I'm a lifetime hater of concept albums but I've recently become infatuated with them. Why didn't anyone tell me about The Protomen? Act I and II are incredible. I hope they manage to get Act III out one day.

Do you like concept albums? What are some good ones?



weeeee are the dead

The Who-Tommy

The Kinks-Village Green Preservation Society(I guess is one, its on some best concept albums ever lists).

Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is one of my favorites.

The Decemberists: The Crane Wife is one that comes to mind.

Dirt

Still one of my favorite albums

Porcupine Tree were the kings of this in the 2000's.

Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage

Incredible album, and potentially the dopest cover art of all time. OF ALL TIME.

Never listened to them much. I should.

In Absentia and Deadwing are killer albums.

"...a concept album about a man from the 1980s who is taken to the year 2095, where he is confronted by the dichotomy between technological advancement and a longing for past romance."

Time includes some of the best ELO deep cuts - Twilight, Ticket to the Moon, Another Heart Breaks, Rain is Falling, The Lights Go Down.

Are you familiar with Random/Mega Ran?

I have Yours Truly, 2095 on a playlist that I listen to all the time.

Never heard of him, but apparently there is another band called the Megas that makes Mega-man inspired music too (though not very good). Who knew there were so many?

The Protomen are on a different level though. Act I starts out as your typical silly rock opera before going very dark and very cynical, to a pitch black finale. The lyric notes fill in a lot of blanks as well. Worth a read. Act II isn't as interesting storywise, but it arguably has better songs and its still filled with pathos. They've been working on Act III for over a decade, but a few songs are out.

I went through a period of thinking concept albums were the highest peak to which a musical artist could aspire. Later, I went through a period of thinking they were artistically dubious. Now I'm somewhere in the middle -- mainly, I don't find myself caring about following concepts anymore, but if the songs are good I won't hold the concept against them. Tommy and Quadrophenia were big albums for me so I could never disavow the genre completely.

Ziltoid is a pretty good one. Hyperdrive and The Greys are good. Just a silly Futurama type space story.


The sequel sucked, though.

Ziltoid 2 really did suck.

Between the Buried and Me made some awesome concept albums over the years too, but I can't see anyone here enjoying them. Too metal.

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo, domo

Secret, secret, I’ve got a secret.