# What are your favorite concept albums? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629 "2009-03-07T04:36:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/21 "2009-03-07T15:34:54Z")
I have another contribution. Girls Aloud – Chemistry I’ve seen one review that calls it a “concept album about fame”, and that is probably just about the most accurate way of describing it. Possibly the only concept album that has ever appeared in that specific genre of music. It’s also genius. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/22 "2009-03-07T16:02:18Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > \*\*\*The Kinks \*_Are the Village Green Preservation Society_ Beat me to it. I was just listening to this album on my run yesterday. What a perfect, great concept album. You can throw _Arthur_ in there as well. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/23 "2009-03-07T16:45:42Z")
Not mentioned yet: Kayak - Merlin, bard of the unseen A gorgeous rendition of the Arthur saga, one of my 5 favourite albums of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/24 "2009-03-07T17:08:19Z")
> [@infinitii](#): > > I’ve seen one review that calls it a “concept album about fame”, and that is probably just about the most accurate way of describing it. Possibly the only concept album that has ever appeared in that specific genre of music. See also _[Hype](http://www.aural-innovations.com/robertcalvert/works/calvertworks4.htm#hypelp)_ by Robert Calvert. (Warning: Sound auto-plays when you hit that site and links therein) ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/25 "2009-03-07T17:09:33Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I also love _The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway_ by Genesis, about a New York City street punk who gets sucked into this bizzare alternative world. Too bad they never made the movie that they wanted to make. Ken Russell was supposed to direct, IIRC. My drama teacher in high school introduced me to this album. We had just put on _Tommy_, and he was talking about how it was his dream to do a staged version of _The Lamb_. I had never heard it before, but was so interested I went out and bought the album and have loved it (and Genesis) ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/26 "2009-03-07T17:29:45Z")
> [@infinitii](#): > > Possibly the only concept album that has ever appeared in that specific genre of music. > [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > See also Hype by Robert Calvert. **infinitii** , I’m pretty sure I misread your post (this is was I get for reading the boards pre-caffeine). I thought you were claiming that it might be “the only concept album about fame.” :smack: Apologies for the misunderstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/27 "2009-03-07T17:48:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Beat me to it. I was just listening to this album on my run yesterday. What a perfect, great concept album. You can throw _Arthur_ in there as well. _Village Green_ and _Arthur_ are both brilliant, as is _Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround_. Their later concept albums from the 70s, not quite so much, but I still really enjoy them (_Schoolboys in Disgrace, Soap Opera, Muswell Hillbillies, Preservation Acts 1 and 2_). _Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars_ is a great concept album, and IMHO Bowie’s best. I also love the Parsons Project albums. But my favorite concept album is [Songs of the Heart](http://www.danielamos.com/da/songsoftheheart/index.html) by the band Daniel Amos. Inspired by the cover photo of an early sixties album by a gospel-singing couple (which they stole for their own album cover), the concept album follows the old couple Bud and Irma Ackendorf through life and along Route 66 (one of songwriter Terry Taylor’s obsessions), with songs that range from deeply quirky to deeply moving (or sometimes both), starting with a kick-ass cover of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” and ending with Bob saying his deathbed goodbyes to Irma, in a song that always brings tears to my eyes. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/28 "2009-03-07T18:23:52Z")
> [@infinitii](#): > > Wow-- all I gotta say is, Poe’s first album won’t even prepare you for the awesomeness that is _Haunted_. Also, someone familiar with the first album will be able to pick up on at least one call-back to it on _Haunted_ as well. Listen to it immediately!!! Hey, I just found out that both of her albums can be heard via streaming audio on [her MySpace page](http://www.myspace.com/poe)! You have to stop the player and scroll down. The albums are in players on the left side. I just listened to “Trigger Happy Jack” again because I haven’t heard it for awhile and I just LOVE how she sings that line (“You can’t talk to a psycho like a normal human being”). I was listening to Poe and Zoe (Pollock) at about the same time, and I almost wrote in my response to you that “Trigger Happy Jack” was on Poe’s album Hammer (which is actually Zoe’s album, which I desperately love, so it’s terrible that I almost mixed them up). Have you heard Zoe? Hammer is a freaking _brilliant_ album, very very eclectic, ranging from rock out delicious Fuck off before I kill youness of the song [“Hammer”](http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--2149355) (“If I had a hammer, I’d hit you on the head. I wouldn’t stop my pounding till I knew that you were dead”) to various celtic-flavored songs like “The Lion Roars” to the gorgeous “Virgin Snow.” There’s not a bad song, in my very not so humble opinion, on the album. It might take some getting used to, especially her voice and how the album goes all over the place genre-wise, but it’s worth the effort. Anyway, I’m listening to the Poe album now, and…yeah, I like! ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/29 "2009-03-07T18:28:13Z")
I’ve never been all that clear on what a concept album is. But I think **Ween** ’s “The Mollusk” is one of the best albums ever, and it is supposed to be a concept album. It’s like all oceanic and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/30 "2009-03-07T19:05:54Z")
Some oddball ones that I love: **Harry Nilsson** The Point. Wonderfully catchy songs and a fun morality tale. **Men Without Hats** Pop Goes the World. Great 80’s anti-apocalypse melodrama. **Alice Cooper** Goes to Hell. Great little tale of his going to hell and pleading for his return. **Blue Oyster Cult** Imaginos. Gothic lovecraftian mood with a glitz-metal sound. **Jethro Tull** Too Old To Rock n Roll. Thick as a Brick gets all the love, but Tull did many concept albums and this is still one of the best. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/31 "2009-03-07T20:02:48Z")
[Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.](http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com/2008/05/jeff-wayne-musical-version-of-war-of.html) Great music, and great story. **Preservation Act I** by the Kinks. The second part is so-so, but the first album is one of their best. Also **Thick as a Brick** **Tommy** **Quadrophrenia** is OK, but not one of the Who’s best. **Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs** (about his feelings for Patti Harrison) **Sgt. Pepper** (can’t avoid listing it). ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/32 "2009-03-07T20:07:50Z")
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the Jon Anderson solo project “Olias of Sunhillow” When I hear the words “concept album” that’s the first thing that comes to mind. The songs segue into one another seamlessly. The album jacket folds open and has an extra ‘page’ for all the eye-popping art and accompanying text. It’s all integrated into an overall story set in a fantastic, otherworldly milieu. I’m going to go listen to it again, now! ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/33 "2009-03-07T23:33:46Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > I was listening to Poe and Zoe (Pollock) at about the same time, and I almost wrote in my response to you that “Trigger Happy Jack” was on Poe’s album Hammer (which is actually Zoe’s album, which I desperately love, so it’s terrible that I almost mixed them up). Have you heard Zoe? Hammer is a freaking _brilliant_ album, very very eclectic, ranging from rock out delicious Fuck off before I kill youness of the song [“Hammer”](http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--2149355) (“If I had a hammer, I’d hit you on the head. I wouldn’t stop my pounding till I knew that you were dead”) to various celtic-flavored songs like “The Lion Roars” to the gorgeous “Virgin Snow.” There’s not a bad song, in my very not so humble opinion, on the album. It might take some getting used to, especially her voice and how the album goes all over the place genre-wise, but it’s worth the effort. I’ve never heard of her, but I will definitely check it out. If I’m not mistaken, you are one of the people I look for posts for in order to determine music to check out here one the Dope. I can’t think of anything specific, because it’s been over a period of years, but I definitely think that you are one of those people. Just thought you would like to know. Sorry about the hijack everyone. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/34 "2009-03-08T01:42:54Z")
I’ll go with a couple of Townshend efforts, [“Lifehouse”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lifehouse_Chronicles) and “[Psychoderelict](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoderelict)” . ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/35 "2009-03-08T05:21:16Z")
**Seventh Son of the Seventh Son** by Iron Maiden oh yeah, and **Quadrophenia** ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/36 "2009-03-08T06:39:56Z")
Dark Side of the Moon Wish You Were Here The Wall The Final Cut Sgt. Pepper’s Zooropa Songs for Swinging Lovers Sticky Fingers Layla ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/37 "2009-03-08T09:31:31Z")
I’ve got ONE more to contribute: somehow this one also escaped me. Donna Summer – I Remember Yesterday Moroder and Donna Summer do a concept album with each song standing for a decade, from the 20s to the future, with them predicting electronic music with “I Feel Love” very presciently. ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/38 "2009-03-08T18:32:11Z")
_We’re Only In It For The Money_ - Frank Zappa and The Mothers ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/39 "2009-03-08T20:05:05Z")
> [@infinitii](#): > > Poe – Haunted > > This is one that doesn’t get a lot of attention but is my favourite. Poe incorporated her new-found discovery of ProTools, audio tapes her late father (filmmaker and lecturer Tad Danielewski) had left behind, and elements of the book _House of Leaves_, which was published 6 months earlier and had been written by her brother Mark Z. Danielewski. Using a wide range of song styles, the album is ultimately about her making a connection with her father, tho that is too simplistic a statement to really show what makes it great. This is definitely the best concept album I’ve run across in the past 25 years, and probably in the top 5 for all albums in that time. Although it’s got some great individual songs it is truly meant to be listened to in its entirety. I’m also glad someone listed Alice Cooper Goes to Hell, although Welcome to My Nightmare is my personal favorite from him. I love a lot of Jethro Tull but their concept albums generally were not their best–I like War Child, Songs from the Wood and Minstrel in the Gallery best so if you want to call those concept albums, OK. And yes, the Pink Floyd albums named. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629/40 "2009-03-09T00:20:01Z")
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: QUEENSRYCHE: Operation Mindcrime. Big Brother recruits a young anarchist wannabe with the help of a nun and mind altering science. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-concept-albums/488629.md?page=3)