# Best concept album ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991 "2003-05-04T08:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/41 "2003-05-06T05:15:41Z")
_Workingman’s Dead_ & Joni Mitchell’s first album _Song to a Seagull_, which has sea songs on one side and city songs on the other. The sound quality is poor, but the album is lovely all the same. ---
**Author:** ![richstudios\_earthlink.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@richstudios\_earthlink.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richstudios_earthlink.net)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/42 "2003-05-06T05:22:48Z")
The obvious answer is RUSH 2112. The only other concept album that even comes close is Operation Mindcrime. ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/43 "2003-05-06T06:10:33Z")
My list: 1. Jethro Tull- Thick as a Brick 2. Queensryche- Operation Mindcrime 3. Pink Floyd- The Final Cut 4. Frank Zappa- Joe’s Garage 5. Blue Oyster Cult- Imaginos It’s way too easy to forget about Imaginos, but it’s a great album. I also think TFC is far better than DSotM, and it just edges out The Wall in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Solomon7t](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Solomon7t](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solomon7t)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/44 "2003-05-06T06:34:40Z")
What exactly is a concept album? ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/45 "2003-05-06T06:42:18Z")
Wall - Pink Floyd Tommy - The Who Rush - 2112 Radio KAOS - Roger Waters Gaudi - Alan Parsons Project Final Cut - Pink Floyd Turn of a Friendly Card - Alan Parsons Project Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Alan Parsons Project Animals - Pink Floyd ---
**Author:** ![Ersatz\_Shmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@Ersatz\_Shmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ersatz_Shmoe)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/46 "2003-05-06T08:04:01Z")
I’m not terribly sure that it counts as a “concept album”, but \*\*The Flaming Lips’ \*\* _The Soft Bulletin_ has enough lyrical threads going through it that it seems to be a concept album about _something_. ---
**Author:** ![ignatius\_reilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/db5fbb/32.png) [@ignatius\_reilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatius_reilly)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/47 "2003-05-06T13:48:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daoloth \* > \*\*Presicely. You know, wouldn’t it be to fascinating for someone to create a concept album based upon _A Confederacy of Dunces_? \*\* Hmmm, very interesting. The wheels are turning… ---
**Author:** ![Bunnylady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Bunnylady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bunnylady)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/48 "2003-05-06T14:56:34Z")
Thank you Yeticus Rex for mentioning Alan Parson Project! I couldn’t believe nobody had mentioned any of theirs before this. And, while it’s admittedly “commercial”, I’ve always been a fan of Styx’s “Paradise Theatre.” ---
**Author:** ![cankerist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@cankerist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cankerist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/49 "2003-05-06T15:54:30Z")
**Welcome to the Pleasuredome** - Frankie Goes to Hollywood ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/50 "2003-05-06T15:58:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quack \* > \*\*Pink Floyd’s _The Wall_ owns all others. And so far it is the only one mentioned here that has had a good movie come out of it. \*\* Ummmm … you seem to have forgotten that **Wristy McSlashalot** has already mentioned **Quadrophenia** by **The Who**. ---
**Author:** ![Foolonthehill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Foolonthehill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foolonthehill)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/51 "2003-05-06T17:37:23Z")
“Theme” albums should be judged by their music first. 1.) “Aqualung” (Top Ten R&R album) 2.) “Tommy” 3.) Tied: “Ziggy Stardust” and “The Wall” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/52 "2003-05-06T18:53:40Z")
Some say that Tull made the “Thick as a Brick” album in response to critics who claimed that “Aqualung” was a theme album. I admit, I often wonder if it is, but it doesnt really seem to tell a continuous story. On the other hand, the two sides are vastly different yet internally similar: maybe its really two stories? Of the theme albums I’ve heard, “The Wall” **Does** own the rest. It may be possible there’s a better-told story album out there but musically, it’s pretty much a fact that The Wall is the best album ever made. so,: #1,#2,#3: The Wall #4: Sgt. Pepper #5: Thick as a Brick Total Ripoff: Ok,Computer. It’s the only CD I own that I wouldn’t mind trading in for cash, its that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/53 "2003-05-06T20:24:42Z")
Iron Maiden - Killers Rush - 2112 Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/54 "2003-05-06T20:33:39Z")
> [@](#): > > it’s pretty much a fact that The Wall is the best album ever made. Do you mean this in terms of concept albums, or in general? I don’t agree with either assessment, I’m just curious. > [@](#): > > Total Ripoff: Ok,Computer. It’s the only CD I own that I wouldn’t mind trading in for cash, its that bad. Ripoff of what? Also, there are plenty of places to trade in a CD. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/55 "2003-05-06T20:44:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ersatz Shmoe \* > \*\*I’m not terribly sure that it counts as a “concept album”, but \*\*The Flaming Lips’ \*\* _The Soft Bulletin_ has enough lyrical threads going through it that it seems to be a concept album about _something_. \*\* I read that apparently _Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots_ was also supposed to be a concept album, but only the first five songs and the last instrumental actually were part of that concept. ---
**Author:** ![Liakela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58f4c7/32.png) [@Liakela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liakela)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/56 "2003-05-06T22:31:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\*The Roger Waters albums _Amused to Death_ and _Pros and Cons of Hitch-hiking_. I’m a shill for those… \*\* Amused to Death is brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Liakela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58f4c7/32.png) [@Liakela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liakela)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/57 "2003-05-06T22:39:01Z")
1. Pink Floyd – _The Wall_ 2. Pink Floyd – _The Final Cut_\* 3. Pete Townsend – _Psychoderelict_ 4. The Who – _Tommy_ 5. (tie)Roger Waters – _Radio K.A.O.S._ and _Amused to Death_ \*Just a note: To my knowledge the reason _The Final Cut_ was made (this is from shoddy memory of readon A Saucer Full of Secrets) was because creative control had been stripped from Roger Waters, in the making of the movie, **The Wall**. This is why, I read, on the back cover of _The Final Cut_, you see a man in uniform (usually representing Roger, his father, or his father’s memory) with a knife in the back, holding a film cannister. Ahem. Ok, so I’m a girl who likes her Floyd. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/58 "2003-05-06T22:54:58Z")
Barry Manilow – _Paradise Cafe_ What are you all looking at me like that for? Oh, alright then… Divine Comedy – _Promenade_ This Mortal Coil – _(Nothing But) Blood_ Various others already mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Skillet38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Skillet38](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skillet38)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/59 "2003-05-07T00:14:01Z")
ok, I’ll dive in with a few comments Jethro Tull’s “A Passion Play” tells a much more cohesive story than “Thick as a Brick”. Rush’s “2112” is only a concept album on side 1, imho, so it’s disqualified (it did however, inspire me to learn the bass guitar{as if you care}). 🙂 “The Wall” does indeed rule, though “The Final Cut” holds up well as a continuous libretto. and now for the downtrodden, loved and hated group YES Topographic Oceans was their responce to a critic saying, "What will YES do next, put the bible to music? (this after Close to the Edge). Jon Anderson said, “We’ll show em” and they chose the Hindu mythos to base it on… and just like “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”, it broke the band up :). oh, back to Pink Floyd, did I mention Animals ? definately concept, and so as to not exclude new wonderful concept-type material. Radiohead’s “OK Computer” is absolutely brilliant. It’s so Floydian yet breaks so much new ground (and with mostly old sounds, ie guitars run through analog synths) it really gave me hope for new music. Actually their disc “The Bends” did that before. ok I’m through gushing ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991/60 "2003-05-07T00:33:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ludovic \* > \*\*Some say that Tull made the “Thick as a Brick” album in response to critics who claimed that “Aqualung” was a theme album. I admit, I often wonder if it is, but it doesnt really seem to tell a continuous story. On the other hand, the two sides are vastly different yet internally similar: maybe its really two stories? > > \*\* I think the only reason _Aqualung_ got pegged as a concept album was the liner notes and album art with the bible-esque verse thing. The album itself really didn’t tie in the look at lower-classes on the first side with the harsh critique of organized religion on the second. Even bigger Tull freaks than me (yes, they do exist) generally agree that the two sides are not necessarily parts of a whole: [http://www.cupofwonder.com/aqua2.html](http://www.cupofwonder.com/aqua2.html) > [@](#): > > John Benninghouse argues, that the album does not only show us Ian’s views on the less valorous aspects of human nature as seen through the lower classes, but also as seen through the upper class as well… > If Anderson uses organized religion as a pretext for criticism of the upper classes, then he is all too direct when criticizing the lower classes. I just don’t think the sides were meant to be fit together into a whole concept, that it’s sort of stretching to say they were. You can certainly identify an overarching concept to other Tull albums, or even sets of albums like the _Songs from the Wood_ + _Heavy Horses_ + _Stormwatch_ era which was consumed with proto-environmentalist themes and general nature imagery. And the first side of _Aqualung_ doesn’t really hold together IMHO as a concept. Then again, the second side really does, and is either a “concept side” all to itself, or just Ian’s “I’m gonna rant about the CofE for awhile now” magnum opus. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-album-ever/172991.md?page=4)