More stuff meant to avoid actually writing anything

[ericcoleman]

IYNSHO, what is the greatest concept album? And what is the concept?

I will have to say that The Kinks wonderful snapshot of British life, Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) is my favorite, although this could change with my mood in a moment.

Comments

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Love Arthur. Although the Kinks are a majorly underrated band in general.

[guppiecat]

Shatner's first album, with the concept being "Wonder if I can get anyone to pay money for this?"

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Shoot, that could apply to 99% of the albums released worldwide.

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Close run thang between Spirit's Twelve Dreams and the Small Faces' Ogden's Nut Gone Flake.

Small Faces. By a short head and Stanley Unwin's madness.

[ericcoleman]

I could have gone in a couple other directions really easily too ... Quadrophenia for instance, but I've ranted about that recently.

[blur01.livejournal.com]

Jethro Tull -- Thick as a Brick
Pink Floyd -- The Wall
Pink Floyd -- The Final Cut
Styx -- [1977 - 1983]
Alan Parsons Project -- Turn of a friendly card
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (1)

To answer your question, I'd probably toss Floyd to the top, and I'd have to include the Final cut with it as a three album set.

All of the Styx stuff listed as a set of years to denote ALL the albums released. This stuff we released during a time for me that I was just creating my musical "taste" so they hit pretty hard.

I dont think that Tubular Bells really fits, but I love it as a coherent piece of work. Also makes for a great trivia question.

[ericcoleman]

Ya know, there are a couple of Styx albums that are said to be concept albums, but I have never been able to work out what the concept is ...

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Remember You're A Womble, "really the first proper album for the Wombles as a group", though a nod must be made to the follow-up concept album, Keep On Wombling.

[ericcoleman]

Ok, trivia time, what musician has appeared on albums by The Wombles, Bryan Ferry and Roy Harper?

Erk, I've just read what I've written, but I'm going to post it anyway...

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

At a guess, Chris Spedding.
An acquaintance of mine (through Steve K at TPA) Davy O'List (The Nice, all The first Roxy Music demos etc.) did the "Let's Stick Together" session with him. Davy was at one time rated top ten, but has had a few...um....problems in the intervening years.
Spedding also did the first Pistols demos. And is pretty much the session guitarist for most sorts of Rock 'n' Roll this side of the pond.

I'm sodding well semi-retired, never having had that degree of success: and the calls coming less and less. I haven't practised properly for eighteen months. This is getting to be a flippin' disaster.

Re: Erk, I've just read what I've written, but I'm going to post it anyway...

[ericcoleman]

We have a winner !!!

Yes indeed ... Mr Spedding has done just a few things over the years. Roy Harper's story about the solo on The Game is hysterical. All his other big name friends tried and failed. Spedding walked in, listened to it once, then knocked it in the first take.

[billroper]

Well, you have to like "Days of Future Passed" by the Moody Blues.

I tend to think of Billy Joel's "Glass Houses" as a concept album, although I'm hard pressed to put that concept into words. :)

[ericcoleman]

I'm actually sort of surprised that you are the first person to mention the Moody Blues.

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" with the concept of love found, love lost, revenge taken.

Yes, I'm serious.

[ericcoleman]

me too, it's brilliant

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

I figure there's someone reading your LJ who doesn't know me well saying "The hell? Country? She's got to be joking.". ;-)

A couple others might not think of

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

Peace - Rotary Connection (their Christmas album)
Between the Wars - Al Stewart

Re: A couple others might not think of

[ericcoleman]

But I notice that you didn't mention "Down in the Cellar"

Re: A couple others might not think of

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

If I mentioned it, then I would have to say 'a few'. {evil grin}

[bammba-m.livejournal.com]

Does American Idiot count? Or most any Green Day album, I guess...they seem to have a whole thing in mind when they put their albums together.

If not, does Sergeant Pepper count as one? It's the only other album I can think of that seems to have some sort of linkingness to the songs.

[raven-ap-morgan.livejournal.com]

Greatest? That's a hard call, given people's tastes and such. But just to name a few...

1) Just about any album by Pink Floyd is a concept album of some type, from Dark Side Of The Moon to The Wall.

2) Has anyone considered Snow, by Spock's Beard, on the fall and redemption of the main character?

3) Rush hasn't done a full concept album as such, but they've done plenty of side-long concept pieces, chief of which is "2112", a "man versus the state" piece somewhat influenced by Ayn Rand's novelette, Anthem.

Raven

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

2112 ties for second or third on my list, with Days of Future Passed. I think probably 3rd, with DSotM taking second.