OT: Favorite Concept Albums - Any Genre

[Slipperman]

Camel
The Snow Goose (based on a novel)
Instrumental Prog

 

[Slipperman]

Renaissance
Scheherazade
Classical Prog

 

[WillB4]

Coltrane
Love Supreme

Miles Davis
Sketches of Spain

Mario Pavone
Ancestors

 

[Littlemin]

From Largo, an ambitious undertaking and one of my favorite albums; produced by Rick Chertoff and Rob Hyman of The Hooters. The album name is taken from The New World Symphony by the composer Antonin Dvorak, which written in 1893. The songs are ”kind of” based on that work. Tremendous collaborative music featuring appearances by Levon Helm and Garth Hudson from The Band, Taj Mahal, Cyndi Lauper, The Chieftains, Eric Brazilian from The Hooters, amongst others. This song, Largo’s Dream, features David Forman on vocals.

 

[Littlemin]

From the same album, the incomparable Taj Mahal

 

[Bigboote]

Slipperman's post of The Snow Goose reminded me of another Camel album -- Nude, which was about a marooned soldier. That reminded me of Remember the Future from Nektar, about an ET named Bluebird. I think most if not all of Nektar's albums have themes or plots.

 

[Fastbreak]

King Crimson "In The Court Of The Crimson King" full album

 

[Bigboote]

One last album from me. Gentle Storm was a project of Arjen Lucassen and Anneke van Giersbergen. It was two separate discs with the same songs. One was the “gentle version” that’s pretty laid-back, and the “storm version” which is somewhat noisier, but still not full-on metal.

The album is called “The Diary,” and it’s based on a diary from (IIRC) a16th century woman whose husband is at sea. It’s one of those that I love top to bottom. This is the first cut from the gentle version.

 

[Waquoit]

King Crimson "In The Court Of The Crimson King" full album

I think this is going to be my next long walk selection. Thanks.

 

[From France]

Don't tell that to Billy Shears!

But seriously, from WIKI:

The album was loosely conceptualised as a performance by the fictional Sgt. Pepper band, an idea that was conceived after recording the title track. A key work of British psychedelia, it incorporates a range of stylistic influences, including vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde, and Western and Indian classical music.

Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composition, extended form, psychedelic imagery, record sleeves, and the producer in popular music. The album had an immediate cross-generational impact and was associated with numerous touchstones of the era's youth culture, such as fashion, drugs, mysticism, and a sense of optimism and empowerment. It is considered one of the first art rock LPs, a progenitor to progressive rock, and the start of the album era. In 1968, it won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, the first rock LP to receive this honour;

In November, during his and Evans' return flight from Kenya, McCartney had an idea for a song that eventually formed the impetus of the Sgt. Pepper concept.[14] His idea involved an Edwardian-era military band, for which Evans invented a name in the style of contemporary San Francisco-based groups such as Big Brother and the Holding Company and Quicksilver Messenger Service.[29][nb 2] In February 1967, McCartney suggested that the new album should represent a performance by the fictional band.[31] This alter ego group would give them the freedom to experiment musically by releasing them from their image as Beatles.[32] Martin recalled that the concept was not discussed at the start of the sessions,[33] but it subsequently gave the album "a life of its own"

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band​

I completly agree, the 1st real concept album, and the best one 'til the Who

 

[From France]

I think this is going to be my next long walk selection. Thanks.

King Crimson is one of my old time favorites, my little brother made me discover this band, it was usually the other way, that makes this band a personal story for me

 

[From France]

Freak Out! by the Mothers was one of the first concept albums and one of the first double albums. I've been listening to it for almost 50 years and still every time I hear it I like it more. In fact, I'm gonna go down to the wood shop and listen to it as soon as I'm done typing. It features songs in so many different styles, from doo-wop to avant-garde. Here's one that has the Mothers' almost omnipresent tuned percussion (marimba? vibes?) and also features a kazoo.

DAMN GOOD, Zappa is a monster

 

[CTBballfan243]

I mean, it’s gotta be this, no?

This is number 1, there isn’t even a close 2nd. Maybe Roger Waters Pros and Cons of hitchhiking, or Amused to death.

 

[Bigboote]

This is number 1, there isn’t even a close 2nd. Maybe Roger Waters Pros and Cons of hitchhiking, or Amused to death.

There's room for argument. Just considering Floyd theme albums, I have a huge preference (as in The Wall is a distant third) for Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.