Massive concept albums

[ProCarsteNation]

eehm,
call me Captain Obvious or call me Captain Ahab,
but I think this should count:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sulY3bixDxI[/youtube]

[Chuckchuck]

Using your shitty definition though (which is shitty) I am actually sure you would love The Hold Steady if you haven't listened to them yet.

I fucking love The Hold Steady. Been listening since Separation Sunday came out. That is indeed what I'm talking about.

They tour with Titus Andronicus, too. That's the kind of American indie I love. Replacements worshippers.

Replacements! I saw them last year (Paul & Tommy anyway) at the Palladium. Good show. Not-massive-concept. Maybe less grandiose like G.L.O.S.S. or early R.E.M. For that matter U2's War album or Simple Minds' Street Fighting Years. Whatever.

[Invisible Man]

Ignore this post. This is not a post.

[Invisible Man]

Re: "I don't get concept albums," no, definitely not all albums are concept albums. Some albums are just collections of songs with no overarching or unifying theme, and that's not a bad thing, it's just one way to make an album. Like... there's no theme to Brand New's Deja Entendu, they're just songs together on one CD.

Some albums have a loose theme tying the songs together (example: Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over the Sea is Jeff Mangum's very esoteric, personal reaction to reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl). Or The Magnetic Field's 69 Love Songs is literally just 69 different love songs.

And some albums are more of a cohesive whole than a collection of songs. For example, Titus Andronicus' The Monitor explores the connections between the life of frontman Patrick Stickles and the battles of the American Civil War. The concept is so tight that very few songs hold up on their own; you have to listen to the entire album to appreciate any song on it, because they all relate back to it lyrically.

The latter kind of album might go as far as having characters, plot, mythology, setting, as in a film or novel. Or, more to the point, like an opera or a ballet, I suppose.

Gotcha. Makes sense, and that's what I always figured. But the difference seems to be one of intent, which is hard to judge. Like, if a whole record is made in a short period, it might be a concept album without making that explicit. But it's still a living document of an idea or experience, right?

[Chankgeez]

Nobody's mentioned jwar's fave: Dr. Octagonecologyst

Also, Y U no mention?: Zaireeka by The Flaming Lips

[Inconuucl]

Isn't every album by The Ocean a concept album?

[Blackened Soul]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81_4bYgTQCI[/youtube]

[Inconuucl]

Steven Wilson's The Raven that Refused to Sing is also another concept album, it's a collection of ghost stories.

[casecandy]

Steven Wilson's The Raven that Refused to Sing is also another concept album, it's a collection of ghost stories.

Oooh, should I get into him? I was reading about Hand. Cannot. Erase. and it sounded pretty neat but it was in Guitarist and they push a lot of music that isn't that good just because the guitar is good.

[casecandy]

So really you're looking for albums with a string of songs featuring the same unusual nouns.

As per usual, I can never tell how pedantic and snarky you're actually being, but you know that there's more to The Hold Steady than this, yes?

[Inconuucl]

Steven Wilson's The Raven that Refused to Sing is also another concept album, it's a collection of ghost stories.

Oooh, should I get into him? I was reading about Hand. Cannot. Erase. and it sounded pretty neat but it was in Guitarist and they push a lot of music that isn't that good just because the guitar is good.

If you like jazz fusion jump into The Raven, it's a fantastic prog/fusion record with a lot of beautiful, haunting passages. If you want to summarize the record with a single song then listen to Watchmaker.

However, if you like noise and free jazz and songs with a wide range in dynamics, the start with Grace For Drowning, which is my favorite of his. Index (with its cool glitch effects) and Raider II being my favorites.

[casecandy]

eehm,
call me Captain Obvious or call me Captain Ahab,
but I think this should count:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sulY3bixDxI[/youtube]

This definitely does count, and I'll see your Mastodon and raise you an Ahab:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTPHyG8KG7Q[/youtube]

Anything by Ahab counts, anything by Giant Squid counts.

Actually, Ahab ripped off one of Giant Squid's concepts and Giant Squid called them out on it, in a lighthearted way. The Stream and Monster In The Creek are both about the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks. Which is such a metal theme. Horrific.

This looks like it might be interesting:
http://www.nuclearblast.de/en/products/ ... i-iii.html

[OddKnowledge]

Prince Paul - A Prince Among Thieves

[D.o.S.]

So really you're looking for albums with a string of songs featuring the same unusual nouns.

As per usual, I can never tell how pedantic and snarky you're actually being, but you know that there's more to The Hold Steady than this, yes?

Yeah I like their first three records a lot, but a lot of the 'concept' therein is in PR and how the record is sold to you. The songs would be the same if Craig Finn diversified his male and female nouns to the point where they didn't repeat. Like, you could make the same argument about Aerosmith if they only wrote about Janie, to use the first example that comes to mind. Obviously there's a reason behind writing those songs the way they do (no idea if that's still THS's M.O.), but lyrically they're mining the same Lifter Puller territory and just using Name X instead of "he or She"

[Invisible Man]

Steven Wilson's The Raven that Refused to Sing is also another concept album, it's a collection of ghost stories.

Gotta check back into that guy. I remember being impressed a couple years ago...