Concept Albums

[Josh]

We're discussing this at the Promontory board, and I thought it was a topic worth bringing over to this Phorum.

What exactly IS a concept album? And where do we draw the line between a concept album and an album that is merely thematically cohesive? It's my understanding that a concept album is deemed such because of the track sequencing. That is, the songs tell a linear story, and therefore listening to the songs in a different order than the ones given might not make as much sense. Am I right on that one, or does my definition need some work?

What are some examples of good concept albums? A few that come to my mind:

Many of Pink Floy'd works (The Wall is probably the most obvious...)
Radiohead- Kid A (and probably Amnesiac, as well)
The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi?
U2- Zooropa?

[bloop]

In this age of post-modernism, I don't think it needs to tell the story in a linear way, so that's all I'd change, but it does need to tell some kind of story I think.

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is obviously a concept album, but I think almost everything they did were concept albums, just more vague.

"Kid A", definitely, "Amnesiac" is the flip-side of the same coin, so it is as well.  Even HTTT has a concept I think, but I want to work on what I think the concept is sometime.

"Yoshimi..." is definitely.

"Zooropa"...hmm...I never caught that but it could be.  "Pop" seems more like a concept album to me.

Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust . . . " is well-known as a concept album.

The one thing I don't quite get is how "Sgt. Pepper's" is a concept album.  It has some concepts, sure, but I don't see it that way.

[Josh]

"Kid A", definitely, "Amnesiac" is the flip-side of the same coin, so it is as well. Even HTTT has a concept I think, but I want to work on what I think the concept is sometime.

HTTT is thematically cohesive, but I'm not sure that it really tells one story or not...

"Zooropa"...hmm...I never caught that but it could be. "Pop" seems more like a concept album to me.

Zooropa is the story of prodigal sons, wanderers. The first nine songs are the voices of the world around us, and the final song is from the perspective of The Wanderer himself. It makes sense, then, that this final track is performed by a different voice.  

[bloop]

Interesting thoughts on "Zooropa".  I gotta listen to that to see if I get the same thing.  

You're most likely correct about HTTT being only a concept album if you use a very liberal definition, as the common thread I see is someone walking at varying stages of acceptance of the future, but knowingly into a future that is pretty frightening, but there's no clear protagonist (not a lot clear at all really...it's a Radiohead record).  I wanted to post my thoughts to get some feedback and perhaps refine it as I'm not too terribly great at picking out concepts easily.

[Josh]

You're most likely correct about HTTT being only a concept album if you use a very liberal definition, as the common thread I see is someone walking at varying stages of acceptance of the future, but knowingly into a future that is pretty frightening, but there's no clear protagonist (not a lot clear at all really...it's a Radiohead record). I wanted to post my thoughts to get some feedback and perhaps refine it as I'm not too terribly great at picking out concepts easily.

I think the record is about the price of apathy. Thom is showing us the near future, not the world as it is right now. If he really meant it when he says "It's the devil's way now/ There is no way out," then why bother warning us about all this stuff?

Songs like "Go to Sleep" and "Wolf" show us characters who aren't willing to do anything to change the world that they live in. "Someone else is going to come and clean it up." And these characters obviously lead disasterous lives. These are not heroic characters; Thom is trying to tell us NOT to be like them.

I think "The Gloaming" is revealing. The gloaming is the part of the day when, as Bob Dylan sings, "it's not dark yet, but it's getting there."

[bloop]

Yeah, I think you have it pretty accurately -- it's what I thought, but elaborated better.  Good stuff.  

There are several voices he speaks through in the record making it hazy whether it's a concept album or not, but the thematic similarities make me say that one could see it as one given a more liberal definition.  

I think "Kid A" is more clearly a concept album, and perhaps "OK Computer" in spite of frequent denials from the band.

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Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral" is basically about the collapse of a person into complete despair ending in suicide, but isn't that the concept of all of Trent's records?

The Smashing Pumpkins "Machina|the machines of God" is certainly a concept album in that it is a self-mocking portrayal of the band's pretentions that the media heaped on them.

"Adore" by the same band is simply about the different permutations of love (Corgan said that himself)

Weezer's "Pinkerton" is about a man's search for love in all the wrong places, and it's very obvious.  Not all concept albums are hard to "get".

[DvChWi]

I think Pink Floyd has it when it comes to concept albums.  WYWH is about Syd Barret, The Wall is an obvious story, DSOTM seems to be dealing with death, but that concept doesn't hold up the whole way through.  Animals was definately a political type concept album.  When I think of concept albums, I think of these.

[bdg13disciple]

for the harder set, Project 86's Truthless Heroes is an amazing concept album that follows the saga of a kid growing up in a media-saturated world ...

peace . . .
love . . .
bdg . . .

[oneafroboy]

Hey, I agree Dv. Pink Floyd tended to do concept albums as a general rule. As much as I don't like their music, The Wall is certainly a good example of a concept album and not a bad double album, as double albums go.

On Sgt. Pepper as a concept album...in idea, it was the first rock concept album. The Beatles, especially Paul (seeing it was his idea), decided to cast away the moptop image and become another band. In this they suceeded and the result was probably one of the best rock albums ever made. Song wise however, other than the first two songs and the reprise, it's another Beatles album with contributions for John and Paul and a song from George. Still, it's a great album and one of my favorite all time discs.