Jingle.Boy's Top 50 Concept Albums - The Top 2 to wrap things up

[Kwyjibo]

I like The Whirlwind but I think it's too long and too bloated to be really great. The first two Transatlantic records and a lot of other Neal Morse related music is miles ahead of this.

[jingle.boy]

I like The Whirlwind but I think it's too long and too bloated to be really great. The first two Transatlantic records and a lot of other Neal Morse related music is miles ahead of this.

I don’t disagree.

[Kwyjibo]

That's kind of you 

[ReaperKK]

I gave The Whirlwind a spin around the time it came out and I didn't like it. TA is a tough band for me to get into, there are moments where I really like their music but those moments are just too far apart. I gave Is It Really Happening a spin and it was better than I remember (to be fair I remember very little) but I'll give it a listen sometime this week.

I think Hermina is the most interesting thing you've posted (out of the albums I haven't heard). I love the sax and I'm all about the riffage.

[jingle.boy]

I gave The Whirlwind a spin around the time it came out and I didn't like it. TA is a tough band for me to get into, there are moments where I really like their music but those moments are just too far apart. I gave Is It Really Happening a spin and it was better than I remember (to be fair I remember very little) but I'll give it a listen sometime this week.

I think Hermina is the most interesting thing you've posted (out of the albums I haven't heard). I love the sax and I'm all about the riffage.

If you dig that riff, you’ll love the rest of Venus.

[ReaperKK]

Awesome, that will be the next album I listen to.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Those Hemina albums are great!

The Whirlwind was a bit of a letdown after the first 2 Transatlantic albums.

[wolfking]

Hemina is an obvious hole in my Aussie repertoire.  I may have heard them, you may actually sent them to me in a roulette.  I'll check them out.

I may own the Whirlwind.  I have no idea why though.  Never taken to this band.  Maybe I'll revisit it one day.

[wolfking]

Maybe I have heard them before.  I didn't like those songs at all.  Definitely not my thing anymore.

When I thought they were sent to me in a roulette, I think I was thinking Hibria, sent by Tim.

[jingle.boy]

I’m fairly surprised at the luke-warm reception for The Whirlwind. Not surprised that Hemina didn’t click for you, Kade. Not to worry, you’ll swoon for the next entry.

[ariich]

Updates from me.

I found Stargate a bit meh. Not bad, just nothing that grabbed me at all.

Royal Hunt was pretty good though. I'd only heard the odd song here and there before, no idea which era they'd been from but I had an idea of what to expect and this was definitely more engaging. Still wouldn't say I love it, but the album had quite a lot of good hooks and cool ideas.

The Whirlwind is amazing, definitely TA's best album.

Those Hemina albums are great too, and thank you for introducing me to them in one of my roulettes. The other two albums of theirs didn't grab me so much, but those two are excellent.

Also, I'm enjoying digging further into Teramaze who seem like a really great band. I might like I Wonder even more than Her Halo, and am currently on my first listen to Esoteric Symbolism which I'm very much enjoying too. Each of these albums has a slightly different vibe and style to them, which also keeps things interesting. Like, while it's still prog metal, I Wonder definitely has a slightly more "alt-prog" sound with influences from post-hardcore and I think they do a great job of balancing the modern and classic prog metal stylings on it.

[Stadler]

I know for me, The Whirlwind was good not great, until I listened to it one day while painting, not long after my dad died.   It really pressed some buttons and will always be special to me for that.

[jingle.boy]

27. W.A.S.P. / The Crimson Idol [1992]


Goddamn, thank you Kade.  Arena of Pleasure was my gateway to all things W.A.S.P, and fuck me hard for not discovering them in the 80s when I should have.  Metal from that era didn't have a lot of intricate concept albums, and this is a fucking golden one.  Clocking in at just under an hour, it's a detailed story with a long list of characters, which boils down to the ups and downs of being a rock star.  Perhaps metaphoric for the band?  Maybe, maybe not.  No matter, it starts out frantic as fuck with combo of Invisible Boy / Arena of Pleasure.  The quality of writing on this album is miles ahead of anything W.A.S.P. / Blackie had done before this.  Good as it may have been, there wasn't a lot of depth to much of their earlier compositions - their earlier albums were littered with some 'Killer', but also a lot of "filler" (in the traditional sense).  Every song on here has a purpose and most have a memorable chorus. 'Murders In The New Morgue' has a chorus with hooks as melodic as any traditional AOR act from the 70s/80s could have written, and songs like 'I Am One' has a catchy chant and chorus that would stand toe-to-toe with anything out of 80s-era Iron Maiden. Not all the songs are your typical fist in the air, guitars up to 11, . In fact the album is far from that. Many songs have a short acoustic interlude, accompanied with some ballad work.  Combine all that with a simple forward moving plot, this is an amazingly enjoyable listen, sprinkled with reoccurring themes, verses, and lyrics that pop up all around the album - putting it on par with all of the other great albums on this list. 

RJ, stop rolling your eyes and give it a try.

Fave Song - Arena of Pleasure

[wolfking]

This is ranked far too low.  From memory was number 16 or 15 in my top 50.  It's elite.

The quality of writing on this album is miles ahead of anything W.A.S.P. / Blackie had done before this.  Good as it may have been, there wasn't a lot of depth to much of their earlier compositions - their earlier albums were littered with some 'Killer', but also a lot of "filler" (in the traditional sense).

This album was my gateway to WASP too and it took me a while to branch out and explore the rest, so while I can see where you are coming from and pretty much agree, I think this statement is being unfair on The Headless Children.  That's a wonderful album that I know some rate higher than TCI.

TCI however for me, will always be their pinnacle.

[jingle.boy]

Fair point re: THC.  I was thinking more about the first 3 albums.  In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is! 

[wolfking]

Fair point re: THC.  I was thinking more about the first 3 albums.  In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!

The debut IMO is so much better than Circus and Last Command, but I kinda knew what you meant though.  The debut is probably top 3 WASP for me.  Although, on any given day, THC, WASP, KFD and DFTW could all take two spots in that top 3.

[Dr. DTVT]

Top 5 album of all time for me. So glad I saw it in full at Morsefest this past year.

Top 5?  It’s the third best Transatlantic album.

[jingle.boy]

Top 5 album of all time for me. So glad I saw it in full at Morsefest this past year.

Top 5?  It’s the third best Transatlantic album.

TASTES^TM!!!

[bl5150]

Fair point re: THC.  I was thinking more about the first 3 albums.  In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!

The debut IMO is so much better than Circus and Last Command, but I kinda knew what you meant though.  The debut is probably top 3 WASP for me.  Although, on any given day, THC, WASP, KFD and DFTW could all take two spots in that top 3.

Agreed ........debut , Headless and Crimson Idol are a cut above.

When it came time for my DTF Top 50 many years back I went for Headless Children but Crimson Idol and debut were very close.

[lonestar]

Ok.. I gave the wasp album a sample. There's some good stuff there, definitely not in my wheelhouse though. Also, not sure if it's because it's dated to me or if it's a shit Spotify mix, but the sound on what I sampled was pretty muddled.

[ariich]

Yeah that's probably the most interesting thing I've heard from W.A.S.P. and better than I expected. Still not entirely my thing really, but I'm glad I checked it out.

[jingle.boy]

[wolfking]

Fair point re: THC.  I was thinking more about the first 3 albums.  In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!

The debut IMO is so much better than Circus and Last Command, but I kinda knew what you meant though.  The debut is probably top 3 WASP for me.  Although, on any given day, THC, WASP, KFD and DFTW could all take two spots in that top 3.

Agreed ........debut , Headless and Crimson Idol are a cut above.

When it came time for my DTF Top 50 many years back I went for Headless Children but Crimson Idol and debut were very close.

Yeah, if I had to make a definite call, these would be the top 3.

[Lowdz]

Fair point re: THC.  I was thinking more about the first 3 albums.  In fact, I think I'll play THC right now to remind myself how good it is!

The debut IMO is so much better than Circus and Last Command, but I kinda knew what you meant though.  The debut is probably top 3 WASP for me.  Although, on any given day, THC, WASP, KFD and DFTW could all take two spots in that top 3.

Agreed ........debut , Headless and Crimson Idol are a cut above.

When it came time for my DTF Top 50 many years back I went for Headless Children but Crimson Idol and debut were very close.

This. Crimson Idol made my top 50

[Lowdz]

Just catching up, sorry.

Royal Hunt - not my favourite by them, that would be Fear, but a pretty good album. I’m not a huge DC Cooper fan.

Transatlantic- probably my favourite from them. Excellent.

Brave - bored me shitless back in the day, and I saw them do it live on the tour and almost fell asleep. A recent play through was better but not a favourite from the band.

[jingle.boy]

Work has been a bit of a bear the past couple of days.  Double update tomorrow morning.

[lonestar]

Whatever you say Deadeye....

[TAC]

Sure must be awful driving to work. 

[Dr. DTVT]

Ok.. I gave the wasp album a sample. There's some good stuff there, definitely not in my wheelhouse though. Also, not sure if it's because it's dated to me or if it's a shit Spotify mix, but the sound on what I sampled was pretty muddled.

I’m sure if it was Japanese girls you’d be cool with it.

[jingle.boy]

26. Threshold / Legends of the Shires [2017]


I came into this expecting not to like it.  I wasn’t much of a fan of Glynn’s voice/style on Psycadelicatessen, and thought it was kinda shady the way the band had parted with Wilson (I'm glad they all reconciled though).  Boy, what a mistake I’d made.  I was blown away by this with the opening tracks after the intro, and dare I say they probably made the right call.  I’m not sure I can hear Wilson’s voice doing this album.  The sound is distinctly Threshold – crunchy/catchy riffs, pounding rhythms, warm keyboards, and great hooks/melodies all over the place…  the formula is all there and I love it, and Glynn's sound complements it beautifully.  But it's not Threshold by the numbers - the album is filled with variety, with no two songs taking the same path, or sounding samey whatsoever.
I'm not totally sold on the story - sort of dual story with lyrics that are as much about a nation trying to find its place in the world as it is about a man trying to find his place in society, which provides an interesting balance between the personal and political themes; comparing and contrasting the broken promises of a man with the broken promises of a nation. While there are clear political themes, the lyrics don’t cross the line into the sort of preachiness that’s likely to turn off listeners who don't want politics in their music.  Seeing many of these tracks performed at PPUSA was an absolute treat.
Minor gripe - it didn't really need to be a double album at 82 minutes! I'm sure there was 2 minutes in there they could have trimmed somewhere to make this fit on a single disc for those that like physical media.  It doesn't bother me though, as I haven't bought much physical media in the last 5 years, so digital only works just fine.
Fave Song - Trust The Process

[Zydar]

Great album, my favourite is Small Dark Lines. They sure know how to write choruses.

[King Postwhore]

I was lucky to see them tour for this album on Rosfest. Really enjoyed the new songs from this album.

[jingle.boy]

Great album, my favourite is Small Dark Lines. They sure know how to write choruses.

SDL is 1b for me.  It's a great tune as well.

I was lucky to see them tour for this album on Rosfest. Really enjoyed the new songs from this album.

Same... at PPUSA '19.

[ariich]

Great album!

[lonestar]

Very solid album