Best concept albums?

DallasBlack wrote:

candlemass wrote:

Saviour Machine - The Legend Series

Yes! I'm not the only one then.

Not by a long shot, perhaps on this board though, due to all the "metal snobbery!"

He's right, though; themed albums are more abundant, while concept albums are not. And many purported concept albums are merely chronological themed albums, with storylines that are vague and bland (i.e. Operation Mindcrime II).

plancha2 wrote:

'S.F. Sorrow' by The Pretty Things. Late 60s British bluesey/hard rock. A truly great 'lost' album by a band that history has insanely overlooked.

Yes, Yes, Yes. The Pretty Things are so insanely overlooked it makes me sad. They influenced everyone and no one has heard of them.

And that album is the first rock concept album pipping the Who. So this whole topic owes it to the Pretty Things and S.F. Sorrow.

Operation Mindcrime
Streets: A Rock Opera
Wake of Magellan
Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from A Memory
Elements Parts 1 and 2
Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts 1 and 2
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

the sentinel wrote:

Operation Mindcrime
Streets: A Rock Opera
Wake of Magellan
Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from A Memory
Elements Parts 1 and 2
Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts 1 and 2
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Good choices - I love SFAM, OM (the original!!!) - I thought QR's downfall started with hear in the now frontier - still the only QR cd missing from my collection!

Paramaecium - Exhumed of the Earth

candlemass wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

No OPERATION MINDCRIME on your list, Ult? I'm shocked and appalled!!

No a big fan of Operation Mindcrime. To me that was the start of the fall of Queensryche. Never thought that CD was "all that".

I take it you like this album?
I did mention that I was in the minority on this opinion.

WTMN is definetely a concept album. Just watch the live show from that era, it all ties in as nightmares Steven has, just like ult stated.

From The Inside is one I forgot about somehow.

Operation Mindcrime is one of those albums that people were going gaga for years ago. I thought it was OK. I always tried to get people to appreciate Rage For Order, which is leaps and bounds a better album, IMO.

spectrefate wrote:

Operation Mindcrime is one of those albums that people were going gaga for years ago. I thought it was OK. I always tried to get people to appreciate Rage For Order, which is leaps and bounds a better album, IMO.

YES!!!

ultmetal wrote:

I like some concept albums, but I find that many concept records focus to heavily on the story and not enough on the songwriting.

I absolutely agree with you. While I can't condemn all concept albums (there are a *few* that I like), most generally bore me to tears, which is why I'm only cautiously optimistic about the new Judas Priest.

Metal Misfit wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

I like some concept albums, but I find that many concept records focus to heavily on the story and not enough on the songwriting.

I absolutely agree with you. While I can't condemn all concept albums (there are a *few* that I like), most generally bore me to tears, which is why I'm only cautiously optimistic about the new Judas Priest.

I'm trying to be optimistic about the new Priest as well.

I think the latest Iced Earth is a good example of a CD that the emphasis is placed more on the story than on the music itself.

deliverance-sword of the necromancer
manilla road-mystification
marauder-1821
scanner-mental reservation
silverback- a thought on life duration of species and human behavior
seven seas- darwinism

Flotsam - Dreams of Death

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
- the Wall

the Who - Tommy

Eagles - Hotel California

Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

And I'm gonna go ahead and predict that Judas Priest's Nostradamus will be metal history.

Sacred Warrior - Wicked Generation. As an album, a GREAT album. As a concept album, the story is weak and not well told, but it's got some great METAL music on it!!!!! It's also my favorite SW cd! I will admit, when I first heard it, I thought SW had listend to O:M a few too many times before entering the studio.

Speaking of weak stories, Music From The Elder's story make sense on the remastered (and original track list) version. The record company at the time decided to emphasize the potential "hits" and changed the playing order. The story flows much better on the remaster, makes sense and is easier to follow the events.

get_the_firehouse wrote:

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
- the Wall

the Who - Tommy

Eagles - Hotel California

Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

And I'm gonna go ahead and predict that Judas Priest's Nostradamus will be metal history.

In a godo way or a bad way? If you leave you prediction as is, you can't lose! I have a feeling it will either be awesome or suck. I have a feeling it won't be an inbetween. It will either be the best thing they have done since Painkiller or the worst thing they have done since Turbo

Paramaecium - Within The Ancient Forest

Last night I remebered After Forever-Invisible Circles, another good concept album.

ultmetal wrote:

TrogDawn wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare

You really see this as a concept album? Maybe a couple of the songs are tied together, but I've never really looked at it as a full concept album...

I just finished reading an article on Alice Cooper and the Welcome to My Nightmare album. He contends that the entire album was a story based on the nightmares of a young boy named Steven. He also goes on to say that Steve reappears in later Cooper records. I'll have to dig out that article again and post some quotes.

I didn't know that. I'll have to listen to it again with that in mind. Steven is also the main character in The Last Temptation, though you might not notice it without the comic books.

ultmetal wrote:

From the Inside is a great choice.

Probably my all time favorite right there.

Grave digger - Tunes of war
Grave Digger - Knights of the Cross

as for mindcrime - I still like it a lot but it is clouded because it was my introduction to the band. I heard eyes of a stranger one summer night listening to college radio and was hooked...

alex

exact33 wrote:

I heard eyes of a stranger one summer night listening to college radio and was hooked...

alex

That and I Don't Believe In Love are the best songs on that album IMO, and the only two tracks I listen to on a regular basis.