Sometimes artists want to do something ballsy and new, perhaps refreshing, and sometimes absolutely stupid. Not Chris Gaines level ballsy stupid, but they try. Kind of like Blogger, whose crappy new interface platform I'm trying right now while writing this, and oh lord it sucks a huge amount of donkey balls, but hey, they had a concept, spent a shitload of $$$ on CTO holidays while unpaid interns came up with ideas for the concept, and by jove they are gonna force you to use the concept! Before this turns into a Blogger tirade, what I'm trying to say it's that today's topic is concept albums.
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| Not-adorable, still barely-related photo via Pexels |
A concept album is like your average album, but REALLY focused on following a certain character, plot, or overall theme. You've probably heard of some famous concept albums, and bands/artists who are/were prone to do this kind of shenanigans, such as the one and only:
My Chemical Romance not only did it once, but TWICE, first going as The Black Parade for the album of the same name, then submerging into the characters of rebel apocalyptic future gang the Killjoys for their last studio album:
Fellow band-beloved-by-emos Muse are also very up on the concept album bandwagon, as they really enjoy putting up a show and have a thematic scheme to their songs. So their concept albums share futuristic stories of rebellion, tech gone wrong, and mind-control... bets on a potential "Use a tinfoil hat to prevent your brain from being destroyed by Wi-Fi" concept album coming up?
Arcade Fire has made a whole career out of concept albums, from their very first one, to the newest album, where all of society is threatened by Everything Now, a satire of consumerism and that evil technology stealing our children's minds! Why can't we talk about the bullshit we did today during dinner anymore, Martha?!?!?!?!
Because I don't feel like hogging the article with examples (and also I don't want to stick around with this hellish new interface, Blogger), gonna close with this highly 90's classic. Billy Corgan insists it's not a concept album, while also saying it has a thematic scheme ("the human condition of mortal sorrow") and each half represents day and night... classic Corgan, contradicting his shitty ass off!
Okay, so now it's your turn to share! What's your favorite concept album? What kind of theme you like seeing in concept albums?
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