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Last Active 02-16-11 5:19 am
Joined 09-02-06
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| The Great Eight: Concept Albums
It's been awhile since I've done one of these. Basically, this is a list of my eight favorite concept albums (or, in one case, concept EP). I'm not trying to claim that these are the best eight concept albums out there by any means. Just that, in my entirely biased opinion, these albums are all really top-notch both musically and conceptually. | | 12 |  | The Receiving End of Sirens
The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi
Honorable Mention: Not technically a concept album as much as a series of vignettes with a recurring theme, this is nevertheless one of the most riveting, haunting records I've ever heard. Who knew Misery, Famine, Misery could be so appealing and, now here's the scary part, relatable? | | 11 |  | Nine Inch Nails
Year Zero
Honorable Mention: The level of detail and calculation put into this release was astounding: the sheer number of websites dedicated to its alternate reality storyline is both overwhelming and engrossing; the political message, despite suffering from a distinct lack of subtlety, is all too relevant; the trailer is genuinely terrifying. Oh, and the music isn't half bad, either. The only reason this didn't make the list proper is because there was already a NIN release there. | | 10 | | Coheed and Cambria
Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV...
Honorable Mention: This isn't my favorite Coheed release musically. That honor goes to In Keeping Secrets. It is, however, my favorite in terms of The Story. The introduction of The Writer was a really big leap for the narrative. Poetry, it's not. Interesting, it most certainly is. | | 9 | | Iced Earth
The Gettysburg Trilogy
Honorable Mention: If the rest of the Glorious Burden had been more like these three songs, it would definitely be on here. Alas, this EP (along with the Dark Saga, and portions of Something Wicked This Way Comes) represents all Iced Earth can do when they tackle a concept seriously, and without the ridiculous cheesiness that has unfortunately become their trademark in recent years. | | 8 |  | Opeth
My Arms, Your Hearse
Restless spirits and mourning lovers. So typical metal, right? Well, not like this. Told from the perspective of a ghost, this is early-day Opeth at their most expansive. From jazzy interludes to folksy noodling to chugga-chugga death metal (a formula they would tweak, fine-tune, and, arguably, perfect on subsequent releases), this album is as strong in its musical diversity as it is in its story. Standouts: April Ethereal, When, Demon of the Fall. | | 7 |  | The Who
Tommy
What can I say that hasn't already been said? Probably more, but I'm tired, and you already know all you need to about this album. Highlights: Overture, Underture, Pinball Wizard, We're Not Gonna Take It. | | 6 |  | Fear Factory
Obsolete
Fear Factory hit their stride with this dystopian cautionary tale about man's dependence on technology (shocker). Reading the liner notes, it becomes clear just how cinematic this album really is in scope and presentation. Fortunately, the music is up to the challenge. Standouts: Edgecrusher, Freedom or Fire, Timelessness. | | 5 |  | Peter Gabriel
Us
Leave it to Mr. Gabriel to make an album about the disintegration of a marriage so infectious. Not poppy, mind you -- this is a far cry from So. In fact, the most blatant attempt to recreate that feel (Kiss That Frog) is also the album's weakest moment. For the majority of its running time, however, Us proves a beautiful, uncomfortably personal listen. Definitely thematic precursor to things like Cursive's Domestica. Standouts: Come Talk to Me, Blood of Eden, Steam, Secret World. | | 4 |  | Mastodon
Leviathan
Although Moby-Dick is certainly no stranger to the genre of metal, never before has a band so consistently tackled the subject with such tonal mastery. You truly believe you're being pummeled by waves and worse when listening to the aural mayhem Mastodon cooks up here. And the album artwork is beautiful. Standouts: Blood and Thunder, Megalodon, Hearts Alive. | | 3 |  | Ludo
Broken Bride EP
It's not too often that an album can rope pterodactyls, the Antichrist, zombies, and time travel together into one narrative and still make sense. It's even less often that an album can do so and incorporate a personal element that moves the listener to tears by the end. But leave it to Ludo to do it, and over the course of a mere five songs. Astounding. Standouts: whole thing. | | 2 |  | Nine Inch Nails
The Downward Spiral
Sometimes it takes a few listens for an album to sink in. For this, it took countless. But one day, it just clicked. It was somewhere during the transition from Big Man with a Gun to A Warm Place. The contrast there is an apt summary of the whole album, both aurally and lyrically. Extreme beauty and pathos contrasted with extreme hostility and desperation. Truly tragic, and darkly dynamic. Standouts: whole thing, again. | | 1 |  | Pink Floyd
The Wall
The 'Mother' of them all (amiright?), this double-disc exercise in ego could have been such a huge disaster. It's a testament to the writing skills of Roger Waters, the conflict avoiding skills of Gilmour, Mason, and Wright (ish), and the performance skills of the entire collective that this bloated collection is so stunningly cohesive. An in-depth analysis of schoolboy angst, wartime tragedy, the corrupting power of celebrity, fascism, racism, revolutions, prostitutes, drug abuse, parental smothering, and...well...you name it, this last truly great Floyd album is beautiful, intense, epic, and captivating. Standout tracks: In the Flesh, Goodbye Blue Sky, Mother, Comfortably Numb. | |
EverythingEvil2113
02.27.10 | 1,2,4,7,8,10, and 11 are all amazing. I've also been meaning to check out some Gabriel so I might have to pick that one up. Solid list. | Slipping Away
02.27.10 | great list thecheat | ninjuice
02.27.10 | Needs Kezia, The Black Halo, In the Wee Small Hours, De-Loused in the Comatorium and maybe The Hazards of Love and Define the Great Line. Someone mentioning Sgt. Peppers is facepalm. | JWT155
02.27.10 | Love 2. | thecheatisnotdead
02.27.10 | Yeah, I considered De-Loused, but decided that the concept itself was too cryptic for its own good, if that makes any sense. Other things I thought about including: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis, Aqualung by Jethro Tull, 2112 by Rush, and Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree. | Calculate
02.27.10 | sweet list | intothepit83
02.27.10 | Love the list, but I wish you would of done more than consider Fear of a BLank Planet. That album trumps 7-12 on this list. Still a great list though. Kudos | Captain North
02.27.10 | Agree with ninjuice - needs Black Halo and Kezia. | Lunarfall
02.27.10 | I actually would have Scenes from a Memory as my top choice, but this list is quality. | Ire
02.27.10 | pinkerton | AnotherBrick1
02.27.10 | except pinkerton isnt good | Titan50
02.27.10 | Hounds Of Love, check it out | PirateSquid
02.27.10 | March on Electric Children by The Blood Brothers is a pretty epic album. Biting social commentary and metaphor/abstraction every second you turn. | FadeToBlack
02.27.10 | seventh son of a seventh son
CRIMSON | qwe3
02.27.10 | 1 sucks so bad | bodiesinflight57
02.27.10 | The Wall is a horribly overrated record. Pretty poor list tbh, you didnae even get Opeth's best concept album in there | qwe3
02.27.10 | he got their second best album though. | Nagrarok
02.27.10 | Tommy is the mother of them all. Still Life is far superior to MAYH, in both music and concept. | couldwinarabbit
02.27.10 | Tommy is the only concept album that holds true through the entire album. (Very happy el cielo is not on here) | ninjuice
02.27.10 | How do The Black Halo, In the Wee Small Hours and every Coheed album NOT do that? | thecheatisnotdead
02.27.10 | I feel like I really need to check out The Black Halo now, though I can't say I'm too big into Kamelot. And it might just be because I got My Arms, Your Hearse before Still Life, but I've always preferred the former. My b. | ninjuice
02.27.10 | Epica, then The Black Halo man. | klap
02.28.10 | lol at conflict avoiding skills of pink floyd | qwe3
02.28.10 | Still Life is only just better than MAYH. theyre both so so so so so good.
Tommy is pretty bad tbh. Quadrophenia was better musically, conceptually it was dumb because it was so fucking pretentious, even when it's judged as a concept album. | Knott-
02.28.10 | 12 is incredible. needs The Everglow and Kid A. | thebhoy
02.28.10 | Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy | jesusjuice1179
02.28.10 | I love 12, and this list need more Protest btw | theBlackWidow
07.05.10 | Nice list!
You should check out "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" by Genesis if you haven't already...it was the last album with Peter Gabriel. Very good Prog. Rock album. | theBlackWidow
07.05.10 | And yes I didn't notice until after I posted this that someone already brought up the album. | Dryden
07.05.10 | the wall is overrated as fuck | theBlackWidow
07.06.10 | It's still a good album! | austin888
08.31.10 | Where the hell is Still Life? Operation: Mindcrime? Quadrophenia? | Winsomniac
08.31.10 | Defeater.
List needs moar of it.
Seriously, come on. Lost Ground was absolutely perfect. | scissorlocked
08.31.10 | great list man!!
happy to see the gettysburg trilogy here
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