Ideas for Concept Albums That Ought to Exist

Textbook presents The Constipation Suite

ExittheLemming wrote: How about a REALITY album, where people do normal boring things like get up in the morning, eat, defecate, diet, read the newspapers, go to their drudge filled work, watch TV, bemoan their terrible relationships and seek solace in the escapism afforded by erm... Progressive Rock concept albums?Nah, commercial suicide ain't it?

The theme of an average day was explored in "Days of Future Passed" by the Moody Blues (1967) and it was excellent. And we could do without some of these senseless negative sarcastic comments.

TODDLER wrote: A progressive album on a subject about trains. Pulsar released an 80's album with a front cover shot of a speed line train in Europe. Not sure if it's been done before? The story could revolve around something else. Trains just coincide with it. It could have a re-occuring theme throughout the album......though falling between longer extensive epic type prog pieces. Some with vocal, some instrumental. The repeating themes are short. averaging between 3 and 4 minutes and sometimes performed by a string quartet only.

Yeah that would be cool. I suggested one in the first post themed after "Atlas Shrugged" which focuses on trains quite a bit as the main character in the novel is a railroad executive. Eric Woolfson's "Poe; More Tales of Mystery and Imagination" has a song about trains called "Train to Freedom."

Edited by Nerd42 - November 10 2010 at 10:23

Trouserpress idealized the greatest prog-rock concept album a couple of years ago. It's somewhere here in the fora (can't be bothered to look for it now).

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Write_a_Progressive_Rock_Song

An album of seven songs detailing Harry Potter's story

Actually the ones we know about are the second-fiddle ones.

Textbook wrote: I actually did try making a concept album called Killer Towers and it was extremely vile in content so I'm not that sure about describing the detail but the basic premise was that I wake up one morning to find myself living in an apartment building populated by history's worst serial killers.

Just the worst?  No one gives second-fiddle serial killers a break.

My concept album.  Hm.

There would be an incredibly intimate, human conflict occurring, a desperate test of marriage and friendship and love that would span the conscious and unconscious mind of a man injured in an accident.  Various specters from his past would inhabit the narrative galleries, including the malicious shade of a wicked father.  Ultimately the injured man transcends the frailties of jealousy and anger and awakens to a revitalized world, his soul purged of impurities and healed of decades-old wounds.

And then the listener will be informed that the entire scenario was a dream simulated by a machine, thus robbing the narrative of all its power and subtlety.

Sorry, Mr. Lucassen.  Didn't mean to step on your toes.

I think that's every concept album ever actually.