All Mixed Up 05.19.09: What a Concept

Posted by Tom Santoro on 05.19.2009

Sometimes bands just want to tell a story rather than offer a few singles and a bunch of throwaways. This week I take a look at the concept album and give my play list of the notable songs off of the best ones.

With the release of its second concept album in five years, Green Day got me thinking about other bands who have made concept albums. A concept album is usually an album where the band cohesively ties all the songs together. Usually it is a narrative, sometimes its just one idea with all the songs about that one idea. One thing for certain is that these albums are some of the greatest albums ever made and here is a look at some of the best:

THE WHO - Tommy;The Who Sell Out;Quadrophenia (to name a few)

Perhaps the king of the concept album is Pete Townshend. He created some of his best work by writing stories instead of singles. The concept of The Who Sell Out is that all the songs are tied together by a series of commercial jingles and meant to sound like it was being broadcast from an offshore pirate radio station. Quadrophenia is about growing up a teenager in London trying to find your place to fit in.

From The Who Sell Out: "I Can See For Miles."



From Quadrophenia: "Love, Reign O'er Me".



The high point of Townshend career is Tommy, the first "rock opera". The story is about a boy who is "deaf, dumb and blind" that gets a cult like following by playing pinball really well. The double album has been made into a musical and a film. The album features "Pinball Wizard", "I'm Free", "See Me, Feel Me".
From Tommy: "Pinball Wizard"



Pink Floyd - The Wall; Dark Side of the Moon

I think they handed these two albums to every child born in the 70s. These are two of the most critically acclaimed classic rock albums of all time and highest selling. The concept of Dark Side of the Moon is the progression through human life and things that affect that person. Every song is a classic but the most recognizable are "Breathe", "Time", "The Great Gig in the Sky", "Money", "Us and Them", "Brain Damage".

From Dark Side of the Moon: "Breathe"



Like Tommy, The Wall is also a rock opera. The theme of the album is to follow the life of a boy named Pink as he grows up in mentally stressful situations until he completely isolates himself. Each "brick in the wall" symbolizes another moment of mental torment. "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" represents the bullying Pink endured while in school and the effects it has on him. There are many classics on the album as well such as "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2", "Mother", "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb". There is a reason why kids do drugs and watch laser shows of these albums, they make you think.

From The Wall: "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2"



The Beatles - Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

This concept of this album was that it was not actually the Beatles recording the songs; it was a fictitious band called Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Under that concept that allowed The Beatles to try different things musically because, they could get away with it. The result is a masterpiece. The album features "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "With a Little Help from My Friends", "When I'm Sixty Four".

From Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band: "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"



David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

For this album, Bowie took on the weird androgynous persona of Ziggy Stardust in a story of an alien rock star who can give Earth a message of hope before its demise. The album features: "Suffragette City".

From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: Suffragette City"




Green Day - American Idiot; 21st Century Breakdown

The new purveyors of the concept album are Green Day. Billie Joe Armstrong has written two album in the last 5 years about how America has become a crappy place to live since George W. Bush started running things. Both albums are well written but 21st Century Breakdown is better as the songs are more connected to the story of love and rage vs. apathy.


From American Idiot: "American Idiot"



From 21st Century Breakdown: "21st Century Breakdown"



Styx - Killroy was Here

I only bring this up because it gives me a chance to play "Mr. Roboto". The album takes place in a future where rock music is banned and the only person to save it is Dennis DeYoung. No wonder rock is dead.

From Killroy was Here: "Mr. Roboto"



Ultimately, concept albums are intended to help people grasp to an idea. Some follow the slow decent into a mental breakdown, others ask questions of our leaders, but they all make you think. These bands take time to use all of the space provided to sell you an idea and not a single that will be here today, gone tomorrow.