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EddieRUKiddingVarese 
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 Topic: Top 5 Most Important Progressive Concept Albums .
Posted: February 12 2016 at 02:01 |
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake - yes the concept was only one side but it came out 12 months before Tommy in the UK and with the round sleeve it was something new and an early concept album and raised the profile of the genre. So it stands for me - each to their own. If you want to go back early for concept albums then would mention Dust Bowl Ballads – Woody Guthrie dating back to 1940 adapted from John Steinbeck’s great novel ‘The Grapes of Wrath’
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"Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes"
and I need the knits, the double knits!
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ten years after
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Posted: February 12 2016 at 01:28 |
 EddieRUKiddingVarese wrote:
1. Freak Out! - The Mothers of Invention2. Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake - Small Faces 3. Tommy - The Who 4. The Dark Side Of The Moon- Pink Floyd 5. The Wall - Pink Floyd |
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake isn't really a concept album as the concept piece is only one side. The first album with a strong story line is the Story of Simon Simeopath by Nirvana in 1967 Pretty Things' SF Sorrow is probably next in 1968. It is also a fantastic album. It is amazing that a band that could produce such quality couldn't get anywhere near it again (the same could be said of Don Mclean with American Pie) Pictures at an Exhibition is pretty good. I always think of Santana's Caravanserai as a concept album even though there is no deliberate concept built into it. The album has a continuous musical theme and is evocative of love and peace from start to finish. Al Stewart's Past, Present & Future gives the story of the 20th century and ties it together with a song abut Nostradamus. A wonderful album from start to finish.
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EddieRUKiddingVarese
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 19:24 |
1. Freak Out! - The Mothers of Invention 2. Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake - Small Faces 3. Tommy - The Who 4. The Dark Side Of The Moon- Pink Floyd 5. The Wall - Pink Floyd
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"Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes"
and I need the knits, the double knits!
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Upbeat Tango Monday
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 14:48 |
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There are two kinds of concept albums: those which tell a story, and those with songs that are part of a theme. Sgt. Pepper is about songs performed by this fictional band and characters. Pet Sounds can be considered a concept album as well if we take into account that it was all about Brian Wilson's psyche at the time. Some real life sounds thrown in and a sense of unity between the songs helped a good deal. I love both albums, but I find "theme" to be a weaker excuse for a concept because, with that criteria in mind, we might as well call a Mariah Carey album conceptual since those are all about falling in and out of love and realtionship issues.
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Two random guys agreed to shake hands. Just Because. They felt like it, you know. It was an agreement of sorts...a random agreement.
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The.Crimson.King
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 14:21 |
presdoug wrote:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Triumvirat's Spartacus, released in 1975, one of the first prog concept albums based on a non-religious historical figure, that of the famous gladiator who led a revolt against Imperial Rome. (yes, it is a favorite, but that's besides the point  )
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Good call Doug and a fantastic album 
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presdoug
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 12:24 |
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Triumvirat's Spartacus, released in 1975, one of the first prog concept albums based on a non-religious historical figure, that of the famous gladiator who led a revolt against Imperial Rome. (yes, it is a favorite, but that's besides the point )
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TheLionOfPrague
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 12:03 |
-Dark Side of the Moon -Tommy -Thick as a Brick -The Wall -Mmm, Animals? The Lamb? Days of Future Passed? Not sure which one I'd add.
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I shook my head and smiled a whisper knowing all about the place
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The.Crimson.King
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 11:17 |
Listed in order of chronological release (which hopefully shows the development of the concept album or at least different approaches)
1967 Sgt Peppers (admittedly not as fully realized as later prog concept albums, but the 1st I know of to musically tie the opening to the end (Sgt Peppers with the Sgt Peppers Reprise) and visually illustrate the concept with the cover art. Not to mention the first album to ever include the printed lyrics for all to see, understand, and analyze...a new concept for it's time)
1969 Tommy (though I really don't care for it at all, I'll still acknowledge it's huge importance as the 1st fully realized concept album with a story line and recurring musical themes...some unfortunately driven into the ground by repetition)
1972 Thick as a Brick (the 1st concept album to poke fun at concept albums and become a great concept album in the process...long live Gerald Bostock! I'd also say the first concept album to feature a level of musicianship and lyrical invention on par with the grandiose requirements of the concept)
1973 Tales from Topographic Oceans (the 1st concept album solely based on interpretation of a religious text - as opposed to Jesus Christ Superstar which was of course based on the life story of a religious figure. Tales was a musical concept realization of what Jimi used to call "The Electric Church")
1974 The Lamb (illustrates concept album as musical accompaniment to a complex written work - different than Tommy as The Lamb short story could really stand alone as an intriguing work of fiction rather than a collection of concepts and ideas)
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miamiscot
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 09:23 |
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Tommy Tales From Topographic Oceans Thick As A Brick The Wall
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chopper
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 05:52 |
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This isn't the quote I was talking about as I can't find it yet but this gives you some idea what Lennon thought about the "concept" -
"It's called the first "concept album." It
doesn't go anywhere. "Mr. Kite," all my contributions have absolutely
nothing to do with this idea of Sgt. Pepper and his band, but it worked
because we said it worked. And that's how it appeared. "
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chopper
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 05:47 |
EddieRUKiddingVarese wrote:
"Sgt Pepper is not a concept album." Where do you get that from? Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as one of the first concept albums, with the theme based around a performance by the fictional Sgt. Pepper band. Not saying I like it as a concept album but it is a concept album.
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I got it from John Lennon who said it was supposed to be a concept of a fictional band as you say, but they lost interest in it after the first 2 tracks and after that it became a normal album. I accept it's sort of a concept but they never really finished it (apart from the later reprise of the title track) and there's nothing linking the songs together as there is in The Wall or Tommy. Now if they'd carried out their original idea of songs about their early days in Liverpool (which is where Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane come from, and they were supposed to be on Sgt Pepper), then it would have been a real concept album.
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someone_else
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 05:36 |
In chronological order:
Days of Future Passed Tommy Dark Side of the Moon The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway The Wall
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Flight123
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Posted: February 11 2016 at 05:32 |
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The Lamb; Tales from Topographic Oceans; The Snow Goose; The Radio Gnome Trilogy; Olias of Sunhillow
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EddieRUKiddingVarese
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Posted: February 10 2016 at 17:22 |
"Sgt Pepper is not a concept album." Where do you get that from? Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as one of the first concept albums, with the theme based around a performance by the fictional Sgt. Pepper band. Not saying I like it as a concept album but it is a concept album.
Edited by EddieRUKiddingVarese - February 10 2016 at 17:26
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"Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes"
and I need the knits, the double knits!
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The Dark Elf
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Posted: February 10 2016 at 17:18 |
EddieRUKiddingVarese wrote:
Gerald Bostock is a fictional character created by Ian Anderson.Ian wrote the poem and the albums lyrics. The whole idea of Gerald Bostock an 8-year-old writing an epic poem was a joke as part of the parody of the album developed by Anderson. |
Gosh, thanks for that information. I've been listening to the album since 1972, gone to over 20 Tull concerts, and I didn't know till now. Actually, what I was referring to is the fictional story in the newspaper is the concept which the poem is derived from.
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...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...
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EddieRUKiddingVarese
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Joined: February 04 2016
Location: Aust
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Posted: February 10 2016 at 17:15 |
Gerald Bostock is a fictional character created by Ian Anderson. Ian wrote the poem and the albums lyrics. The whole idea of Gerald Bostock an 8-year-old writing an epic poem was a joke as part of the parody of the album developed by Anderson.
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"Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes"
and I need the knits, the double knits!
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The Dark Elf
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Posted: February 10 2016 at 17:01 |
emigre80 wrote:
zravkapt wrote:
Thick As A Brick was a parody of concept albums.
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isn't a parody of concept albums in itself a concept album? I mean, it's not just a random bunch of songs, so it coalesces around a central concept. |
It is a great concept album, made even better by the newspaper that actually gives the seamy historical backdrop to the poem written by Gerald Bostock that serves as the basis of the music.
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...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...
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Guldbamsen
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Posted: February 10 2016 at 15:58 |
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I'm not sure how to measure importance but I will say this: the 350.000 people watching Waters play and perform The Wall on Potzdamer Platz some 8 months after the real Wall came down will most likely have a natural favourite.
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams
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Upbeat Tango Monday
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Posted: February 10 2016 at 15:47 |
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The Wall (most popular concept album ever)
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Tales From Topographic Oceans
Thick as a Brick
Scenes From a Memory (introduced concept albums to younger generations)
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Two random guys agreed to shake hands. Just Because. They felt like it, you know. It was an agreement of sorts...a random agreement.
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sublime220
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Posted: February 10 2016 at 12:18 |
The Lamb TAAB Operation Mindcrime Tommy Animals
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There is no dark side in the moon, really... Matter of fact, it's all dark...
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Top 5 Most Important Progressive Concept Albums .
