What is a "theme" or a "concept" album?

[U2girl]

I heard this expression often but i don't know what it means... so?

 

[scatteroflight]

It's basically what it sounds like...an album where the songs are linked or tell a story in some way, all following the same theme or themes. None of U2's albums are concept albums, I don't think, even though they may tend to deal with subjects overall...for instance, Boy is about adolescence, War is about conflict, etc. I wouldn't say that any of U2's albums are unified enough to fall into the concept album category. Pink Floyd released concept albums...Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall. Songs flow into each other, lyrics and themes recur, songs are started at the beginning of the album and conclude with the end of the album, etc.

Two of my favourite concept albums are Sting's The Soul Cages--possibly my favourite album by anyone--and Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime, which is a hard rock album that tells a very specific story. The Soul Cages doesn't exactly tell a story, but themes, lyrics, and even musical motifs recur constantly--it's about fathers and sons, religion, and the sea.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

You could go out on a limb and say Achtung Baby was one.

 

[david]

Was Pet Sounds the first ever concept album?

 

[nbcrusader]

Look at any of the albums by Styx - they are all "concept" albums, with an underlying story or message through the songs

 

[Edgeman]

Pink Floyd - "The Wall"

I could listen to that album for days on end.

Another good "Concept" album is Spiritual Machines by a Canadian band named Our Lady Peace. The theme is based on a book "The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence" by Ray Kurzweil. Good stuff, check it out.

 

[Zoomerang96]

our lady peace ripped radiohead off big time. it was the biggest joke ever.

if you want a real concept album, look at the pink floyd albums already mentioned. ok computer is to a degree, a concept album...just dont tell them that.

 

[Edgeman]

They may have ripped off Radiohead (and who doesn't rip off other artists like that) but it's still a good album in my opinion.

And like I said at the beginning of my post, I LOVE The Wall....but I still haven't gotton Dark Side Of The Moon.

 

[pinkfloyd]

about PinkFloyd :

first do these :

Dark Side Of The Moon
Wish You Were Here
The Wall
Pulse


next :
Animals
The Wall
The Final Cut


and if u liked all this crazy mofo sthuff , try
Solo Roger Waters ( strong Lyrics , strong theatre , music is from Ok to very good ) albums :

Pros And Cons of Hitchhiking
Radio K.A.O.S.
Amused To Death

David Gilmour ( Music , guitars , singing - this is all in GREAT form is about him )
DElicate Sound Of Thunder ( pf live album )
About the face
Momentary lapse of a reason
Division Bell

 

[joyfulgirl]

Was Pet Sounds the first ever concept album?

I think it is generally said to be so, although some have said it was Sgt. Pepper. But I've never felt that Sgt. Pepper was a true concept album.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Two of my favourite concept albums are Sting's The Soul Cages--possibly my favourite album by anyone

duh i can't believe i never equated that album as being a concept album. then again, i don't really grasp the definition of concept album. but i love LOVE this album. it's quite possibly my favourite sting album. all of his stuff is so great it's really hard to pinpoint the best.

that being said, could ...nothing like the sun be a concept album too? i know the whole thing is about relationships with women: mothers and significant others. i shall go listen to it now. those two sting albums are definitely my favourites, though. can't wait till he comes out with his new one!

 

[hiphop]

about PinkFloyd :

first do these :

Dark Side Of The Moon
Wish You Were Here
The Wall
Pulse


next :
Animals
The Wall
The Final Cut


and if u liked all this crazy mofo sthuff , try
Solo Roger Waters ( strong Lyrics , strong theatre , music is from Ok to very good ) albums :

Pros And Cons of Hitchhiking
Radio K.A.O.S.
Amused To Death

David Gilmour ( Music , guitars , singing - this is all in GREAT form is about him )
DElicate Sound Of Thunder ( pf live album )
About the face
Momentary lapse of a reason
Division Bell

The best Floyd album is The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. And you have neither mentioned it. But you quote shit like all the Floyd albums after Rogers departure? Come on. They are a pile of shit. Admit it. Without fantasy. Old half baked reciepts, no messages... awful, really awful. Delicate Sound of Thunder still makes me vomit when I listen to it. Shine on played without one percent of the original feeling - congrats.

 

[scatteroflight]

duh i can't believe i never equated that album as being a concept album. then again, i don't really grasp the definition of concept album. but i love LOVE this album. it's quite possibly my favourite sting album. all of his stuff is so great it's really hard to pinpoint the best.

that being said, could ...nothing like the sun be a concept album too? i know the whole thing is about relationships with women: mothers and significant others. i shall go listen to it now. those two sting albums are definitely my favourites, though. can't wait till he comes out with his new one!

Me too

In a way, saying The Soul Cages is a concept album could be slightly going out on a limb. I mean, I wouldn't say it's unquestionably one like Operation Mindcrime or those Pink Floyd albums. I don't recall hearing Sting describe it that way. I was eleven when that album came out, it started me out as a Sting fanatic (more than half my life now!!) and my brother told me it was a concept album, and I respected his opinion very deeply back then It just seems to tell a story, and it comes back again and again to the sea especially. And there are things like the "And he dreamed of a ship on the sea, it would carry his father and he..." bit first appearing in Island of Souls and then again in The Soul Cages, and the pipes at the very start of the album recur at the end of The Wild Wild Sea. It's funny, but I don't listen to The Soul Cages all that often. It's just that when I do, I inevitably listen to it start to finish, and it's always an incredibly moving experience. I think it's even more specialy because I do it only sometimes.

Nothing Like the Sun as a concept album? To me, that's again more like War or Boy or Achtung Baby--general themes, but maybe not to the extent required. But hey, why should it be important to say "yes, this is definitely a concept album" or "no, it definitely isn't" anyway?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

And there are things like the "And he dreamed of a ship on the sea, it would carry his father and he..." bit first appearing in Island of Souls and then again in The Soul Cages, and the pipes at the very start of the album recur at the end of The Wild Wild Sea. It's funny, but I don't listen to The Soul Cages all that often. It's just that when I do, I inevitably listen to it start to finish, and it's always an incredibly moving experience. I think it's even more specialy because I do it only sometimes.

true. i never thought it of it that way really!

 

[pinkfloyd]

The best Floyd album is The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. And you have neither mentioned it. But you quote shit like all the Floyd albums after Rogers departure? Come on. They are a pile of shit. Admit it. Without fantasy. Old half baked reciepts, no messages... awful, really awful. Delicate Sound of Thunder still makes me vomit when I listen to it. Shine on played without one percent of the original feeling - congrats.

i said my part about Piper in " boy : best debut album " thread
and piper is not fully concept album , it's great , Syd's album . Gilmour is a good musician , we must look at the Waters-Gilmour conflict deeper , we can easily find over 50 reasons for each side , pointless discussion , Final Cut is a Waters record , Momentary Lapse of The A reason is a Gilmour record . etc etc

 

[hiphop]

i said my part about Piper in " boy : best debut album " thread
and piper is not fully concept album , it's great , Syd's album . Gilmour is a good musician , we must look at the Waters-Gilmour conflict deeper , we can easily find over 50 reasons for each side , pointless discussion , Final Cut is a Waters record , Momentary Lapse of The A reason is a Gilmour record . etc etc

also true

anyways i never listen to that post waters stuff

its boring

i even prefer the solo albums of syd... a little strange, but i like it

what about the naked girl in the blue yellow rrom

trip to dream dragon sails cacklin?at every plate they break






















isnt it good to be lost in the woods
just now i thought this could be a link to dante

 

[david]

I think it is generally said to be so, although some have said it was Sgt. Pepper. But I've never felt that Sgt. Pepper was a true concept album.

I'll go out on a limb and say that Pet Sounds was. I forgot that the Beatles were actually influenced by that album, and it inspired them to make Sgt Peppers.