# I admit it - I LOVE concept albums! What are your favorites? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525 "2009-12-25T05:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [December 25, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/1 "2009-12-25T05:38:22Z")
I was thinking about my favorite albums/CDs, and noted that almost all of them have one thing in common - they are concept albums. [Definition of concept album](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_album) [List of concept albums (this doesn’t seem complete to me)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concept_albums) My favorites include: _Quadrophenia_ by The Who _Operation: Mindcrime_ by Queensryche _The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway_ by Genesis What are some of your favorites? Or do concept albums suck, in your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/2 "2009-12-25T05:52:02Z")
In no particular order: _Dark Side Of The Moon_ – Pink Floyd _Animals_ – Pink Floyd _Quadrophenia_ – The Who _Angel’s Egg_ – Gong Honourable Mention to _Paradise Theatre_ by Styx. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/3 "2009-12-25T06:07:21Z")
Two by my all-time favorite band: _The Wall_ and _Animals_ by **Pink Floyd** ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/4 "2009-12-25T06:09:35Z")
David Bowie has some good stuff. Deltron 3030’s self titled album is awesome ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/5 "2009-12-25T07:28:00Z")
Personal favorites: Kate Bush - _[Aerial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_%28album%29)_: Kate’s most recent album is two discs A Sea of Honey and A Sky of Honey. Sea is an album of unrelated songs, but Sky is either a song suite on the theme of birdsong, or a concept album about one perfect day. Which is fairly unique in a world of concept albums that are mostly about how awful life can be, she makes one about how wonderful life can be. It’s as difficult and unusual as writing a requited love song. Todd Rundgren - _[Healing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healing_%28Todd_Rundgren_album%29)_: CDs are wonderful, but there is something to be said for having two separate sides of the record to explore two different themes, or for one to answer the other. _Healing_ is like that. Todd wrote this album after John Lennon was murdered. Side one tells the story of a person granted the ability to heal people, and how it proves ultimately destructive. The other is an album side song cycle attempting to accomplish healing through music. Todd was hit especially hard by Lennon’s murder - first, in that he and his band Utopia had, shortly before, recorded a Beatles pastiche called [_Deface The Music_](http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfrxqu5ld0e) that slagged Lennon with a song called _Everybody Else Is Wrong_. The second is that Mark David Chapman [was a Todd fan](http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.music.beatles/2005-12/msg01256.html). ---
**Author:** ![Jeu\_D\_Esprit\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@Jeu\_D\_Esprit\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeu_D_Esprit_1)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/6 "2009-12-25T07:31:56Z")
Some favorite Concepts : _Hemispheres_ – Rush _2112_ – Rush _Hope_ – Klaatu Plus the **Floyd** listed above. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/7 "2009-12-25T08:19:35Z")
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Kate Bush - The Ninth Wave (“side 2” of Hounds of Love) Kate Bush - A Sky of Honey (album 2 of Aerial) The Who - Tommy ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/8 "2009-12-25T09:02:05Z")
_A Grand Don’t Come for Free_ - The Streets. The first album, _Original Pirate Material_, was bedroom-mixed, raw, innovative British rap, talking about being a young man in the urban blight of Britain’s inner cities. Then, as a massive surprise to everyone, the second album, released 2004, was a concept album on the same subject, with a story arc and alternative endings based on the behaviour of the protagonist at one point in the narrative. And it’s very good. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/9 "2009-12-25T11:18:20Z")
Local H - Pack Up the Cats ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/10 "2009-12-25T12:05:23Z")
Not sure if this falls under the strict definition of concept album, but Queens of the Stone Age’s _Songs for the Deaf_ is just plain awesome, with several great songs and no real filler. “Go With the Flow” is one of my favorite rock songs of the past decade. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/11 "2009-12-25T14:05:19Z")
Green Carnation’s _Light of Day, Day of Darkness_ Edge of Sanity’s _Crimson_ ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/12 "2009-12-25T14:24:23Z")
Rick Wakeman’s _Six Wives of Henry VIII_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/13 "2009-12-25T14:27:27Z")
Roger Waters - The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. It’s Eric Clapton’s best work, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![25.1327\_Octopi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/ecb155/32.png) [@25.1327\_Octopi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/25.1327_Octopi)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/14 "2009-12-25T14:29:22Z")
I’ll second the accolades for _The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway_ and _Dark Side of the Moon_, though I’ve always thought _The Wall_ was overrated. I prefer _Wish You Were Here_. _Marcus Garvey_, by Burning Spear, the reggae album which should be in everyone’s collection, _Autobahn_ and _Man Machine_ by Kraftwerk, I just downloaded (legally) _Mekanik Destructiw Kommandoh_, by Magma, so I haven’t listened to it enough times to rate it as a favorite. However, it did blow me away when I first listened to it, so I’m going to give it a mention. I surely will be adding more of them to my collection. _The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady_, by Charles Mingus _A Love Supreme_, by John Coltrane _Nothingface_ by Voivod and though nearly every album the Residents make is a concept album, the only one that really consistently worked for me was _Commercial Album_. I must admit I have not heard all of their albums, however. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/15 "2009-12-25T15:00:14Z")
I don’t typically like them, but I love The Hazards of Love by the Decemberists. It’s one of my albums of 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/16 "2009-12-25T17:42:58Z")
Jo Stafford’s _the Ballad of The Blues_ is absoulely brilliant. It follows a story line and has Thurl “Tony the Tiger” Ravenscroft as a back up singer ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/17 "2009-12-25T17:47:36Z")
[Jeff Wayne’s Musical Verson of War of the Worlds](http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/05/jeff-wayne-musical-version-of-war-of.html). Not only great music, but also the best dramatization of the book since Orson Welles’s (and may be better). Derek and the Dominoes – **Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs**. Not usually considered one, but it was called one at the time, and it’s about Eric Clapton’s feelings for Patti Harrison. Rick Wakeman – **Six Wives of Henry VIII** ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/18 "2009-12-25T17:49:02Z")
_The Downward Spiral_. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/19 "2009-12-25T17:59:10Z")
The Kinks’ \*\*\*“Arthur” \*\*\*and "_ **The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society"** _ both deserve a mention. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525/20 "2009-12-25T18:00:08Z")
Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-admit-it-i-love-concept-albums-what-are-your-favorites/522525.md?page=2)