fingers]

...What do people make of these?

I personally thing they're a pretty good idea; I always stand by the idea that an album should be viewed as a whole (even though after listening to a whole album once i rarely do again unless it's considered a "concept album")
My problem with concept albums is that although I really like the idea of them and generally the lyrics/themes they play with I find I can't listen to them because of the way they're delivered (mainly the vocals)

Examples would be:

Protest The Hero - Kezia (although I'm slowly beginning to like it)

Buried Inside - Chronoclast (a prime example of a very lyrically impressive and intelligent concept album delivered in a horribly screamy way)

Anything by Coheed and Cambria (I tried very much to like them but couldn't bring myself to do it because the vocals annoy the fuck outta me)

*Ahem* so yeah...any thoughts? I'd also appreciate it if anyone could suggest any concept albums for me to check out.

EDIT: sorry, had to change my grammar.

 

[jackanderson]

My problem with concept albums is that I have no clue what's going on. Songs are what I listened to, I never notice that there's an actual story. Hell, I only found out a couple of months ago that American Idiot was a concept album!

So, yeah. Concept albums are lost on me.

 

[the Dept of Science]

I'll say the same response that I give for most questions along the lines of "do you think x is good in music?"

That response is... it depends whether it is used well or poorly. No one element is necessary or sufficient for a good peice of music. Some concept albums are really great, a tonne of them have probably been lost to history, some of them you may not even realise are concept albums (all of Metallicas albums have some sort of central theme for example). Great concept albums stand shoulder to shoulder with any other great album that I can think of, the fact that they are a concept album does't necessarily make them any better or sore.

They went out of fashion for a very long while after punk came along in the late 70s and put a stop to all the prog-rock sillyness (not saying all prog rock is silly, but there was definately a very overblown side to some of it). Its come back into fashion recently however, possibly due to the fact that prog rock is coming back into style somewhat, its influence being felt in both the metal and indie communities.

Some good concept albums of the past few years:
The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monae (inspired by Metropolis, about an android from the future)
The Monitor - Titus Andronicus (about the American Civil war)
Leviathan - Mastodon (based on Moby Dick). All their albums are concept albums I think
A Grand Don't Come for Free - The Streets (about losing £1000)
Illinois/Michigan - Sufjan Stevens (his plan was to do an album about each one of the States, however he only did 2 in the end, he also did a 4 CD Christmas album)
The Hazards of Love - The Decemberists (a full blown indie-rock opera, with recurring characters and a proper plot)
Hospice - The Antlers (about a loved one dying in a hospice)
69 Love Songs - The Magnetic Fields (as it says on the tin, however, nowhere near as cliched or dull as the title may lead you to believe, would really recommend it)
Funeral by Arcade Fire (about living in a post apocalypse)
Trapped in the Closet - R. Kelly

This may be an interesting read to some people...

http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/6188-assemble-the-musicians/

 

[tigermilk]

Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd and Ok Computer by Radiohead are two of the greatest albums ever, and all the better for being hugely ambitous concept albums. The Wall by Pink Floyd on the other hand was rather self indulgent and shit.

I think concept albums have the chance to be greater than the some of their parts, on the other hand they can be really shitty like all albums.

EDIT: As above pointed out A Grand Don't Come For Free certainly has its moments (even if the video for 'blinded by the lights' seemed to try to hide the fact the song was about ecstacy).

 

[unicron44]

Coheed and Cambria is probably my favorite band. You can listen to their music and never know there is a giant story going on. I've actually took the time and listened to all the albums in order of the story and read the comics. 2112 by Rush is very kick ass too.

All in all I like concept albums.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I love concept albums. I didn't know any of the screamier bands did them, though. Look into progressive rock, progressive metal, and power metal concept albums. Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were both concept albums, as are rock operas in general, so that includes Tommy, Quadrophenia, and the entire output of Avantasia. There's also bands like like Rhapsody of Fire and Iron Savior, who tend to put out multiple concept albums set in the same universe all the time.


I assume you know about Pink Floyd and The Who, so here's links to examples of the other groups -- not that you get the full effect without the full album.

Spoiler: Avantasia

Spoiler: Rhapsody of Fire

Actually, after listening to that song, Iron Savior's vocals may be a bit harsher than you're looking for, but these three bands should be a good starting place for finding concept albums that you would like.

 

[DJDarque]

Anything by Coheed and Cambria (I tried very much to like them but couldn't bring myself to do it because the vocals annoy the fuck outta me)

*Ahem* so yeah...any thoughts? I'd also appreciate it if anyone could suggest any concept albums for me to check out.

I used to feel like you do about Coheed and Cambria, but they have grown to be one of my favorite bands. Crazy.

I'm having a difficult time focusing my thoughts to explain why I like them (been up so long), but I really do enjoy the good concept album.

Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory by Dream Theater
This album is an absolute must check out for concept albums.

 

[xmbts]

I like a good central theme.

Spoiler: Plus these guys do it.

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd and Ok Computer by Radiohead are two of the greatest albums ever, and all the better for being hugely ambitous concept albums. The Wall by Pink Floyd on the other hand was rather self indulgent and shit.

I think concept albums have the chance to be greater than the some of their parts, on the other hand they can be really shitty like all albums.

You know what, they had completely slipped my mind...This distresses me

>.<

They went out of fashion for a very long while after punk came along in the late 70s and put a stop to all the prog-rock sillyness (not saying all prog rock is silly, but there was definately a very overblown side to some of it). Its come back into fashion recently however.

Some good concept albums of the past few years:
The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monae (inspired by Metropolis, about an android from the future)
The Monitor - Titus Andronicus (about the American Civil war)
Leviathan - Mastodon (based on Moby Dick). All their albums are concept albums I think
A Grand Don't Come for Free - The Streets (about losing £1000)

Ha, your prog-rock comment amused me.

And I think you may be right about Mastodon, although I only own Blood Mountain.
The Streets are pretty good and that album never occurred to me as being a concept album. As for the others, I shall check them out as soon as I can.

Thanks!

EDIT: Dream Theater and Gorillaz are definitely good examples...and i enjoy them ^.^

 

[fullbleed]

One thing that I've been listening to a lot recently is HEALTH Disco2, it's a collection of remixes by loads of other bands of their second album with a few originals thrown in there, and I guess it could concievably be called a concept album.

HEALTH is a noise rock band from California, they're got a really great sound because most of their tracks are a real assault with their huge waves of noise crashing on you. Screaching, tortured guitars and distorted synths add an incredibly energy to the songs, but the druming keeps such a good sense of rhythm and it stays contant all the way through. You could imagine it being so easy for the drums to follow the same way and be pure noise, but it adds a level of control to otherwise chaos, honestly they may be my favourite drumer ever. And then there's the vocals, there's a huge juxtaposition between these blasts of sound and these surprisingly soft spoken almost melodic vocals. Its really quite strange and yet brillaint, as though you can say more with a whisper than a shout. A lot of it is almost quite dancy or pop like in a way, they can have a great dance beat going and then chuck fuck tons of distortion and noise on it, almost for shits and giggles.

But Disco2 is a very different sound, the tracks are remixed but tons of different artists with the likes of Salem and Crystal Castles and Pictureplane. They strip away a lot of the noise and try to bring the vocals to forefront in most occassions. Some tracks become more pop or dance and other become pure trance/shoe gaze (shoecore in way). Its sort of like adapting the songs to conventionaly fit the vocals. It remains very experimental though, it in no way is turned into a mainstream experience by being remixed like this. It's very enjoyable though, it becomes a new way to experience HEALTH's music, it's just interesitng to hear another artist's take on someone else's sound. Lots of slow, methodic, 6 min+ tracks and the whole album has more than 24 tracks. The clue is in the title, Disco2. This is the second 'Disco' album they've done and the remixes this time are all from the second album 'Get Color'. 'Get Color' only has 9 tracks on it so virtually every song is remixed at least twice so you can have 3 different interpretations by 3 artists of one song.

It's just really good, so yeah HEALTH - Disco2. Check them out if you want, they're on spotify if you have it. Otherwise try youtube, google wont get you much unfortuantely because the band is called HEALTH so... lots of unrelated results.

EDIT: Actually I may have completely misinterpreted what a concept album means and simply posted an album that's weird. STILL CHECK THEM OUT! HEALTH!

 

[Valkyrie101]

I think they can be pretty cool if done right. See Sabaton's The Art of War.

 

[the Dept of Science]

-snip-

Ha, your prog-rock comment amused me.

And I think you may be right about Mastodon, although I only own Blood Mountain.
The Streets are pretty good and that album never occurred to me as being a concept album. As for the others, I shall check them out as soon as I can.

If you want some more suggestions, I have expanded the original post somewhat.

 

[tigermilk]

Autobahn and Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk also warrant mentioning in terms of great concept albums.

 

[tomtom94]

I can take or leave concept albums but each song should be able to stand on its own merits.

Green Day did this well with American Idiot (which featured almost entirely good) and somewhat less well with 21st Century Breakdown (which featured some great music and some really shitty stuff)

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

I love concept albums. I didn't know any of the screamier bands did them, though. Look into progressive rock, progressive metal, and power metal concept albums. Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were both concept albums, as are rock operas in general, so that includes Tommy, Quadrophenia, and the entire output of Avantasia. There's also bands like like Rhapsody of Fire and Iron Savior, who tend to put out multiple concept albums set in the same universe all the time.


I assume you know about Pink Floyd and The Who, so here's links to examples of the other groups -- not that you get the full effect without the full album.

Spoiler: Avantasia

Spoiler: Rhapsody of Fire

Actually, after listening to that song, Iron Savior's vocals may be a bit harsher than you're looking for, but these three bands should be a good starting place for finding concept albums that you would like.

You misunderstand, I like screaming vocals....if anything, it's the power metal high-pitched wailing that I can't really stand. Sorry but I've never really been into metal/power metal or any sort of metal sub-genre. my preferred genre would be very shouty punk and hardcore (obviously i'm not JUST into that). I preferred Iron Saviour out of the 3 you suggested though... they're nowhere near as "harsh" as some vocals of bands i listen too, but for me there can be TOO MUCH screaming (as with Buried Inside). I appreciate your attempts though so thank you!

 

[Tips_of_Fingers]

I can take or leave concept albums but each song should be able to stand on its own merits.

Green Day did this well with American Idiot (which featured almost entirely good) and somewhat less well with 21st Century Breakdown (which featured some great music and some really shitty stuff)

21st Century Breakdown is terrible. And I only found American Idiot to have a few good songs, Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday and St. Jimmy. I still went to see them in Milton Keynes though because I have a love of their old albums....

 

[diggy140892]

Linkin Parks new album is kinda like a concept album and I really like it, I'm well aware I'm about to recieve lots of abuse for saying I like Linkin Park but on this new album they really have tried something different and I think it works.

 

[Samwise137]

Although I can never tell when a record is one of concept, I love them once I figure out the theme. My first student film was The Amory Wars (the plot of the Coheed & Cambria records) between YOTBR and SSTB and it came out wonderfully. Some of my favorite concept records include:

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Coheed & Cambria - The Amory Wars (ie. all of them)
Panic! At the Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
The Who - Tommy & Quadrophenia
Pink Floyd - The Wall

and the list goes on.

 

[vanthebaron]

Blind Guardian's Nightfall in Middle-Earth is a concept album based for of "The Silmarillion" (the prequel of the hobbit and LotR telling the history of Middle-Earth The One Ring)

 

[Klumpfot]

I like Catch-33 by Meshuggah. It's basically one 40+ minute song, split up into several tracks. The lyrics deal primarily with paradoxes and contradictions. Not an easy listen, but if you are into some more extreme stuff, you might like it. It's basically one big polymetric circus.

Oh, and their EP "I". One song, unbroken, 21 minutes long. Fantastic lyrics. Buy.