Wow,
most of the responses to this question are a bit too philosophical to me. But I agree with Kelvin, in the 70's
and 80's it was called a 'concept album'.
I think artists tend to avoid that wording now, lest they be labeled as
passe.
The 'first' concept album, according to most experts
(who made them experts I don't know) is the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's'. IMHO, the ultimate 70's concept album
has to be Pink Floyds "The Wall". Some of my other favorites are:
Jetrho Tull - 'Thick as a Brick'
Moody Blues - 'Day's of Future Past'; 'In Search of
the Lost Chord; 'On the Threshold of a Dream'; etc.
Alan Parsons Project - 'Tales of Mystery and
Imagination' (based on E.A.Poe'; 'Eye in the Sky'; 'I Robot'
Pink Floyd - 'Wish You Were Here'
Styx - The Grand Illusion
A more recent example of a concept album is Dream
Theater's 'Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory'. Anyone out there who is into progressive rock/metal should
definitely give this one a listen.
Like a lot of people, I get a lot of music from the web,
via MP3.com. One thing that I have
trouble with is deciding what 'order' to put the songs in when I burn a
CD. There's tons of great music
out there, and free is great, but you do miss out on the artist's intended song
order (assuming there was one).
That's my two cents anyway.
Kevin "Doughboy"
>These sounds to me like a concept album. It happened
>all the time in the seventies and early 80's.
>Dark Side of the Moon and all that.
>Kelvin