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VanVanVan View Drop Down
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Points: 756 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2010 at 11:55
Mars Volta's Frances the Mute is supposedly a narrative, but I can barely even understand what he's saying and reading the lyrics doesn't give you much.

Don't get me wrong, I think the album's brilliant, but as a narrative it doesn't really come through.
"The meaning of life is to give life meaning."-Arjen Lucassen
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Points: 16913 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2010 at 12:00
Originally posted by Textbook Textbook wrote:

 
I used to really care about the narratives of concept albums but as I've gotten older I've started to care less and less and just focus on the music.
 
 
Yup.

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Points: 4214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2010 at 16:41
And what about The Story of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles?
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Points: 3281 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2010 at 17:37
One Outside by David Bowie was one I invested a bit of time in trying to unravel before concluding that it was a lot of rubbish.
 
And yes, The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles. I love A Passion Play, absolutely excellent album, but like almost everyone else I do not like TSOTHWLHS as we Tull afficionadoes are so fond of calling it, just rolls of the tongue. However i think it is integral to the album, helping to poise it on the knife edge of humour and darkness. There's something very whimsical about it but also a bit dark and doubtful due to its context.
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Points: 1327 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 00:41

Opeth - Still Life

the music: 4.5 stars

the lyrics: 3.0 stars. It's IMPOSSIBLE to make out the story just by looking at the lyrics. There are quite a few theories but none of them feels right. I mean the music is ridiculously epic, but the story is lame.
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Points: 1008 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 07:32

Dark Side of the Moon is the most famous concept album ever.

But can anyone say exactly what is it's concept?
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 07:39
Originally posted by ten years after ten years after wrote:

Dark Side of the Moon is the most famous concept album ever.

But can anyone say exactly what is it's concept?

Madness.....getting old.....life.

Its not a concept album really.......well it kind of is....its just a very lose concept...more a themed album really.


Edited by Snow Dog - August 13 2010 at 07:40
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Points: 22989 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 07:42
It's a concept album indeed, but concept does not necessarily imply narration. In this case it's just a exceptional consistency of the conceptual themes throughout the whole album. 
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 07:45
^if you have to disagree with me...could you wait a couple of posts?Tongue
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Points: 22989 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 07:47
^ I'm not disagreeing, on the contrary I agree and I tried to make it a bit more clear. Smile
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Points: 32995 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 07:51
^ My bad.

I was concentrating more on.....

Snow Dog......."Its more of a themed album really"

Harmonium......."It's a concept album indeed"

LOL


But yes....I see now thats its basically agreement.Wink
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Points: 8052 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 08:21
A mild growl at Hemispheres now. Aside from the banal Greek mythology references, it kills any of the vaguely intriguing mystery of Book I and writes a simple, slightly moralistic plot and tedious conclusion around an original piece of writing that bears almost no relation to it.
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Points: 756 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 08:33
Originally posted by Alitare Alitare wrote:

 

Yeah, her philosophy might suck wrinkled teat, but I don't read her for her philosophy, I read her for her plots.

I thought I was the only one who did that. Tongue
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Points: 5148 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2010 at 08:44
"Tarkus" (the song).  The lyrics seem to have almost nothing to do with what's told through the album art.  
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Points: 44 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2010 at 00:16
I love Pink Floyd, but, over time "The Wall" is an album I enjoy less and less. Apart from some great songs, the whole thing isn't so accessible. I realized years later it was kind of a "poor man's Tommy". Even "Tommy" itself, is no better... overlong and not enough high-points for my taste. I prefer the excellent "S.F. Sorrow" by the Pretty Things. It still sounds fresh and exciting 40 years on. 
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Points: 3281 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2010 at 05:49
I actually agree with you there. When I was 15 The Wall was stunning, five stars, yet I'd only give it four now. Waters' moaning is a mind-blowing revelation to someone who didn't know you could be negative in songs but when you listen to more stuff it starts to get a bit old.
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Points: 771 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2010 at 06:45
Originally posted by Alitare Alitare wrote:

Tarkus? Most classic 70's prog bands' narratives make me giggle.

Agreed. It took the ingenuity of  Peter Sinfield to bring some intrigue to an ELP narrative with Karn Evil 9, a story of computers enslaving mankind in the future. And as we sit at our computers for hours daily, and prefer email and texting to vocal conversation, I can't help but wonder if he didn't hit the nail on the head. Big smile


Edited by Ronnie Pilgrim - August 17 2010 at 11:52
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Points: 2809 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2010 at 06:55
Words in music are meaningless, nothing more than a vehicle for the vocal instrument. If you want good literature, visit your local library.
Bigger on the inside.
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Points: 771 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2010 at 06:57
Originally posted by Textbook Textbook wrote:

 
And yes, The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles. I love A Passion Play, absolutely excellent album, but like almost everyone else I do not like TSOTHWLHS as we Tull afficionadoes are so fond of calling it, just rolls of the tongue. However i think it is integral to the album, helping to poise it on the knife edge of humour and darkness. There's something very whimsical about it but also a bit dark and doubtful due to its context.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with it as relates to this topic, in my opinion. The narrative is well told and the moral is easy to understand. And who among us doesn't reference children's fables in our adult lives from time to time? Sour grapes? Slow and steady wins the race? How about mind your own business or you might end up looking foolish? (Not you, Text. You're a scholar amongst proggies. Wink) The Peter and the Wolf -style music and the Monty  Python-esque humor are a brilliant combination. Kudos to you, Jeffrey!


Edited by Ronnie Pilgrim - August 17 2010 at 07:02
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Points: 16449 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 17 2010 at 07:09
The Snow Goose!Wink
 
The Mars Voltas first two albums are great musically, but when you have to download the story from Goldenlab Records website just to understand the narative, you know there's something wrong there.
 
Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005

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