Sgt. Peppers - A Theme Album?

[three_feline_household]

Didn’t Sergeant Pepper have no groove space identifying tracks (never owned an LP of it myself but that’s what I thought). Pretty nebulous calling it a concept but everything before it by everyone was just songs (although some Sinatra fans might argue many of his Capitol albums in the 1950s had concepts or themes

[Mycroft_H]

The original album did have visible gaps between tracks but the difference from most* other albums is that they continued the sound between the tracks acting as a bridge. But, the gaps did allow you to drop the needle to the song you wanted to hear.

• Possibly all other albums. There may have been some live albums with applause between the tracks, but I remember being intrigued with the continuation of the music from one track to the next, so it all seemed new to my young self.

[Mahaloth]

I’ve always thought of it as the first attempt at a concept/theme album that failed on the concept(due to their lack of interest in pursuing it all the way), but was brilliant in terms of the music.

[GargoyleWB]

I vote for the themeiest of the theme albums being Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick, one consistent piece made without regard to also making radio-friendly singles (unlike Tommy or The Wall) interrupted only with a pause to flip the record.

[Terminus_Est]

The Who Sell Out, released later the same year as Sgt Pepper’s, arguably had a stronger theme or concept (such as it was) - a pirate radio station “Radio London” broadcast complete with commercials.

[RealityChuck]

@GargoyleWB

I vote for the themeiest of the theme albums being Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick, one consistent piece made without regard to also making radio-friendly singles (unlike Tommy or The Wall) interrupted only with a pause to flip the record.

There was also Aqualung and A Passion Play.

[Fear_Itself]

@NineToTheSky

This is where I think it gets a bit nebulous. There’s no story as such.

I don’t think theme/concept albums need to have a story. Just a theme/concept.

[Argent_Towers]

@Marley23

Only three songs really sound like the Sgt. Pepper’s band, stuff like “Lucy in the Sky” and “A Day in the Life” or “Within You Without You” is absolutely the Beatles. So there isn’t much to that aspect of it.

I assume by three songs you mean, the intro, “With A Little Help From My Friends,” and the “reprise” at the end, but “Lovely Rita” sounds like it could conceivably be the type of song that Sgt. Pepper’s fictional band might play.

[Horatio_Hellpop]

@three feline household

Didn’t Sergeant Pepper have no groove space identifying tracks (never owned an LP of it myself but that’s what I thought).

I just pulled out my vinyl to double-check. There is indeed groove space so you can select your track at will, but there’s some sound between tracks so each track segues into the next. On the CD, there is jarring silence between tracks; if the vinyl is what you’re used to hearing, it’s very difficult to listen to the CD version of Sgt. Pepper. I can’t listen to it, anyway.

Pretty nebulous calling it a concept but everything before it by everyone was just songs (although some Sinatra fans might argue many of his Capitol albums in the 1950s had concepts or themes

In the Wee Small Hours is certainly a contender. At the dawn of the LP format, this record has Sinatra recording a bunch of “lonely guy” songs atypical of his usual output for a single collection. Here’s its entry in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums Ever:

In the Wee Small Hours, the first collection of songs Sinatra recorded specifically for an LP, sustains a mood of loneliness and lost love–it’s a prototypical concept album. From the title track, brought in on the bell tones of a celesta, through a trenchant recast of “This Love of Mine,” a hit from his Tommy Dorsey days, Sinatra–reeling from his breakup with Ava Gardner–is never less than superb. His voice rarely hits the same downbeat as his languorous rhythm section, yet they’re locked in a fluid step. Put your ear close to the speaker and you can hear the soft intake of his breath.

[RealityChuck]

@Krokodil

I just pulled out my vinyl to double-check. There is indeed groove space so you can select your track at will, but there’s some sound between tracks so each track segues into the next. On the CD, there is jarring silence between tracks; if the vinyl is what you’re used to hearing, it’s very difficult to listen to the CD version of Sgt. Pepper. I can’t listen to it, anyway.

The latest CD has restored the music between tracks.

Traffic’s Dear Mr. Fantasy – also released in 1967 – also had music between the tracks. In its original (US relseae) form, this was vamping on “Paper Sun” and the album ended with “We’re a Fade, You Missed This,” a final code of “Paper Sun” that was evidently cut from the single. Most versions of the song now have the code added.

[Marley23]

@Argent Towers

I assume by three songs you mean, the intro, “With A Little Help From My Friends,” and the “reprise” at the end, but “Lovely Rita” sounds like it could conceivably be the type of song that Sgt. Pepper’s fictional band might play.

Yeah, possibly. It’s still a pretty small portion of the album.