List_of_concept_albums List_of_concept_albums

List of concept albums - Definition
Related Words: Assumption, Attitude, Conceit, Conception, Conceptualization, Conclusion, Consideration, Estimate, Estimation, Ethos, Eye, Feeling, Idea, Image, Imagery, Imaging

Following is a list of concept albums, listed by year.

Contents
1 1960s
2 1970s
3 1980s
4 1990s
5 2000s

1960s

(1969)Jesus Christ Superstar- A rock opera detailing the last week in the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

1970s

  • All Things Must Pass - George Harrison (1970) - All songs reflect George Harrison's medley of philosophical/religious beliefs, be they Western or Eastern, through lyrics or texture.
  • Lola Vs. Powerman - The Kinks (1970) - Ray Davies' psychosis and his distrust of the music industry
  • Edmundo Lopez - Coupla Prog (1970) - describes the story of an imaginary boy living in an unspecified South American country, and his experiences in trying to survive in hiding during civil war.
  • Blows Against the Empire - Paul Kantner & Jefferson Starship (1970) - The story of a group of people who steal a starship from the elite and found a utopia elsewhere
  • Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon (1970)
  • 666 - Aphrodite's Child (1970) Deals with the end of the world with elements from the Book of Revelations but with an unusual psychedelic interpretation.
  • Escalator over the Hill - Carla Bley (1971)
  • Death of a Country - Bang (1971) - About the various ways in which the American dream is crumbling due to disregard for the environment and each other.
  • Muswell Hillbillies - The Kinks (1971) - Down-and-out North Londoners express their disillusionment, paranoia, and dreams of a better life in a better place upon being relocated out of Muswell Hill when the gritty neighborhood was rebuilt following extensive damage by bombing in World War II.
  • Edge of Time - DOM (1971) - A sonic and poetic journey depicting the band's impressions after a lengthy experience with DOM [STP], a potent psychedelic drug.
  • Magic Theatre - Drum Circus (1971) - A musical attempt to guide the listener through various stages of the spiritual quest for enlightenment.
  • Three Parts To My Soul - Dr. Z (1971) - Examines the philosophical idea that the soul has three parts covering different functions of awareness, all tied in with notions of the ultimate hopelessness of hope for redemption.
  • "L'histoire de Melody Nelson" - Serge Gainsbourg (1971) - the doomed affair between a middle-aged Frenchman and a 15-year-old English schoolgirl
  • What's Going On - Marvin Gaye (1971) - Urban turmoil and changing times, the first album from a Motown artist that wasn't just a collection of singles
  • - Daddy Cool (1971) - A lighthearted look at the trials and tribulations required of a young lad in attempting to satisfy his requirements of those 3 things; inner gatefold had a comic strip which made it clearer.
  • Aqualung - Jethro Tull (1971) - Criticism of organized religion for breaking people's personal relationship with God
  • Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull (1972) - One long musical track written around a poem by a fictitious child prodigy.
  • Fetus - Franco Battiato (1972) - About potential people who are never born due to contraception, as well as unwanted children who are born.
  • Three Friends - Gentle Giant (1972) - Three old friends reminisce about their days as schoolchildren
  • Impressions on Reading Aldous Huxley - Brave New World (1972) - Instrumental music inspired by Huxley's more 'esoteric' writings.
  • Pictures at an Exhibition - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1972) - Each song describes a picture; adapted from original composition by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky
  • The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars - David Bowie (1972) - story of a Martian Messiah, Savior and rock star named Ziggy Stardust
  • Seven Up - Ash Ra Tempel with Timothy Leary (1972) - a musical interpretation of Leary's ideas about the stages of consciousness, from base awareness to enlightenment and cosmic integration [also a rare chance to hear Leary try to sing like a rock god!]
  • The Lord of the Rings - Bo Hansson (1972) - Album with instrumentals inspired by Tolkien's Book.
  • Ennea - Chase (1972) - not the whole thing is a concept album, but a lot of it is about various Greek gods.
  • A Passion Play - Jethro Tull (1973) - A man dies and comes back to Earth to help the people he loves
  • Berlin - Lou Reed (1973) - A tale of a drug abusing couples' doomed romance
  • Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (1973) - The various influences that can drive one mad
  • The Six Wives of King Henry VIII - Rick Wakeman (1973) - One instrumental piece about each wife
  • Quadrophenia - The Who (1973) - Four personalities in one alienated mod
  • Tales from Topographic Oceans - Yes (1973) - This concept album is based on the four-part Hindu Shastric scriptures
  • Desperado - The Eagles (1973) - Old western outlaws
  • Documents of Captivity - Thunderpussy (1973) - An examination in 'documents' of the traps and pitfalls humankind create for themselves in the passage of their lives, as well as the possibility of releasing one's self from them.
  • Preservation Act 1, Preservation Act 2 - The Kinks (1973, 1974) - The rise of a greedy developer and his fall at the hands of a moralizing dictator, set in and around a quaint English village.
  • The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Genesis (1974) - A young man gets the opportunity to fix his past mistakes through a series of (mis)adventures in Manhattan and a dreamlike alter-world.
  • Planet of Man - Code III (1974) - follows the history of humanity, beginning with the earth preceding humans, building to a climax/crisis of confusion and hatred, the destruction of the human race, and the re-emergence of new life from the primal goop.
  • The Power and the Glory - Gentle Giant (1974)
  • Diamond Dogs - David Bowie (1974) - Adapted from 1984 by George Orwell
  • Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters - Robert Calvert (1974) - Satirical take on the crash-prone Lockheed F-104 "Starfighter" fighter planes sold to West Germany
  • The Boy From the Star - Jim Keays (1974) - ex-Master's Apprentices singer turns spaceman to tell the tale of an extraterrestrial who comes to earth warning us to change our ways, and encouraging us to make our world a better place.
  • "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" - Sensational Alex Harvey Band (1974) - decadence in the Weimar Republic
  • Lies To Live By - Spirit of Christmas (1974) - Looks at the ways in which we are deceieved en masse by cultural conditioning.
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth - Rick Wakeman (1974) - Adapted from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
  • Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table - Rick Wakeman (1975) - Adapted from the legends of King Arthur
  • Radioactivity - Kraftwerk (1975) - Broadcast communications
  • Schoolboys in Disgrace - The Kinks (1975) - childhood in the 1950s
  • Soap Opera - The Kinks (1975) - ordinary people's dreams of stardom
  • Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd (1975) - Former band member Syd Barrett's decline into insanity, and the trials of stardom
  • Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Alan Parsons Project (1975) - Adapted from various writings by Edgar Allan Poe
  • Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson (1975) - A preacher who has fallen from grace
  • Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy - Elton John (1975) - Elton John and Bernie Taupin describe their rise to stardom
  • Too Old to Rock And Roll, Too Young to Die - Jethro Tull (1975) - Nostalgia of a rocker who has reached his late fifties
  • Lucky Leif & the Longships - Robert Calvert (1975) - semi-humorous look at the fact that Vikings 'discovered' N. America before Columbus.
  • The Snow Goose - Camel (1975) - Concerns a goose in World War II, based on a novella by Paul Gallico
  • The Prince of Heaven's Eyes - Fruupp (1975) - The whimsical adventures of a young man who decides to leave his home in a small Irish village.
  • "Rock Around The Bunker" - Serge Gainsbourg (1975) - sex and Nazis
  • Welcome to My Nightmare - Alice Cooper (1975)
  • Hotel California - The Eagles (1976) - Temptation and the loss of innocence in the pursuit of celebrity
  • Mothership Connection - Parliament (1976) - A messianic figure named Starchild comes to earth on a Mothership to bring the Funk to humanity
  • 2112 - Rush (1976) - A man discovers a guitar in a dystopia where musicmaking has been banned.
  • Alice Cooper Goes to Hell - Alice Cooper (1976) - Alice Cooper goes to hell
  • In Search of Ancient Gods - Absolute Elsewhere (1976) - Instrumental music intended to depict various examples of theories of Erich Von Daniken regarding ancient extraterrestrial visitors; came with a booklet full of texts summarising these ideas.
  • A Life - Alpha-Omega (1976) - Follows the life of a man from birth to death.
  • Backdoor Possibilities - Birth Control (1976) - Follows the lives of a 9-5 everyman and looks into the possibilities he could be exploring in life outside of conformity.
  • "L'homme a tete de chou" (Cabbage Head) Serge Gainsbourg (1976) - a man's jealousy over his wife's adultery leads him to kill her
  • I Robot - Alan Parsons Project (1977) - Based on the robot stories of Isaac Asimov
  • Hope - Klaatu (1977) - the sole survivor of an arrogant race tries to make amends
  • Animals - Pink Floyd (1977) - The common people are represented by sheep, the government by dogs, the rich by pigs.
  • One Nation Under a Groove - Funkadelic (1978) - imaginary nation ruled by Funkiness
  • From the Inside - Alice Cooper (1978) - Based on Cooper's experience in an asylum
  • Here, My Dear - Marvin Gaye (1978) - A description of the circumstances that led to Marvin's divorce. (An urban legend holds that the judge who handled the divorce settlement awarded the royalties from this album to Marvin's ex-wife, Anna, and that Marvin deliberately recorded sub-standard work to deprive her of those royalties. The true story (http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/heredear.asp), however, is that while a substantial part of the settlement money was projected to come from the royalties of the album (and an even larger part had already come from the advances on those royalties) Marvin was liable for the entire amount no matter how well or poorly the record performed.)
  • "That's Life" - Sham 69 (1978) - the travails of working class youth in suburban London
  • The War of the Worlds - Jeff Wayne (1978) - songs based on H.G. Wells's classic novel of Martian invasion, The War of the Worlds
  • Uncle Jam Wants You - Funkadelic (1979) - a militant call to action to create the nation in One Nation Under a Groove
  • The Wall - Pink Floyd (1979) - A rock star becomes alienated from his friends, family and fans, and seals himself behind a metaphorical wall.
  • Slow Train Coming - Bob Dylan (1979) Dylan's documented period of exploring his Christianity
  • Joe's Garage - Frank Zappa (1979) (Originally released as two separate albums; Act I and Acts II/III) - follows "Joe," the prototypical rock-star wannabee, as he wastes his life pursuing a false dream, sinking to degrading new lows in self-esteem...
  • Eve - Alan Parsons Project (1979) - Woman's overpowering effect on man
  • Movies - Holger Czukay (1979) - Looks at the nostalgia invoked by old films and the myth of Hollywood.
  • Eskimo - The Residents (1979) - Eskimo culture.
  • The Turn of a Friendly Card - Alan Parsons Project (1980) - Gambling is used as a metaphor for life

1980s

1990s

2000s

  • Spiritual Machines - Our Lady Peace (2000) - Inspired by The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil
  • House of God - King Diamond (2000)
  • Lifehouse - The Who - A Sci-Fi rock opera (NOT RELEASED; re-recorded in 2000 as a solo project by Pete Townshend)
  • Beethoven's Last Night - Trans-Siberian Orchestra (2000) - Mephistopheles comes for Beethoven's soul one night
  • Magica - Dio (2000) - A fantasy-adventure
  • Haunted - Poe (2000) - chronicles the singer's emotional journey as she comes to terms with her relationship with her late father. Also ties into the novel House of Leaves written by her brother, Mark Z. Danielewski.
  • MACHINA/The Machines of God - The Smashing Pumpkins (2000) - A rock star believes he hears the voice of God in the radio and decides to spread his message despite its cost on his love, his career and himself. MACHINA II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music was a free, downloadable companion piece.
  • Kid A - Radiohead (2000) - Homicidal genetically-engineered monstrosities (which represent capitalist exploitation) are let loose upon a complacent and denial-filled society.
  • I am not a Freemdoom - Masters of the Hemisphere (2000) - The island of Krone Ishta, populated by many lake-dwelling creatures, is invaded by an evil dog named Freemdoom who drains the lakes in order to force the inhabitants to buy air-lungs, made in Freemdoom's factory. Mal and Ed, two native islanders attempt to stop him, but their plan backfires as Freemdoom grafts his henchman Gorgar's head onto Ed's body.
  • Winners Never Quit - Pedro the Lion (2000) - A tale of two brothers, one – the family favorite – is lead into politics and eventually murders his wife who was going to release information that would end his career.
  • The Shaming of the True - Kevin Gilbert (2000 - posthumous release) - a biting commentary on the music industry at large as seen through the eyes of an aspiring young rock musician named Johnny Virgil.
  • Sagan Om Världens Mest Hypade Band by Charta 77 (2000, recorded in 1999) - A story about the rise and fall of a band.
  • Amnesiac - Radiohead (2001) - Kid A narrator returns from death, and puts together his past life piece by piece.
  • Light of Day, Day of Darkness - Green Carnation (2001) - A single hour-long song of somewhat obscure meaning, involving enlightenment and the journey of life.
  • Toxicity - System of a Down (2001) - Anthems and songs composed to represent the city of Los Angeles and the band.
  • Southern Rock Opera - The Drive By Truckers (2001) - A two-disc concept album alternately based on the life and death of Lynyrd Skynyrd and one man's journey through growing up in the South between the 60s and today.
  • Strange Little Girls - Tori Amos (2001) - Traditionally masculine songs redone from a feminine point of view
  • Setting Sons - The Jam (2001) - Three childhood friends meet again and discuss their lives
  • Leitmotif - Dredg (2001) - A man travels to different cultures to cure his spiritual affliction.
  • Vision Creation Newsun - Boredoms (2001) - A long jam centered around two drummers and electronic manipulations.
  • - Of Montreal (2001) - A fairy-like creature named Coquelicot falls asleep and dreams of a strange world in which various characters travel to a remote island and populate it with fantastical genetically-modified animals.
  • The Beginning Stages of... - The Polyphonic Spree (2002) - The sun, light, and day.
  • Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Dream Theater (2002) - The various stages, actions, and moods of depression and insanity.
  • Scarlet's Walk - Tori Amos (2002) - A woman goes on a trip across America to discover its past, its present and future
  • El Cielo - Dredg (2002) - Booklet contains letters written by sufferers of sleep disorders; most of the songs on the album revolve around the subject of sleep.
  • Creatures - Elf Power (2002)
  • The Second Stage Turbine Blade - Coheed and Cambria (2002)
  • Remedy Lane - Pain of Salvation (2002) live with a group of people in a communal environment
  • Control - Pedro the Lion (2002) - A woman is lead insane by her husband's infidelity. A physical fight between the two towards the end of the album leads to the man receiving a fatal stab wound.
  • Snow - Spock's Beard (2002) - An outcast teenager transforms into a messianic figure
  • Demon Hunter - Demon Hunter (2002)
  • Emergency Rations - Mr. Lif (2002) - The artist's anger and confusion about living in Bush-era America.
  • I Phantom - Mr. Lif (2002) - A character lives through poverty, grueling labor, a failed family life, and finally the end of the world.
  • Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats (2002) - Couple from John Darnielle's "Alpha..." song cycle move to Tallahassee, Fla. to try to save their relationship. Disaster ensues.
  • Truthless Heroes - Project 86 (2002)
  • Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips (2002) A Japanese girl attempts to save a city from destructive pink robots. However, Wayne Coyne (lead singer and songwriter) denies that this is intended to be a concept album.
  • The Last DJ - Tom Petty (2002) An attack on the greediness of the music industry.
  • Demons Dance Alone - The Residents (2002) - The Resident's reaction to 9/11.
  • Hail to the Thief - Radiohead (2003) - A sharp critique of US policy, especially regarding the War on Terror and the restriction of various freedoms to try to counteract terrorism as a whole
  • De-Loused in the Comatorium - The Mars Volta (2003) - Tortured artist Cerpin Taxt tries to commit suicide via morphine overdose, but sends himself into a coma laden with visions of his own creations.
  • In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 - Coheed and Cambria (2003) - A story of love and war in a post-apocalyptic Earth.
  • Take Me To Your Leader - King Geedorah (2003) - MF Doom (King Geedorah) offers a biography of the Godzilla nemesis.
  • Taste the Secret - Ugly Duckling (2003) - The humorous trials and tribulations of the employees of an all-meat fast food joint, Meatshake and their competitor, Veggie Hut.
  • Mount Eerie - The Microphones (2003) - The idea of human life in stages – birth, life, death, and rebirth – as told through the story of a man's journey to a mountain, the environment that overwhelms him, and his overcoming of it.
  • Damnation and a Day - Cradle of Filth (2003) - "Satan's side of the story"
  • Bell - Stuart Davis (2003) - Traces the life of an American girl who is an incarnation of God.
  • The Raven - Lou Reed (2003) - Based on the poems and short stories of Edgar Allan Poe
  • Greendale - Neil Young and Crazy Horse (2003) - The story of the Green family (Grandpa, Jed, and Sun).
  • Thirteenth Step - A Perfect Circle (2003) - The twelve steps of recovery from drug/alcohol addiction.
  • Testimony - Neal Morse (2003) - The composer's conversion to Christianity
  • My love, My Way - Modern Life Is War (2003) - All songs deals with outstanding and to keep going on with life.
  • Sing the Sorrow - AFI (2003) - A man who goes through with life, suffers through death, and cannot reincarnate goes insane during the afterlife.
  • "The Complex" - Blue Man Group (2003) - The trio's first album with lyrics, the album focuses on the life of individuals, as sung by those individuals, not the Blue Men, in a complex downtown setting. Each song is a different tale of these poor individuals who are locked into urban isolation, so far away from connection with others, yet living so close to them. The Blue Men are both mystified and perplexed by the human emotions as they watch, and put to music the emotions in the city. The Complex also had a semi show and rock tour that featured the 'everyman' bathroom door icon as ther metaphor for the fake person we each put on to hide our true selves.
  • A Grand Don't Come For Free - The Streets (2004) - Mike Skinner finds and loses love, and loses and finds a thousand quid.
  • American Idiot - Green Day (2004) - A Bay Area suburbanite named Jesus of Suburbia flees his broken home to experience city life, transforming into the rebellious St. Jimmy. Notable as a punk rock opera. The first two can be attributed to Husker Du's Zen Arcade, a story of a young punk who runs away from home only to discover the horrors of the world, and the Minutemen's half-hearted attempt at making an album about riding in a car, Double Nickels on the Dime.
  • Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance (2004) - An album about two Bonnie and Clyde-like lovers who die in the desert in a gunfight. The man goes to hell and meets the devil. But the woman isn't there, and the devil says they can only be reunited if the man brings him the souls of 1,000 evil men.
  • The Libertines - The Libertines (2004) - An explicitly autobiographical account of the troubled love-hate relationship between frontmen Carl Barat and Pete Doherty.
  • The Human Equation - Ayreon (2004) - A man gets into an accident in broad daylight, with no other cars around. He lays in a comatose state and faces his feelings and the monsters of his past.
  • Miracle - Céline Dion & Anne Geddes (2004) - A multimedia collection built around a celebration of babies and life.
  • eMOTIVe - A Perfect Circle (2004) - Anti-war cover songs (against the views of George W. Bush, as shown in their videos).
  • How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - U2 (2004) - Music dealing with the world on the crossroads of its own existence (love, war, peace, and harmony are running themes throughout the record).
  • They Were Wrong So We Drowned - The Liars(2004) - A story about 17th century German witch hunts.

Example Usage of concept
nikksalva: New blog post: Volvo C30 Electric concept: Another One? Really? [Detroit Auto Show] http://bit.ly/6a3ZD4
coalminerdtr: @HolidaySingers Driving Droves of Traffic to Your Website - http://bit.ly/7zjzTQ What a concept!
dominiek_be: RT @ArdiXIV: "That's why i like the barcamp concept so much: it's like TED, without the attitude." (via @steffest) #bcg3
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