Having recommended The Suburbs by Arcade Fire in a different thread I thought it might be fun to ask what everyone’s favourite concept album is. As I am guessing that most votes will be for DSOTM I am gong to kick off by proposing The 12 Dreams of Dr Sardonicus by Spirit
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Lamb lies Down on Broadway / Genesis ,my all time favourite concept album,nice idea for thread !
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I’d add votes for The Kinks’s Arthur and Genesis’s Lamb Lies Down as above, I’d also go for these in my list.
Bowie - Ziggy, Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society - Pink Floyd - The Wall & Wish You Were Here, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.
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Wouldn’t argue with any of those,all great albums.
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Erasure…by…Erasure, contains a 10 minute track that I use when I’m demoing equipment.
Three Friends by Gentle Giant.
Individually, the songs are strong enough to stand on their own, but collectively they tell an interesting story about the differing fortunes of three school friends as they grow up and make their way in the world.
And the lyrics on ‘Working All Day’ put the lie to the idea that all prog songs were characterized by fantasy lyrics:
I eat the dust
The boss gets all the money
Life ain’t just
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The Goats - Tricks Of The Shade.
I don’t usually listen to rap music, but this is something special IMO.
Flaming Lips definitely counts - top choice
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Still love this album.
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Horslips - The Táin. One of the albums that set the style for Celtic-rock, while telling the traditional tale of The Cattle Raid of Cooley.
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Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
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The Wall
Suburbs
Pros and cons of …
Hounds of love
Misplaced Childhood
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“Tecuciztecatl” by His Name is Alive is pretty great.
Many of my top ones mentioned already: Lamb lies down, Tommy, Thick as a Brick, The Wall, Misplaced Childhood*, Pros and Cons of Hitchiking all very much at the very top. Also some of the others such as Three Friends.
I have a slight problem deciding what is a concept album - I take it to be either one telling a story, but also perhaps where there is a very strong theme running through the album (but ignoring that most common theme of love songs).
The entire genre of opera would probably fit, however I assume that is not intended, so my next level would include
The Who’s Quadrophenia
Several by the Moody Blues, notably Days of Future Past, In Search of the Lost Chord and On the Threshold of a Dream
Le Orme Felona & Sarona
Roger Waters’ Radio Kaos
Someone mentioned War of the Worlds: in the same vein would be Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
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Came here for Yoshimi. Not disappointed.
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