The Moody Blues and Jethro Tull built entire bodies of work from this idea. Pink Floyd was a Johnny-come-lately, but still managed to sustain the “concept album” formula a few years longer. The 1980’s saw some efforts to revive the format, disastrously and horrible for the most part (i.e. “Kilroy was Here” by Styx).
As best as I can recall, the last serious effort by any rock band to revive the “concept album” was Extreme’s III Sides to Every Story. Has the music-listening audience really turned into such mindless drones that they demand the 3-4 minute song with Carson Daly to introduce and conclude? What happened to the days in which rock musicians could experiment with true artistry, rather than cater solely to the crowd of ignorant fools who just want some dance music for their drunken parties?
Will there ever be another album like Yes’ Close to the Edge, or Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick? Sadly, it appears not.
Liz Phair’s “Exile in Guyville” was a concept album in response to the Stones’ “Exile on Main Street.” Around 1995, 1996 I think.
Radiohead’s “Kid A” is supposed to be a concept album, beats me I haven’t heard it. Haven’t forgiven them for the atrocious “Creep.”
Every album Julian Cope released in the 90’s and 21C is a concept album… Peggy Suicide, Jehovahkill, Autogeddon, 20 Mothers, Interpreter.
Every Scarlet’s Well album as well, although you probably won’t have heard of them.
Kate Bush did “The Ninth Wave” back in 1985, that’s well beyond the 70’s stuff you’ve named… best concept album (album side anyway) ever. It’s about a shipwrecked girl trying to stay awake.
“Replicas” by Tubeway Army is a concept album (1979 or thereabouts), the re-release on CD explains the setup and it’s great stuff.
Roy Montgomery’s instrumental albums are conceptual… Scenes from the South Island and Temply IV are meant to evoke specific places in the world. 90’s releases.
That’s off the top of my head. I think you just aren’t looking very hard : )
Radiohead’s OK Computer and Kid A are probably concept albums. By the way, Radiohead hate Creep as well. They even wrote a song about it (My Iron Lung).
The best recent concept albums are the two Neutral Milk Hotel albums. On Avery Island and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Actually, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is my favorite album of all time. Better than any Pink Floyd or Yes. Maybe you need to look harder?
FWIW: Alice Cooper’s released 3 of them since '94, and is working on another at the moment. The Last Temptation, Brutal Planet and DragonTown. The next is supposed to be the final act of a trilogy, titled Spirits Rebellious, though I don’t know if that’s what the final release title will actually be.
Rob Zombie’s last two albums (or so I’m told) were concept albums, as well.
[sub]Yeah, my musical tastes are stuck at 18, whattaya gonna do?[/sub]
Hazel-rah
Kate Bush did “The Ninth Wave” back in 1985, that’s well beyond the 70’s stuff you’ve named… best concept album (album side anyway) ever. It’s about a shipwrecked girl trying to stay awake
Brutal Planet is a concert album? I never noticed it and can’t see it as one. I will admit that I haven’t listened to it in awhile though.
I guess you have been hiding though, or I just have some strange musical tastes. Savatage has a number of them including Streets, Wake of Magellen, Poets and Madmen and Dead Winter Dead. Along those same lines Trans-Siberian Orchestra has two Christmas ones and one about Beethoven. Iron Maiden has Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Queensryche has Operation Mindcrime. Virgin Steele has House of Atreus Act 1 and 2.
I know there are more, but off the top of my head I can’t really think of them.
The best rock album of last year was “Southern Rock Opera” by the Drive By Truckers, a double CD concept album about growing up in Alabama in the 70’s, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and George Wallace.
That said, its a good thing the concept album craze died. Ray Davies wasted some of his best years writing iffy concept albums.
Monster Magnet’s Powertrip sorta kinda qualifies. Front man Dave Wyndorf supposedly wrote the songs while tripping in Vegas, observing the American tendency to lord it up on being on top of situations corporate, sexual, financial, etc.
David Bowie’s Outside was also a concept album, with Bowie playing various roles (Algeria Touchshriek kind of scared me) in the story of Detective Nathan Adler trying to solve the art-murder of Baby Grace Blue. I didn’t think it was a major success as an album, but there were some standout songs on it like “The Heart’s Filthy Lesson,” “Strangers When We Meet,” “I Have Not Been to Oxford Town,” “Outside,” and “Through These Architect’s Eyes.”
Also, I’ll echo wikkidpis on Southern Rock Opera by The Drive By Truckers. Clearly a concept album, and one of the best of the past year.
On the whole, though, I wouldn’t really mourn the passing of the overblown, self-important concept album. Just write some good songs. That’s all I ask.
Weezer’s Pinkerton (1996) can be interpreted as a concept album based on Madame Butterfly or as an original story tracking a single narrator’s changing attitude towards women. It also has some weird parallels to the plot of Chasing Amy, but there’s no reason to believe that’s intentional.
Tom Petty’s latest release is a concept album. The Last DJ is all about how corporations & greed have destroyed the music business.
But the OP is correct–concept albums are few & far between compared to their heyday of the 1970s. Maybe one reason is that the whole idea of them has been mocked & ridiculed so much. The very idea of the concept album smacks of pretension so much that bands steer clear of them.
I can think of many hip-hop concept albums, e.g. Deltron 3030 by Deltron 3030, A Prince Among Thieves by Prince Paul, Gun Hill Road by The Infesticons, Dr. Octagynecologyst by Dr. Octagon, A Book of Human Language by Aceyalone…
In most rock circles today, prog rock is the most un-hip thing possible, no matter if you listen to hardcore punk or lo-fi indie pop. Concept albums are considered “proggy”, even if you’re not playing prog rock at all. Many of the rock bands who do make concept albums are considered pretentious wankers (e.g. Radiohead.) That connection isn’t there among hip-hop fans.
I wonder why this is. I for one have no problem enjoying some hardcore punk one minute (I’m a Dead Kennedys fan), some lo-fi indie stuff the next (I’m a big Guided by Voices fan), and then put on some 70’s progressive rock. Much progressive rock was intelligent and musically complex, which is more than you can say for most rock music genres of today. I don’t see why a real music fan would want to limit himself to what’s “hip”, when he should be appreciating the sound. 70’s progressive rock bands composed albums, most rockers now just write songs. I can hear the difference.
I admit to having forgotten about Operation: Mindcrime, but the rest of those albums people have mentioned are all pretty obscure. Radiohead seems to have some small but visible following of fans, but the rest of those artists are hardly household names. On the other hand, Tull, Floyd, and Yes were all popular rock bands who headlined tours. I think what’s changed is that the average rock fan is not as interested in the music anymore, just the quick and empty buzz he gets from popping in disc by some ignorant screamers like Slayer or Korn. Clearly the SDMB houses more sophisticated tastes, and you guys were able to come up with some examples, but music fans in the public just aren’t that smart anymore.
great lists, but i do have to ask rexdart, why include slayer with korn? Slayer put out a few decent albums(rib, soh) and granted they still pretty much do the same old same old, they deserve a bit better than to be labled ignorant, in my very humble opinion…