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

[romdrums]

Hey Jingle, not to be pedantic, but the Wall came out in 1979. 

[wolfking]

FFS Chad!

[TAC]

Hey Jingle, not to be pedantic, but the Wall came out in 1979.

It's the Canadian Exchange Rate.

[DragonAttack]

Hey Jingle, not to be pedantic, but the Wall came out in 1979.

To think I didn't see that.  Crazy, eh TAC?

No need to age myself anymore than necessary.....

[Kwyjibo]

Hey Jingle, not to be pedantic, but the Wall came out in 1979.

Different time zones, probably.

[Stadler]

I'm not sure why I'm giving Chad a pass, since it's a rookie mistake, but the event that triggered (in every sense of the word) the album occurred in '77, so there's that (the famous spitting incident in Montreal in July of that year). 

EDIT:  I was just re-reading the Wiki page on the making of the record, and while I knew Waters was a prick, I didn't quite realize how MUCH of a dick he is/was.   Forget Gilmour, I can't imagine why Ezrin hung around.   Making buttons that read "NOPE" ("No Points Ezrin", alluding to the fact that Ezrin got a smaller share of the writing proceeds) and wearing them around... 

Too much about Floyd is apocryphal though; it's hard to know exactly what went down, since there are usually (a minimum of) four different stories for each event.  Did Wright quit in a rage at Waters' dictatorship, or was he fired by Waters?  Did Ezrin come in later or was he there at the start (supposedly Waters talked to him the night of the Montreal show).  The Beach Boys involvement...  that band is something else, for sure.

[Dr. DTVT]

[jingle.boy]

It's been a bit of a week - both work and personally.  I'll try to get back at it tomorrow morning.  We'll see what today brings.

[Dr. DTVT]

If you are a true Klingon warrior it will bring you glory.

[jingle.boy]

Ok, double entry - one to fix the miss (lucky #13), and then back to the countdown. 

Also, brain fart on the year released for The Wall - dunno what I was thinking.  And ... Stads, feel free to skip this entry. 

13. Symphony X / Underworld [2015]



Ok, here's one of the Top 15 albums I referenced earlier that wasn't my AOTY - that's coming in 2 more posts (welp... that was Vanden Plas Netherworld II).  And I'm stretching my own definition of "Concept Album" here, as Romeo himself stated it isn't, but a collection of ideas.  But… when Allen announces this as a story of a man who has lost his love, and goes to hell and back (perhaps metaphorically) for his girl, well… it's a concept album to me.  AFAIC, the structure and flow of the songs and lyrics and story suits my criteria.

Underworld is a fantastic and perfectly balanced mixture of emotion, power and jaw-dropping virtuosity. It is also probably the darkest album they've released to date and it is very typical heavy metal in sound. And to understand it and enjoy it you have to listen to it for what it is, not for what you want it to be. I know that heavy songs about hell and darkness have been done and overdone, and that gets you thinking that it's not original but always remember: lack of originality does NOT automatically equate to a lack of quality. There's nothing wrong with bringing the classic heavy metal atmosphere if you do it right. Symphony X have tackled this task in their own way, put their own print on it and turned it into something completely new.

The guitar sound is heavy, crystal-clear and might I add, awe-inspiring on the lead parts. As commercial as they could go, Michael Romeo is still Michael Romeo, and that means total epicness in the solos, and some killer riffing - leads and rhythms. And the duels with the keyboard are still here. The songs are very beautifully put together and despite the typical structure of verses, choruses, a bridge and a solo, they do sound amazing and complete each other very well. And despite the fact that there's no 20+ minute long colossus of sheer genius poured in millions of perfectly crafted notes like they did on the legendary "The Odyssey" and "The Divine Wings of Tragedy" the genius is still there, scattered across the entire album as the music flows through your senses.  This isn't just a cheesy album about hell. It's a fabulous interpretation of ideas from "Dante's Inferno" and "Orpheus in the Underworld".

Musically, Underworld has things reminiscent of the bands previous albums but this one definitely has its own individuality. Every element added was in service of the song, so the album flows and becomes a total listening experience from start to finish. Every song is to the point and fine-tuned, with the band paying a lot of attention to the hooks, voices, riffs, and keeping the interest and the energy high for the entire record. It is heavy and aggressive as fuck when it needs to be, yet soaring and emotional at other times. I think the balance is just right. It had to have all the elements of what they normally would do, just tweaked up a notch and really fine-tuned.  This is THE album that offers an absolutely fantastic blend of Allen’s garbly vocals, and his beautiful melodic style.

Being on the rail twice to see this live (almost the complete album) in a club with about 200 people on both occasions was amazing

Fave Song - Without You

[jingle.boy]

4. Obsessions / Epysode [2011]



Unbelievably, this was *not* my AOTY for 2011.  Stay tuned.

May 2012... My first roulette, round one.  The format I had had a little head-to-head competition going on, and I had Nem (Obscure for those that don't know, since she's not regular anymore) vs RJ out of the gate.  Got RJ’s song first (IQ, The Wrong Side of Weird).  What a great tune.  I had no idea how Nem was going to match up with that song it was so good.  Well, as Connery said in The Untouchables “They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.”  She did it ‘The Chicago Way’ and .  Sending me the title track from this album, and I make very little exaggeration when I say it ‘moved’ me... as in the George Costanza “I think it moved” way.  Prog-metal as fuck, and sending the video was something special; a nice little intro to the concept, and a beautifully produced rendition of the band laying the beat down on my musical senses, in a way akin to how a chunk of undissolved wasabi hits your pallet and nasal passage.  Epysode is a project-based outfit, forged from the brilliance of Samuel Arkan.  Musically, outside of Kris Gildenlow the rest of the musicians aren’t exactly from the A-List - Samuel Arkan (Virus IV), Léo Margarit - Pain Of Salvation, Ruud Jolie), Christophe Godin (Gnô, Morglbl Trio), and Julien Spreutels (Ethernity).  However, as I’ve come to learn, unbelievable talent is everywhere, and popularity or notoriety is not a requisite for brilliant talent.

On to the album... most concepts are pretty easy to grasp, or might need a handful of listens to get the general gist of what’s going on.  Obsessions is like no other concept I’ve heard... not politically motivated, sci-fi, fantasy, real life or romantic.  Just by the names of the characters, you can tell that this is a super-natural thriller. Vocally, it’s a powerhouse.  Kelly Sundown - Kallon (The Profiler); Magali Luyten - Esh (The Soul); Oddleif Stensland - Yae (The Fallen/Killer); Liselotte "Lilo" Hegt - Valma (The Medium); Rick Aitzi - Maymos (The Ghost).  However, what can’t be told from the lyrics or the cast is the depth of the back-story, which could very easily be a full-length feature movie, a delicately woven tale with dark, unearthly, and unexpected twists.  Up to this point, most of my love for female vocalists had been either the bluesy rocker chicks of old (Joplin, Wilson, Jordan), or the newer symphonic opera babes (Turanen, Adel, Jansen).  Luyten gave me some deep, hard-core metal that I’d never heard from a lady before.  Wow (and man, she’s smokin’!).  Stensland nails whole bunch of vocal styles from clean to aggressive, and delivers them with a deep and powerful aggression.  Altzi is gritty and full of charisma, and Hegt (Gildenlow’s wife if you didn’t know) provides a nice counter-balance to Luyten’s deep and dark vocals, with a smoother and more traditional sound and range that I’d expect from a female vocalist.

Since some of the above comments “borrow” from Nem’s review of the album, I’ll now give formal credit, and finish with some “paraphrasing”. 
Musically... “The thick textures, the structure, the sound, the variety, the jaw dropping guitar work, the atmospheric and exciting keys, competent drum work… What this combination yields, coupled with the dazzling vocals – oh, there are many moments of pure vox-gasm there! -- is a masterpiece.” 
Vocally... “All these guys are doing a phenomenal job at conveying the emotion of their respective roles. The cast works call and responses very well… The diversity in their voices and styles is yet another win. All in all, very well chosen bunch shining brightly throughout the album. At times, the album gets vocally driven which is not surprising as the musicianship on the background is consistently impeccable throughout and the vocals have the freedom to drive the listener. And, oh boy, these guys have the means to drive you every which way they want – from desperation to hope, frustration to rage, despair to happiness… If it wasn’t for the brilliant musicianship, they could have been singing to anything and it would have been a masterpiece anyway!”
On the album as a whole ... “the Song-writing is phenomenal. There’s not a bad, even average song in this batch. All are technical, complex, layered, catchy and all complement to the whole picture. At times, it gets really metal and when it does it just grabs you by your collar and slams you into your speakers so you pay attention. They also flow perfectly into each other. Obviously, having this concept behind, it’s one of those albums you want to hear in one go, each song in sequence. It is best to be enjoyed as a whole as it is clearly envisioned to be a complete experience. Even if you visit the album for one particular song, it will make you want to hear the whole thing!”

It’s pretty incredible that despite being a brilliant concept album that must be listened to start-to-finish to be truly appreciated, other than the two opening/intro tracks, each song can stand on its own merits as an individual song.  Put them all together though, and it is something beyond special, beyond magical, beyond impressive, beyond spectacular ... I really don’t know what single word in the English language can be used to describe it.

Still waiting (10 years now) for the final instalment as I'd mentioned in the Epysode/Fantasmagoria writeup a couple months back, down at #24

Fave Song - Obsessions

I've probably watched this video a 100 times (not exaggerating), and never tire of it.  Gonna go watch it again right now.

[ReaperKK]

I've tried to get into Symphony X a bunch and I just can't do it. It's too much. That said the song you posted sounded pretty good so I guess I'll give them another go

I haven't heard of Obsessions before but that song is posted was great so I'll be spinning that record today.

[lonestar]

I'm in the same boat with Symphony X, just never could get into them. Epysode was decent enough, haven't spun it since way back when... Sam actually turned out to be somewhat of an asshole when Nem met up with him though she still has a large Epysode themed tattoo on her shoulder  (he's since gotten a lot better after health issues /having a kid/therapy, he was quite open about it on FB tbh).

[Adami]

I had no idea Underworld was a concept album.

Good album though.

[jingle.boy]

I've tried to get into Symphony X a bunch and I just can't do it. It's too much. That said the song you posted sounded pretty good so I guess I'll give them another go

I haven't heard of Obsessions before but that song is posted was great so I'll be spinning that record today.

Awesome!   

[jingle.boy]

I had no idea Underworld was a concept album.

Good album though.

Not in the truest sense, but as I said ... As Allen explained it when they played it, it's close enough for me.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I love earlier Symphony X, particularly for Russ, but I've never really spent a ton of time on their later releases.  I oughta bump that one up in my queue. 

[wolfking]

News to me on Underworld too, but cracker of an album.

I thought the Epysode would be higher.

[jingle.boy]

I thought the Epysode would be higher.

You’ll get it when I pose ‘em.

[lonestar]

Completely baffled as to the top 3.

[nick_z]

Underworld is REALLY good.

I love earlier Symphony X, particularly for Russ, but I've never really spent a ton of time on their later releases.  I oughta bump that one up in my queue. 

I'm with you in that I was never too crazy about their albums post-V. I mean, always good stuff to be found, for sure, but I much prefer the Damnation Game-Divine-Twilight-V run to The Odissey-Paradise Lost-Iconoclast...however, Underworld was (to me, at least) a very pleasant surprise when it came out. Just very strong songs all around.

[wolfking]

I thought the Epysode would be higher.

You’ll get it when I pose ‘em.

Pretty sure I know one of them and I think it's going to be number 1.  The other two, who knows.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Underworld is REALLY good.

I love earlier Symphony X, particularly for Russ, but I've never really spent a ton of time on their later releases.  I oughta bump that one up in my queue. 

I'm with you in that I was never too crazy about their albums post-V. I mean, always good stuff to be found, for sure, but I much prefer the Damnation Game-Divine-Twilight-V run to The Odissey-Paradise Lost-Iconoclast...however, Underworld was (to me, at least) a very pleasant surprise when it came out. Just very strong songs all around.

I actually would put The Odyssey in the first grouping.  It's a bit thin-sounding production-wise, but the songs and performances are great.  It's Paradise Lost where I just started losing track of them, because I was getting burned out on the power/prog sound by then.  Now it's a reasonably-sized piece of my taste enough that I'm fine dipping back into it again on occasion.  Supposedly the last few albums are heavier, which theoretically should appeal to me more, so I really ought to bring them back to my rotation. 

[nick_z]

Iconoclast is definitely heavier...Underworld has a little bit of everything, it's a real nice collection of the different sides of SymX, from heavy riffage to great melodies.

[jingle.boy]

As for the final 3, without spoiling it completely:

1 is the greatest Prog-metal concept album of all time.  And most of ya’ll would concur.
1 is an unheralded gem those that know me should know it’s coming
1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.

As to the order … all will be revealed shortly.

There really are no surprises coming.

[Stadler]

Completely baffled as to the top 3.

Me too.

[lonestar]

Had a moment of clarity, figured out all 3 I think

[Kwyjibo]

Pretty sure I figured out two.

1 is the greatest Prog-metal concept album of all time.  And most of ya’ll would concur.

The Astonishing

1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.

Pain Of Salvation

Am I rite? 

[lonestar]

 

[King Postwhore]

 

[jingle.boy]

Pretty sure I figured out two.

1 is the greatest Prog-metal concept album of all time.  And most of ya’ll would concur.

The Astonishing

1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.

Pain Of Salvation

Am I rite? 

[Evermind]

Pretty sure I figured out two.

1 is the greatest Prog-metal concept album of all time.  And most of ya’ll would concur.

The Astonishing

1 is from an artist that pretty much only writes concept albums.

Pain Of Salvation

Am I rite? 

[jingle.boy]

3. Queensryche / Operation:Mindcrime [1988]



<I'd be remiss if I didn't give a nod to Livecrime, as I'm just as likely to reach for it when I need a Mindcrime fix.  The live rendition just gives it that extra zhuugshe  >

I called The Wall the OG of Concept Albums.  IMO, this is the Godfather - at least in the genre of Prog-Metal.  There's no question.  Some will argue SFAM, but which album influenced which?  That gives O:M the nod, imo.  I'd also match put it in the conversation of Greatest Metal album of all-time... and for these ears, we can even drop the "metal" requirement, as it's in my Top 10 of all-time.  Period.

I first picked this album up after the band reached their mainstream popularity with Empire, and fuck me hard I never got to see this performed in it's entirety - as I recall just getting in to the band a few months after Building Empires had rolled through Toronto.  At the time, I did most of my album purchases from a flea market vendor who always had like-new quality CDs on the cheap.  He was a great source to buy/sell CDs in the pre-internet era where you didn't really have any opportunity to sample things.  Dropping $20-ish on a new album on a whim sometimes paid off; other times it didn't.  This was one of those times it paid off massively, digging into the back-catalogue of this band I'd only heard the radio hits off of one album.

Mindcrime is the peak of their career and 'maximum' Queensryche.  From a truly progressive perspective, this is the album that propelled Queensryche from being a cult-like prog metal band, to a full on heavyweight in the genre.  Like most rock opera’s, it’s a very unique and gripping story, takes the listener through all the requisite ups and downs of moods and emotions, and gives you new insight to it each time you listen to it.  Like any good rock opera, it’s got a live version as good – nay, better – than the studio (when the crowd screams “REVOLUTION CALLING!”, it brings goose bumps every time).  I've watched the concert DVD dozens of times, and it's still gripping and compelling, 35 years later.  It’s one of those albums that you know right from the first 90 seconds, you’re going to be in for something special, on the edge of your seat for what’s about to come.  I remember hearing “Sweet dreams … you bastard” and thinking, ‘well, this is going to be interesting, wonder what he did?’  Then the power packed Anarchy-X instrumental, highlighting DeGarmo’s brilliant guitar work and Rockenfield absolutely obliterating the skins.  The overall concept covering religion, political upheaval, chemical manipulation and social wrongdoings was something Tate put more effort into than anything else he ever did with Queensryche .. and the result reflects that effort.  A compelling story, absolutely precise and flawless musicianship, fantastic production quality, and vocals from Tate when he was one of (if not) the best in the prog/metal genre.  This album stands the test of time and is another one of those concept albums that has heavily influenced all others after it.  No one can deny the impact on its niche of music, O:M takes the title as the greatest of Prog-metal concept album – and yes, I do believe it’s better than SFAM (despite what this community believes).  TASTES^TM!!!  There likely isn't a single album on my list that came out post 1988 that can't point to O:M as a source of influence and/or inspiration.

Fave Song - Suite Sister Mary

[Elite]

I'm pretty sure I know what the final 2 are gonna be as well

[jingle.boy]

Most will (should), but the order is in question.