Author Topic: Best/worst stories in a concept album (Read 3795 times)

LieLowTheWantedMan · « **on:** September 23, 2011, 09:04:49 PM »

Throw away the music completely. I want you to focus on the story of a concept album. Which do you think is the most well done or poorly done?

Best: BE - Pain of Salvation
I don't feel like explaining it. Kinda complicated.

Worst: Chronometree - Glass Hammer
So it's pretty much about some guy named Tom who thinks aliens are talking to him through his 70s prog rock albums. Pretty much an excuse for the band to make a carbon copy of 70s prog bands.

Jirpo · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2011, 09:10:25 PM »

O:M is an awesome story, definitely one of my favourites.

Dark Castle · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2011, 09:30:54 PM »

CtS for best.

jingle.boy · « **Reply #3 on:** September 23, 2011, 10:31:00 PM »

The Human Equation is a favorite of mine.

Worst... can't think of any. I'm a sucker for concept albums/rock opera's.

bss4life15 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 23, 2011, 10:37:10 PM »

Worst is easily Snow by Spock's Beard
Human Equation FTW

The King in Crimson · « **Reply #5 on:** September 23, 2011, 10:52:45 PM »

Worst are the Coheed and Cambria stories. Albums are awesome, but the stories (from what I can tell) are fucking retarded.
The actual story to Crack the Skye is kinda dumb. I still love the album though.

Best, I dunno, I really like Still Life and The Dear Hunter Acts. I guess they're the best then.

Gorille85 · « **Reply #6 on:** September 23, 2011, 10:54:09 PM »

Still Life has a great story.

bout to crash · « **Reply #7 on:** September 23, 2011, 11:04:39 PM »

Joe's Garage

KevShmev · « **Reply #8 on:** September 23, 2011, 11:09:25 PM »

Quote from: bout to crash on September 23, 2011, 11:04:39 PM

Joe's Garage

Your father's waiting for you in the tool shed.

bout to crash · « **Reply #9 on:** September 23, 2011, 11:18:08 PM »

Oh man, I almost forgot I actually just heard Thing-Fish for the first time and I was laughing so hard I almost cried.

Hey Kev, might you have been the one who recommended Joe's to me back in the day on the old old forum? I can't remember who it was because it was so long ago but I always wanted to thank that person. Hard.

Jirpo · « **Reply #10 on:** September 23, 2011, 11:19:05 PM »

Yep, Still Life is another one of my favourites.

Although its incredible musically, I think the SFAM story is one of my least favourite.

Lowdz · « **Reply #11 on:** September 24, 2011, 03:42:22 AM »

Worst- Iron Miden- Seventh Son... has it even got a story?

Jirpo · « **Reply #12 on:** September 24, 2011, 05:09:45 AM »

Quote from: Lowdz on September 24, 2011, 03:42:22 AM

Worst- Iron Miden- Seventh Son... has it even got a story?

Lol, I don't know if it counts as a concept album

mizzl · « **Reply #13 on:** September 24, 2011, 06:04:56 AM »

Best - The Wall or BE
Good - Coheed and Cambria albums
Worst - don't know

Liberation · « **Reply #14 on:** September 24, 2011, 07:27:03 AM »

Favourite: absolutely Opeth - Still Life. It's mostly dark... but for me incredibly beautiful and romantic.

Don't have a worst one, also because I don't know that many concept albums anyway. But the one in the OP is hilarious.

ZKX-2099 · « **Reply #15 on:** September 24, 2011, 08:12:56 AM »

The Black Parade has a very interesting story to it that I always liked.

KevShmev · « **Reply #16 on:** September 24, 2011, 08:15:43 AM »

Quote from: bout to crash on September 23, 2011, 11:18:08 PM

Hey Kev, might you have been the one who recommended Joe's to me back in the day on the old old forum? I can't remember who it was because it was so long ago but I always wanted to thank that person. Hard.

I didn't get into Zappa until '07 or '08, I think, so that probably wasn't me. Sadly.

ACID_FOX · « **Reply #17 on:** September 24, 2011, 09:22:19 AM »

Best: Crack the Skye

Worst: SFAM

YtseBitsySpider · « **Reply #18 on:** September 24, 2011, 10:19:01 AM »

Here is your winner right here.
Amazing story fantastic line-up..and after searching for a link I was shocked to find Alex Argento on this..I had no idea, and thought he was a sessions guitarist not a keyboard guy...who knew?

https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=20836

Shadrane - Temporal

ZKX-2099 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 24, 2011, 10:30:53 AM »

Quote from: ACID_FOX on September 24, 2011, 09:22:19 AM

Worst: SFAM

Disagree. I love the concept and how well it was pulled off.

When I listen to Through My Words I still get goosebumps thinking about the time travel mind fuck about to unfold over the next few songs.

theliloutkast · « **Reply #20 on:** September 24, 2011, 10:46:56 AM »

Quote from: ZKX-2099 on September 24, 2011, 08:12:56 AM

The Black Parade has a very interesting story to it that I always liked.

I completely and totally agree, I still love this album.

Best: SFAM
Worst: Anything Cradle of Filth made

CrimsonE · « **Reply #21 on:** September 24, 2011, 09:16:47 PM »

Best Stories: Tommy, Streets, House of Aertus (Virgin Steele), Beethoven's Last Night

Worst:
Genesis--The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway--Does anyone even know what the fuck is going on in that album?
Iced Earth==Framing Armageddon/Crucible of Man--While not a bad story in and of itself, it could easily have been pared down to a single album instead of the bloated 2 CD's it wound up being.
Savatage--The Wake of Magellan: It's been a while, but I remember reading the liner notes several dozen times, and still not knowing what the hell the story was supposed to be.

DarkEternalNight · « **Reply #22 on:** September 24, 2011, 09:22:50 PM »

Best - Still Life, The Wall, Crack The Skye
Worst - SFAM?

bout to crash · « **Reply #23 on:** September 25, 2011, 02:38:50 AM »

Oh yeah, The Black Parade is pretty sweet. And The fuckin' Wall of course.

Quote from: KevShmev on September 24, 2011, 08:15:43 AM

Quote from: bout to crash on September 23, 2011, 11:18:08 PM
Hey Kev, might you have been the one who recommended Joe's to me back in the day on the old old forum? I can't remember who it was because it was so long ago but I always wanted to thank that person. Hard.

I didn't get into Zappa until '07 or '08, I think, so that probably wasn't me. Sadly.

Oh yeah, this was back in the early 2000s. Fuck, I can't remember who it was!

Fluffy Lothario · « **Reply #24 on:** September 25, 2011, 03:44:34 AM »

I don't care very much for concept albums, as more often than not, the telling of a story gets in the way of me connecting with the music.

Lyrics like:

I walked up to the car
And he wound his window down
Said: "Your future lies with Katrina"
And then he drove off a cliff and drowned

are pretty much guaranteed to destroy any emotional connection I could make with the music, and leave me with fairly little interest in the songs. So obviously, for me, the "best" stories will be ones that don't get in my way.

My favourite is Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, and the lyrics are so loosely written, it's unclear whether there's a story going on, and whether it's even a concept album at all (and as far as I know, Van Morrison has never confirmed or denied it). The lyrics are amazing though.

After that, I love the "stories" on the first two Mars Volta albums. On both, I have a vague idea of what's going on, and that's all I need.

Worst? I dunno, but Mastodon's always struck me as particularly appalling.

mizzl · « **Reply #25 on:** September 25, 2011, 03:53:22 AM »

Quote from: Fluffy Lothario on September 25, 2011, 03:44:34 AM

I don't care very much for concept albums, as more often than not, the telling of a story gets in the way of me connecting with the music.

Lyrics like:

I walked up to the car
And he wound his window down
Said: "Your future lies with Katrina"
And then he drove off a cliff and drowned

are pretty much guaranteed to destroy any emotional connection I could make with the music, and leave me with fairly little interest in the songs. So obviously, for me, the "best" stories will be ones that don't get in my way.

My favourite is Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, and the lyrics are so loosely written, it's unclear whether there's a story going on, and whether it's even a concept album at all (and as far as I know, Van Morrison has never confirmed or denied it). The lyrics are amazing though.

After that, I love the "stories" on the first two Mars Volta albums. On both, I have a vague idea of what's going on, and that's all I need.

Worst? I dunno, but Mastodon's always struck me as particularly appalling.

I know what you mean. Part of the reason I like Kid A so much is because the lyrics have no logical story.

ACID_FOX · « **Reply #26 on:** September 25, 2011, 08:12:33 AM »

Yeah but Mastodon's stories are intentionally crazy.

Kotowboy · « **Reply #27 on:** September 25, 2011, 07:59:20 PM »

Crack The Skye > SFAM

antigoon · « **Reply #28 on:** September 25, 2011, 08:09:25 PM »

The Dear Hunter, I guess!

Dark Castle · « **Reply #29 on:** September 25, 2011, 08:31:02 PM »

Quote from: ACID_FOX on September 25, 2011, 08:12:33 AM

Yeah but Mastodon's stories are intentionally crazy.

and insanely awesome.

njdtfan · « **Reply #30 on:** September 25, 2011, 09:01:56 PM »

Be-Pain of Salvation, and yeah its complicated, but a GREAT concept album.

skydivingninja · « **Reply #31 on:** September 25, 2011, 10:12:03 PM »

The worst is Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, IMO. Actually, nevermind. Into the Electric Castle had a pretty lol storyline.

There are lots of good concept album stories. Mindcrime, Crack the Skye, Act II, Coheed's discography, Scenes, The Human Equation, and The Wall immediately come to mind. And while really not "story" based concept albums, Clutching at Straws and Brave by Marillion succeed on the narrative front as well.

I don't remember who said the Lamb's story was awful, but its not. Its weird and confusing, sure, but there's a lot of cool stuff that happens in it.

zxlkho · « **Reply #32 on:** September 25, 2011, 10:14:11 PM »

COHEED

THE DEAR HUNTER

THAT IS ALL

ZBomber · « **Reply #33 on:** September 25, 2011, 10:36:51 PM »

I love TDH's concepts. The lyrics are well written too, which helps the flow of the album.

Dr. DTVT · « **Reply #34 on:** September 25, 2011, 10:45:19 PM »

There are plenty of great examples: Mindcrime, TDH's Acts, Streets, Amaran's Plight, Arena's The Visitor and Contagion, Henning Pauly's Babysteps, Dominici's Trilogy (not joking), Haggard's Tales of Itheria, and Clutching at Straws are probably as good as it gets.

There are several other good ones: Falconer's Scepter of Deception, Haken's Aquarius, the Rhapsody of Fire catalog (if you can get past the poor English at points), Sy X's V:The New Mythology Suite, fuck it too many to list...I know I'm leaving a ton off.

Blind Guardian's Nightfall on Middle Earth is probably the best adaptation of a well known story.

The Avantasia trilogy started off as good music and story but the story was lost on me on the last two albums.

As SDN said, Into the Electric Castle is pretty bad story wise, but the hippie took a two car accident and made it a 26 car flaming pileup.

I don't feel like going through all of mine. PM if you want a rundown.

News: Video of online chat between fans and members of Dream Theater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx8cLlXnHpA&feature=youtu.be (*no chickens were harmed during the filming of this chat)

Author Topic: Best/worst stories in a concept album (Read 3795 times)