If DT11 was a concept album, could the concept potentially ruin it for you?

[Aniland]

Like, let's say that they did an album about Nazi Germany in 1943. I know, sounds silly, but nobody would have expected a song called "The Count of Tuscany" either. Could a melodramatic or odd concept ruin your perception/excitement of the new record?

[The Degenerate]

Possibly. I don't mind a good concept album, but the "melodramatic" or "odd" kind you specify show up too often in prog and it's one of the reasons I don't care for the genre for the most part.

Then again, I like Scenes, so who knows.

Edit: And Be... and Frances the Mute... okay, as long as the music doesn't suck there shouldn't be an issue

[Jamesman42]

I'd like for them to do a concept album about time travelling, and each song is based on experiences in different eras (including dinosaurs, the life of Jesus, a 12 minute song about their experience watching an apple fall on Newton's head, and some songs about the future, obviously with their own creative wit...hopefully JM pens those latter lyrics).

[dongringo]

Vanden Plas just did the time travel thing back to Jesus' time so it wouldn't exactly be original.

I don't like Scene's precisely because of the silly concept so it would totally depend on the concept I guess.

[XianL]

DT has plenty of odd song subjects. I could get over a silly concept.

[rumborak]

You can ruin just about anything if n element of it is bad enough.

So yeah, if the whole album was about generic prog shit like astral projection or something, that could kill it.

rumborak

[lucky7]

It sounds strange but I love Scenes for the music not so much or as much as the lyrical content....it is even strange writing it.
So if they did release a new concept album as long as it some great music, eventually eventually the lyrics grow on you.
They could release anything at this point and I would buy it. 

[Perpetual Change]

The only thing that I'd be highly skeptical of from the start would be another Metropolis record. If I heard they were doing something like that, I'd immediately assume they'd reached Queensryche levels of fail in their attempt to connect with fans again.

[Aniland]

I'd like for them to do a concept album about time travelling, and each song is based on experiences in different eras (including dinosaurs, the life of Jesus, a 12 minute song about their experience watching an apple fall on Newton's head, and some songs about the future, obviously with their own creative wit...hopefully JM pens those latter lyrics).

So, kind of like The Universal Migrator by Ayreon, only with music that doesn't blow?

[dongringo]

 

[SystematicThought]

Aniland, I still like the concept you had a while back. The Lion's Den concept. I think that was you

[Aniland]

Yessir. Thanks. ^_^ Syllabiblical... I'd love it if they did that.

[dongringo]

If they do another concept, I wonder which book it would be kifed, I mean based on?  

[Zook]

I wouldn't mind another concept album. I think they should do one on plagiarism and those who wish to expose it.

[ThroughHerEyesDude6]

^That could be a cool concept, but I fear it could backfire and be musically poor.

[Obfuscation]

Well I like concept albums, so I guess I would like it.

[Jirpo]

I wouldn't mind.

[Zydar]

If they do another concept, I wonder which book it would be kifed, I mean based on? 

Would love to hear their take on this one

[wolfking]

I'd like for them to do a concept album about time travelling, and each song is based on experiences in different eras (including dinosaurs, the life of Jesus, a 12 minute song about their experience watching an apple fall on Newton's head, and some songs about the future, obviously with their own creative wit...hopefully JM pens those latter lyrics).

So, kind of like The Universal Migrator by Ayreon, only with music that doesn't blow?

You dissing Ayreon?  I'd seriously take TUM over a few DT albums.

[ariich]

You can ruin just about anything if n element of it is bad enough.

So yeah, if the whole album was about generic prog shit like astral projection or something, that could kill it.

rumborak

Basically this.

Whether it is a concept album or not makes no difference to me.

[Perpetual Change]

I'd like for them to do a concept album about time travelling, and each song is based on experiences in different eras (including dinosaurs, the life of Jesus, a 12 minute song about their experience watching an apple fall on Newton's head, and some songs about the future, obviously with their own creative wit...hopefully JM pens those latter lyrics).

So, kind of like The Universal Migrator by Ayreon, only with music that doesn't blow?

You dissing Ayreon?  I'd seriously take TUM over a few DT albums.

Same here.

[jsem]

I wouldn't mind another concept album. I often don't care about the story in concept album - as it is in prog they're often stupid.

[RuRoRul]

It could be a bad thing, but I don't think it would really ruin it for me. The Count Of Tuscany is one of my favourite DT songs (I actually like the lyrics in some parts, although in a few places they are undeniably bad) and its concept / lyrics are something that could ruin it.

Then again, it being the concept of a whole album is worse than just the story of one song. I'm hoping for / predicting a more loose concept, if there is one, though.

[JPX]

This question is extremely broad.
If it's a good concept with good songs then it will be good.
If it's a bad concept with bad songs then it will be bad.

[Dublagent66]

As long as the music is good, that would save it for me.  Concepts work differently for different people.  I listen for the music.  If I want concepts, I'll read a book or watch a movie.

[JediKnight1969]

As long as the music is good, that would save it for me.  Concepts work differently for different people.  I listen for the music.  If I want concepts, I'll read a book or watch a movie.

Agree.

[atmyne]

As long as the music is good, that would save it for me.  Concepts work differently for different people.  I listen for the music.  If I want concepts, I'll read a book or watch a movie.

exactly. Something musically conceptual would be pretty bad ass though.

[Zydar]

As long as the music is good, that would save it for me.  Concepts work differently for different people.  I listen for the music.  If I want concepts, I'll read a book or watch a movie.

Agree.

Yeah.

[The Presence of Frenemies]

As long as the music is good, that would save it for me.  Concepts work differently for different people.  I listen for the music.  If I want concepts, I'll read a book or watch a movie.

exactly. Something musically conceptual would be pretty bad ass though.

This.

[dvargas]

I think they should come up with an album called "Roswell".

The opening act should be from the perspective of one of the farmers in New Mexico when that happened .... Got the perfect opening verse :

"I saw a white light, shining there before me". 

Then several of the tracks can focus on the whole conspiracy a la Muse (lyrically).

And finally the closing track will be about Area 51.... Who knows maybe Hangar 18 and we can get guitar solos as cool as Friedman/Mustaine did!! lol. Or maybe they'll just copy the whole song!!

I say the closing minute should be based on ET's main theme.

There's a concept!!

[Odysseus]

As long as the music is good then they can write about what they want as far as I am concerned - within reason, anyway.  I don't pay a huge amount of attention to lyrics....

[robwebster]

Don't think the concept could ruin it for me, but I think the problem with a concept album is that it'd inevitably end up being compared to Scenes from a Memory, which is well-loved as a bona fide DT classic, so it's not a very sensible direction to go in. Quite risky.

Sincerely really like the alien invasion idea, though. That's mainly because I just love alien invasions, but it's potentially different enough as a concept to perhaps be identified as a slightly different kettle of fish.

That's just me justifying it to myself, though. Pure nonsense. There'd still be endless polls and comparisons. "Which concept do you prefer," "Which is better musically," etc. etc., and SfaM is on the right side of 12 years of goodwill. Someone's inevitably gonna be alienated (badum-tssh!) by the new stuff whereas the old stuff alienated people ages ago, and of those people those who couldn't take the heat got out of the oven. At this point in the career, it'd be a risky move. Would need to be seriously killer to survive comparisons with the mighty SfaM.

In the short term, though, it'd definitely generate a buzz. Good for marketing.

[Aramatheis]

Someone's inevitably gonna be alienated (badum-tssh!)

Nice
I liked that one

[Deve]

Anyone ever heard of the song UFO TOFU by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones? Basically, certain sections of the song are musical palindromes in nature. So you can play, say, the verse backwards and it will sound exactly the same as playing it forwards. Which I think is pretty badass. Also, the name of the song is also a palindrome itself.

Anyways, to my point, I want not just one of the songs on the album to be a palindrome, but the entire ALBUM to be a palindrome! Now THERE'S a concept for ya 

[JPX]

Don't think the concept could ruin it for me, but I think the problem with a concept album is that it'd inevitably end up being compared to Scenes from a Memory, which is well-loved as a bona fide DT classic, so it's not a very sensible direction to go in. Quite risky.

Sincerely really like the alien invasion idea, though. That's mainly because I just love alien invasions, but it's potentially different enough as a concept to perhaps be identified as a slightly different kettle of fish.

That's just me justifying it to myself, though. Pure nonsense. There'd still be endless polls and comparisons. "Which concept do you prefer," "Which is better musically," etc. etc., and SfaM is on the right side of 12 years of goodwill. Someone's inevitably gonna be alienated (badum-tssh!) by the new stuff whereas the old stuff alienated people ages ago, and of those people those who couldn't take the heat got out of the oven. At this point in the career, it'd be a risky move. Would need to be seriously killer to survive comparisons with the mighty SfaM.

In the short term, though, it'd definitely generate a buzz. Good for marketing.

You could argue that much more of DT's catalogue is conceptual than just Scene's.