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)

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....

21st Century: For sure, nothing can forgive Last Night On Earth, Restless Heart Syndrome or See The Light, but I still love Viva La Gloria, Before the Lobotomy, Know Your Enemy, East Jesus Nowhere, Peacemaker...there's some good stuff on there.

American Idiot: I agree to a point, but while those are definitely the best, the other songs aren't nearly as bad as those on 21stCB. That's what I meant by "good" music, as opposed to "great".

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Mastodon's Crack The Skye is awesome, especially live. That was seriously trippy shit.

It has a weird plot, but it's damn cool (it's about astral travel and Rasputin. Badass.).

 

[Ekonk]

Definitely check out The Hazards of Love by the Decemberists.

Seriously awesome shit.

 

[GrindBass]

One of my favourite albums is a concept album - 'The Human Equation' by Ayreon. It (very) basically tells the story of a guy in a coma trying to work out what happened. Doesn't hurt that it's some great prog metal too

 

[Gaderael]

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)

Damn it! I didn't think I'd get ninja'd with "Nightfall In Middle Earth".

I love concept albums. I love a good story.

Cradle Of Filth have done this on several occasions. For example their albums "Cruelty and the Beast" which was based on Elizabeth Bathory, the Countess who was accused of torturung and murdering hundreds of girls and bathing in their blood to stay young and beautiful, and "Godspeed On the Devil's Thunder", which is based on Gilles de Rais. Gilles de Rais, seigneur et baron de Rais (1404 to 1440) was a Breton knight, a leader in the French army and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known as a prolific serial killer of children (thanks Wikipedia).

 

[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)

Damn it! I didn't think I'd get ninja'd with "Nightfall In Middle Earth".

do I get a cookie for that?

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

A concept album can make me love a band I previously hated, if done correctly.

Once I figured out Coheed and Cambria's albums were concept albums, I started listening to them.

My favorite concept album is probably Ludo's Broken Bride EP. Its about a time traveler who wants to go back in time to save his wife, but goes to far and reaches the dinosaur times where he hides in a cave from pterodactyls. Meanwhile, in his normal time, the Biblical apocalypse starts and he comes back to save it by using his pterodactyls to fight dragons. Yeah. Its fucking awesome. Also, the last song, Morning in May, will bring you to tears. It will make grown men cry. You should all go listen to it now.

Some other notable concept albums are: Any of Cradle of Filth's concept albums (Cruelty and the Beast, Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder to name two), Avantasia's Metal Opera, and anything by Pain of Salvation.

Cradle Of Filth have done this on several occasions. For example their albums "Cruelty and the Beast" which was based on Elizabeth Bathory, the Countess who was accused of torturung and murdering hundreds of girls and bathing in their blood to stay young and beautiful, and "Godspeed On the Devil's Thunder", which is based on Gilles de Rais. Gilles de Rais, seigneur et baron de Rais (1404 to 1440) was a Breton knight, a leader in the French army and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known as a prolific serial killer of children (thanks Wikipedia).

Damn it. Ninja'd.

 

[Wiiiiiiilliam]

Concept Albums > Regular Albums

 

[IxionIndustries]

I've always thought that certain albums can tell a story. Some are more or less obvious than others. My most notable example would be the Demon Days album from the Gorillaz. I always figured it was about some excessively capitalistic city that began to exert it's power where it never should have, and thus caused an apocalypse upon itself.

 

[Lukeje]

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)

That's strange; I found exactly the opposite (maybe the overblown nature of the latter album reminded me of good old-fashioned prog-rock concept albums).

...as regards my favourite concept album though:

Spoiler: (One of) The original(s) and still (one of) the best

 

[FinalHeart95]

I like listening to albums straight through, so concept albums work great for me. Although some concepts are just too out there for me to grab... see "Crack the Skye" and anything Coheed for examples of that. Not saying the albums aren't great, but the concepts don't work for me.

Kezia is fucking AWESOME though. I could rattle off lines in that album that are just unbelievable!
"There's merit in construction when it's done with your own hands
There's beauty in destruction, resurrection, another chance"
And then right after that...
"There's a you and I in union but just an I in our beliefs"
WIN. Then they manage to sum up the whole album...
"I'd rather kill a stupid flower and spread its seeds around
Until a garden with our bullet-laden morals will be found"
...in two lines

...Sorry, I love that album.

 

[Gaderael]

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)

Damn it! I didn't think I'd get ninja'd with "Nightfall In Middle Earth".

do I get a cookie for that?

Not, you get a fist furiously shaken in your general direction! 0_o

-snip-

Some other notable concept albums are: Any of Cradle of Filth's concept albums (Cruelty and the Beast, Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder to name two), Avantasia's Metal Opera, and anything by Pain of Salvation.

Cradle Of Filth have done this on several occasions. For example their albums "Cruelty and the Beast" which was based on Elizabeth Bathory, the Countess who was accused of torturung and murdering hundreds of girls and bathing in their blood to stay young and beautiful, and "Godspeed On the Devil's Thunder", which is based on Gilles de Rais. Gilles de Rais, seigneur et baron de Rais (1404 to 1440) was a Breton knight, a leader in the French army and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known as a prolific serial killer of children (thanks Wikipedia).

Damn it. Ninja'd.

Hah, Double Ninja'd!

Okay vanthebaron, I take back the shaken fist. I feel better now.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Well I rarely listen to albums in order, so there's that...

Anyway, it depends. Albums with a central theme (Americana, Offspring, about the decline of America) are good, but when they have a central story (2112, Rush, and Warp Riders, the Sword) it can get a little cheesy. Tommy, by the Who, is pretty good.

 

[Sara Fontaine]

The latest concept album I've listened to is Christopher Lee's Charlemagne. The great actor has revealed that he is descended from Charlemagne himself and, since working with Rhapsody of Fire and Manowar in the past, he's developed a liking for symphonic metal that tells a story. And from there he decided to link the two.

Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross features Lee on vocals, as well as a number of guest vocalists. Also, a 100 piece orchestra is featured. My opinion is neither here nor there on the album but it is interesting, if nothing else. Most people I know just seemed pleased that the great Christopher Lee is a metal fan.

 

[Snake Plissken]

It seems that everyone here seems to be listing Prog-rock and metal as the source for all concept albums (I know that not EVERYONE thinks that concept albums are genre specific, but those concept albums do fit into a nice niche in specific genres...)

Ben Nichols is the lead singer of a Memphis alt.country band called Lucero and released a concept album based on a book called Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. It's totally awesome and is called "The Last Pale Light in the West".

The Drive-By Truckers are a southern rock band from the American South (Georgia or Alabama, I forgot which) that are well known for their concept albums. Nearly all of them are concept albums.

Trapped in the Closet - R. Kelly

And this. This is epic. I urge you all to listen to the whole thing. Fucking hilarious.

 

[TeeBs]

The Antlers Hospice has not be mentioned once in this threads, for shame.

 

[the Dept of Science]

The Antlers Hospice has not be mentioned once in this threads, for shame.

Damn, forgot that one. Thats an epic album.

 

[unoleian]

Tommy, by the Who, is pretty good.

Well, Tommy is a full-on rock opera, less of a concept album in the traditional sense. And, yes, it is pretty quite good. Love the film, that's for certain. Nothing like Jack Nicholson as the creepy uncle to be extra creepy.


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There's been a couple of good concept albums to come from the hip-hop side of the spectrum.

Del's Deltron 3030 is a fairly well crafted sci-fi geek out, and even offers up a solid modern commentary to boot.

Also, I think Andre 3000 crafted a solid concept album with his The Love Below, there's a full-on tale of the ups and downs of love from beginning to end hiding on that album, and he did a right good job pulling it all together.

On the electronic side of the spectrum, there's been some honest attempts at crafting some very solid concept albums, a notable example being Shpongle's Nothing Lasts....but Nothing is Lost. The entire drive of the album being exactly as the title implies. It's about transition, from waking to dreaming, life to death,-- a very deep theme to tackle, and this album does it well, despite the overall spare lyrics and vocal samples to tie parts together.

Of course, all kinds of good concepts fell out of the prog-rock movement, but that's been touched on heavily in this thread already.

I love a good concept album. At first, they come across as rather dense, or sometimes off-putting for some reason, until that revelation that there is this common thread tying it all together, and suddenly the album takes on a new life altogether. It's quite pleasing when that finally clicks.