# Best concept albums - nomination thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554 "2013-09-11T04:43:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/102 "2013-09-18T01:10:12Z")
Zen Arcade. Husker Du. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/103 "2013-09-18T02:30:14Z")
I see Welcome to My Nightmare and Goes to He’ll have been mentioned but Alice Cooper has a few more, some of them very recent. Brutal Planet, Along Came a Spider, Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2012, a revisit with all new songs) From the Inside and Dragontown are all definitely concept albums but most of his records follow some kind of theme. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/104 "2013-09-18T14:09:07Z")
**Quadrophenia** –always has me bawling by the end of _Helpless Dancer_ and then proceeds to pound away and needle every raw nerve for the rest of the album. **Black Parade** for similar reasons now that I’m getting old–_Blood_ would be hysterical but for the line “I can’t control myself because I don’t know how.” It’s only cute and funny if you haven’t lived there. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/105 "2013-09-19T00:23:34Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Wilco - _Yankee Hotel Foxtrot_ One of the top ten albums of the 00’s. But what makes it a concept album? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/106 "2013-09-19T05:19:28Z")
Jeff Tweedy is a shortwave radio nut, and YHF is supposed to be a concept set around a radio receiver tuning into different songs. Jeff Tweedy can be a little obscure at times, and the concept isn’t totally clear to me. But the album title is part of the phonetic alphabet, one of the songs fades into the sounds of a CIA ‘numbers’ station on shortwave, and there’s all kinds of tuning static and such in the breaks between songs. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/107 "2013-09-19T12:55:55Z")
Some folky ones Horslips - [The Tain,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_T%C3%A1in_(Horslips_album))[The Book of Invasions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Invasions_(album)) and [Aliens.](http://www.horslips.ie/aliens.html) Dransfield - [The Fiddler’s Dream](http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-fiddlers-dream-mw0000232305) Bob Pegg (with Nick Strutt) - The Shipbuilder Bob Pegg - Ancient Maps And of course - Fairport Convention - [Babbacombe Lee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Babbacombe%22_Lee_(album)) ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/108 "2013-09-19T16:14:21Z")
It’s time to wrap this up and put up your choices for polls. Lets make Friday, 11 PM Central time, the totally arbitrary cutoff for nominations. It also seems some people used this as the “Name lesser-known concept albums” thread which is fine, but if you posted more than a couple of choices, let us know which one you consider to be the best, so we don’t have 3,000 poll choices. I will break it down into groups, though. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/109 "2013-09-19T16:24:43Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > Zen Arcade. Husker Du. [Ninja’d](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16656646&postcount=46) you way back. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/110 "2013-09-20T00:54:07Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > It also seems some people used this as the “Name lesser-known concept albums” thread which is fine, but if you posted more than a couple of choices, let us know which one you consider to be the best, so we don’t have 3,000 poll choices. I will break it down into groups, though. I’m not sure if this includes me, but whatever the case, my nomination is Neutral Milk Hotel’s _In the Aeroplane Over the Sea_. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/111 "2013-09-20T02:01:15Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > It also seems some people used this as the “Name lesser-known concept albums” thread which is fine, but if you posted more than a couple of choices, let us know which one you consider to be the best, so we don’t have 3,000 poll choices. I will break it down into groups, though. If you had me in mind, Ayreon needs to be in there somewhere, so I’ll make _01011001_ my “official” nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/112 "2013-09-20T23:18:06Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > It’s time to wrap this up and put up your choices for polls. Lets make Friday, 11 PM Central time, the totally arbitrary cutoff for nominations. > > It also seems some people used this as the “Name lesser-known concept albums” thread which is fine, but if you posted more than a couple of choices, let us know which one you consider to be the best, so we don’t have 3,000 poll choices. I will break it down into groups, though. The Tain - Horslips.[A better and more descriptive link](http://www.horslips.ie/tain.html) ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/113 "2013-09-21T00:53:10Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > It’s time to wrap this up and put up your choices for polls. Lets make Friday, 11 PM Central time, the totally arbitrary cutoff for nominations. > > It also seems some people used this as the “Name lesser-known concept albums” thread which is fine, but if you posted more than a couple of choices, let us know which one you consider to be the best, so we don’t have 3,000 poll choices. I will break it down into groups, though. In that case, _Red Headed Stranger_. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/114 "2013-09-21T01:31:45Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > If you had me in mind, Ayreon needs to be in there somewhere, so I’ll make _01011001_ my “official” nomination. Over **Into the Electric Castle**? :eek: It’s only the greatest modern rock album ever made… Aren’t The Universal Migrator, Into the Electric Castle, The Human Equation, and 01011001 all part of the same storyline? ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/115 "2013-09-21T01:53:46Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > Over **Into the Electric Castle**? :eek: It’s only the greatest modern rock album ever made… > Aren’t The Universal Migrator, Into the Electric Castle, The Human Equation, and 01011001 all part of the same storyline? Yes and yes. To the first question, _Into the Electric Castle_ is a close second, but I prefer the sound of _Y_. To second Question: don’t forget about _The Final Experiment_, that’s also part of the story. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/116 "2013-09-25T20:11:12Z")
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554/117 "2013-09-25T20:19:13Z")
Didn’t read the entire thread, but my vote goes to OP’s selection of “Operation Mindcrime” by Queensryche. I’d also like to add “Pornograffiti” by Extreme. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concept-albums-nomination-thread/668554.md?page=5)