Greatest concept albums

[PCLoadLetter]

Holy Christ, I just saw they put Marvin Gaye's "Here, My Dear" on the list. I'm not sure the most ardent Marvin Gaye fan would agree with that.

 

[mpcincal]

I hate getting reeled in by ship like this that is mostly designed to create arguments...

But "Tommy" is down in 5th.. "Quadrophenia" is 18th... while Green Day is second?!?

Lotta 32 year old voters for this one.

For the record, I'm 54 and I love "American Idiot." Never really heard "Tommy" but I am surprised it didn't place a little higher.
I was kind of happy to see Styx's "Kilroy Was Here" kicking off at No. 50. That was one of the first albums I bought after we got MTV and I started getting interested in music again. I played the heck out of that cashette at age 15, not realizing it was causing the band to implode.
Good to see "Mindcrime" on there too. If you ask me my favorite concept album, that would probably be my answer.
Funny this, the ones on this list I do enjoy, I don't really follow the "concept" all that closely, I just like the albums because there are good songs on it.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

For the record, I'm 54 and I love "American Idiot." Never really heard "Tommy" but I am surprised it didn't place a little higher.
I was kind of happy to see Styx's "Kilroy Was Here" kicking off at No. 50. That was one of the first albums I bought after we got MTV and I started getting interested in music again. I played the heck out of that cashette at age 15, not realizing it was causing the band to implode.
Good to see "Mindcrime" on there too. If you ask me my favorite concept album, that would probably be my answer.
Funny this, the ones on this list I do enjoy, I don't really follow the "concept" all that closely, I just like the albums because there are good songs on it.

To be clear, I like "American Idiot." It's a very good record and gets bonus points for being so totally unexpected from those guys. (And I'm 55.)

To me, "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" are the definitive concept albums, followed by "Ziggy." There are records high on that list that are not in their league.

 

[swingline]

The first side of 2112.

I'll show myself out.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I'm not sure if it qualifies as a concept album, but there was a band in the mid / late 80s that was a spinoff of XTC, called the Dukes of Stratopshear, comprised of Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave and Ian Gregory. Their songs were modelled after the psychedelic pop of the 60s, and they did one album that was actually a mix of songs from their two other albums called, Chips from the Chocolate Fireball. I wore that album out in my late teens. It may be more of an anthology album than a concept album, but all the songs are connected by weird segways on the album and it has a cohesive "psychedelic" theme and it was a bunch of guys pretending they were some new exciting act.

 

[Roscablo]

To be clear, I like "American Idiot." It's a very good record and gets bonus points for being so totally unexpected from those guys. (And I'm 55.)

To me, "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" are the definitive concept albums, followed by "Ziggy." There are records high on that list that are not in their league.

Maybe I am of a certain age, 45, but when I first saw this thread my brain immediately went to American Idiot.

 

[Starman]

Born to Run: Morning to midnight with the runaway American dream.

The Rising: 9/11/2001.

 

[heyabbott]

Terrapin Station. Side 2

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs -- Marty Robbins. The first country concept album.

 

[garrow]

What, no Tarkus?

 

[Sam Mills 51]

The first side of 2112.

I'll show myself out.

Agreed. No need to go anywhere.

What, no Tarkus?

No, no ... you see ... progressive rock is bad. Rolling Stone kept saying so. You think they're suddenly going against that stance, even when it comes to something the genre did exceedingly well?

 

[Neutral Corner]

Sturgill Simpson's "Metamodern Sounds in Country Music" ought to be in there.