{{Short description|Album that tells a self-contained story}} {{about|the topic of concept albums|albums named "Concept"|Concept (disambiguation)#Music and arts}} {{good article}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0722-401, Berlin, Aufführung der Rockoper "The Wall".jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|alt=A concert stage in front of a wall with 2 levels. Five men stand on a balcony, including Roger Waters, who is saluting with his arm and is lit by a spotlight. On the lower level is a drum kit and a man playing guitar.|[[Roger Waters]] ([[Nazi salute|saluting]] on top) leading [[The Wall – Live in Berlin|a live performance]] of [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Wall]]'', one of the best-known concept albums of all time<ref name="barker2015"/> ]]
A '''concept album''' is a musical [[album]] whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually.{{sfn|Cullen|2001|p=98}}{{sfn|Elicker|2001|pp=227–229}} This is typically achieved through a single central [[narrative]] or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical.{{sfn|Shuker|2012|p=5}} Alternatively, the term may signify an album that lacks any explicit musical or lyrical motif, but is considered to be of "uniform excellence".{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=49}} [[music criticism|Music critics]] remain divided on the precise definition of a concept album.{{sfn|Elicker|2001|pp=227–229}}<ref name="independent"/>
The format originates with [[folk music|folk]] singer [[Woody Guthrie]]'s ''[[Dust Bowl Ballads]]'' (1940) and was subsequently popularized by [[traditional pop]] singer [[Frank Sinatra]]'s 1940s–50s string of albums, though the term is most closely associated with [[rock music]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Luhrssen |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phsIDgAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Classic Rock |last2=Larson |first2=Michael |date=2017-02-24 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3514-8 |language=en}}</ref> In the 1960s, various rock bands released several well-regarded concept albums, eventually leading to the birth of the [[rock opera]].
==Definitions== There is no clear definition of a "concept album".<ref name="independent"/>{{sfn|Elicker|2001|p=227}} Fiona Sturges of ''[[The Independent]]'' stated that the concept album "was originally defined as a long-player where the songs were based on one dramatic idea – but the term is subjective."<ref name="independent">{{ cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-return-of-concept-album-1796064.html | title=The return of concept album | first=Fiona | last=Sturges | work=[[The Independent]] | date=1 October 2009 | access-date=25 April 2016 }}</ref> A precursor to this type of album can be found in the 19th-century [[song cycle]],<ref name="PMperf">{{cite web|last1=Cucchiara|first1=Romina|title=The Concept Album As a Performative Genre|url=https://www.popmatters.com/feature/186925-the-concept-album-as-a-performative-genre/|website=[[PopMatters]]|date=10 November 2014}}</ref> which ran into similar difficulties in classification.{{sfn|Elicker|2001|p=228}} The extremely broad definitions of a "concept album" could potentially encompass all [[soundtrack albums|soundtracks]], [[compilation albums|compilations]], [[cast recording]]s, [[greatest hits album]]s, [[tribute album]]s, [[Christmas album]]s, and [[live album]]s.{{sfn|Elicker|2001|p=228}}
The most common definitions refer to an expanded approach to a rock album (as a story, play, or opus), or a project that either revolves around a specific theme or a collection of related materials.{{sfn|Elicker|2001|p=228}} [[AllMusic]] writes, "A concept album could be a collection of songs by an individual songwriter or a particular theme – these are the concept LPs that reigned in the '50s ... the phrase 'concept album' is inextricably tied to the late 1960s, when [[rock and roll|rock & rollers]] began stretching the limits of their art form."<ref name="AllMusic/Concept albums">{{cite web |author=| url=https://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/allmusic-loves-concept-albums | title= AllMusic Loves Concept Albums | website=[[AllMusic]] | date=10 February 2014 | access-date=25 April 2016 }}</ref> Author Jim Cullen describes it as "a collection of discrete but thematically unified songs whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts ... sometimes [erroneously] assumed to be a product of the rock era."{{sfn|Cullen|2001|p=98}} Author Roy Shuker defines concept albums and [[rock operas]] as albums that are "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical. ... In this form, the album changed from a collection of heterogeneous songs into a narrative work with a single theme, in which individual songs segue into one another."{{sfn|Shuker|2012|p=5}}
Speaking of concepts in albums during the 1970s, [[Robert Christgau]] wrote in ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981), because "overall impression" of an album matters, "concept intensifies the impact" of certain albums "in more or less the way ''[[Sgt. Pepper]]'' intended", as well as "a species of concept that pushes a rhythmically unrelenting album like ''[[The Wild Magnolias]]'' or a vocally irresistible one like [[Shirley Brown]]'s ''Woman to Woman'', to a deeper level of significance."<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=0899190251|chapter=The Criteria|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg70/criteria.php|via=robertchristgau.com|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref>
==History== {{See also|Album era}}
===1940s–50s: Origins=== <!---
Information that is not verified with a reliable source will be removed. Do not fill this section with miscellaneous examples of concept albums that fail to elaborate on their significance.
--->
In the 2016 [[BBC]] documentary ''When Pop Went Epic: The Crazy World of the Concept Album'', it is suggested that the first concept album is [[Woody Guthrie|Woody Guthrie's]] 1940 album ''[[Dust Bowl Ballads]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media|title = When Pop Went Epic: The Crazy World of the Concept Album|medium = [[BBC]] documentary|date = 6 May 2016|people = [[Rick Wakeman]] (narrator)}}</ref> ''The Independent'' regards it as "perhaps" one of the first concept albums, consisting exclusively of semi-autobiographical songs about the hardships of American migrant labourers during the 1930s.<ref>{{cite news|title=The return of concept album|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-return-of-concept-album-1796064.html|access-date=16 November 2012|newspaper=The Independent|date=2 October 2009}}</ref> In the late 1940s, the [[LP record]] was introduced, with [[space age pop]] composers producing concept albums soon after. Themes included exploring wild life and dealing with emotions, with some albums meant to be played while dining or relaxing. This was accompanied in the mid-1950s with the invention of the [[gatefold]], which allowed room for [[liner notes]] to explain the concept.{{sfn|McKnight-Trontz|1999|p=10}}
[[File:Frank Sinatra (1956-01-16, Studio A, with cup).jpg|thumb|left|[[Frank Sinatra]] in [[Capitol Records]] [[Capitol Studios|Studio A]], 1956, during the recording of his album ''[[Songs for Swingin' Lovers!]]'']]
Singer [[Frank Sinatra]] recorded several concept albums prior to the 1960s rock era, including ''[[In the Wee Small Hours]]'' (1955)<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Black|first=Johnny|date=5 March 1991|title=A-may-zing|journal=Q Magazine|volume=55|pages=33}}</ref> and ''[[Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely]]'' (1958).{{sfn|Cullen|2001|p=98}} Sinatra is occasionally credited as the inventor of the concept album,{{sfn|Rojek|2004}} beginning with ''[[The Voice of Frank Sinatra]]'' (1946), which led to similar work by [[Bing Crosby]]. According to biographer Will Friedwald, Sinatra "sequenced the songs so that the lyrics created a flow from track to track, affording an impression of a narrative, as in [[musical comedy]] or [[opera]]. ... [He was the] first pop singer to bring a consciously artistic attitude to recording."{{sfn|Friedwald|1995|}}{{refn|group=nb|In the late 1940s, [[boogie-woogie]] and [[Stride (music)|stride]] pianist [[Pete Johnson (musician)|Pete Johnson]] recorded an early concept album, ''House Rent Party'' (1946), in which he starts out playing alone, supposedly in a new empty house, and is joined there by other players. Each has a solo single backed by Johnson, and then the whole group plays a jam session together.<ref>Silvester, Peter, ''A Left Hand Like God, A Study of Boogie-Woogie'', pp. 98–99</ref>}}
Singer/pianist [[Nat "King" Cole]] (who, along with Sinatra, often collaborated with arranger [[Nelson Riddle]] during this era) was also an early pioneer of concept albums,<ref>"Cole developed the art of the concept album, a song collection consciously built on a single theme..." John Swenson (1999). The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide, University of California Press, {{ISBN|9780679768739}}, p. 1957</ref> as with his ''[[Wild Is Love]]'' (1960), a suite of original songs about a man's search for love.<ref>Will Friedwald (2020). ''Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|9780190882051}}, p. 305</ref>
===1960s: Rock and country music=== {{Listen | type = music | filename = | title = Sgt. Pepper's album cover | description = | filename2 = | title2 = Sgt. Pepper's audio sample | description2 = A sample of the song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, from the album of the same name by the Beatles. In this album, the Beatles play as a fictional band, after whom the album is named. In this sample, Paul McCartney introduces who Sgt. Pepper and his band are, setting up the concept for the album. }}In the early 1960s, concept albums became highly featured in American [[country music]], but the fact went largely unacknowledged by rock/pop fans and critics, who would only begin noting "concept albums" as a phenomenon later in the decade,{{sfn|Elicker|2001|p=234}} when albums became closely aligned with countercultural ideology, resulting in a recognised "[[album era]]" and the introduction of the rock concept album.{{sfn|Danesi|2017|p=15}} The author Carys Wyn Jones writes that [[the Beach Boys]]' ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' (1966), [[the Beatles]]' ''[[Revolver (Beatles album)|Revolver]]'' (1966) and ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' (1967), and [[the Who]]'s ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]'' (1969) are variously cited as "the first concept album", usually for their "uniform excellence rather than some lyrical theme or underlying musical motif".{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=44}}
Other records have been claimed as "early" or "first" concept albums. The Beach Boys' first six albums, released over 1962–64, featured collections of songs unified respectively by a central concept, such as cars, surfing, and teenage lifestyles.<ref name="Leaf1990">{{cite AV media notes |title=Little Deuce Coupe / All Summer Long |others=[[The Beach Boys]] |year=1990 |first=David |last=Leaf|author-link=David Leaf|publisher=[[Capitol Records]]|type=CD Liner|url=http://albumlinernotes.com/Little_Deuce_Coupe.html}}</ref> <!--- Further source for LDC: <ref>{{cite web|last1=Springer|first1=Matt|title=52 Years Ago: The Beach Boys Release a Concept Album About Cars, 'Little Deuce Coupe'|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beach-boys-little-deuce-coupe/|website=[[Ultimate Guitar]]|date=7 October 2015}}</ref> ---> Writing in ''[[101 Albums That Changed Popular Music]]'', Chris Smith commented: "Though albums such as Frank Sinatra's 1955 ''In the Wee Small Hours'' and [[Marty Robbins]]' 1959 ''[[Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs]]'' had already introduced concept albums, [the Beach Boys' 1963 album] ''[[Little Deuce Coupe]]'' was the first to comprise almost all original material rather than standard covers."{{sfn|Smith|2009|p=xix}} Music historian [[Larry Starr]], who identifies the Beach Boys' 1964 releases ''[[Shut Down Volume 2]]'' and ''[[All Summer Long (album)|All Summer Long]]'' as heralding the album era, cites ''Pet Sounds'' as the first rock concept album on the basis that it had been "conceived as an integrated whole, with interrelated songs arranged in a deliberate sequence."{{sfn|Starr|2007|pp=253–254, 265}}
''The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time'' (2015) states that [[the Ventures]] "pioneered the idea of the rock concept album years before the genre is generally acknowledged to have been born".{{sfn|Moskowitz|2015|p=689}} Writing in his ''Concise Dictionary of Popular Culture'', [[Marcel Danesi]] identifies the Beatles' ''[[Rubber Soul]]'' (1965) and the Who's ''[[The Who Sell Out]]'' (1967) as other examples of early concept albums.{{sfn|Danesi|2017|p=72}} [[Brian Boyd]] of ''[[The Irish Times]]'' names [[the Kinks]]' ''[[Face to Face (The Kinks album)|Face to Face]]'' (1966) as the first concept album: "Written entirely by [[Ray Davies]], the songs were supposed to be linked by pieces of music, so that the album would play without gaps, but the record company baulked at such radicalism. It's not one of the band's finest works, but it did have an impact."<ref name="Boyd2016">{{cite news|last1=Boyd|first1=Brian|title=The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys: 12 months that changed music|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/the-beatles-bob-dylan-and-the-beach-boys-12-months-that-changed-music-1.2671482|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=4 June 2016}}</ref> [[File:Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album art.jpg|thumb|Cover art of [[the Beatles]]' 1967 album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'']] "Popular consensus" for the first rock concept album, according to AllMusic, favours ''Sgt. Pepper''.<ref name="AllMusic/Concept albums" /><ref name=":0" /> According to [[music criticism|music critic]] [[Tim Riley (music critic)|Tim Riley]], "Strictly speaking, [[the Mothers of Invention]]'s ''[[Freak Out!]]'' [1966] has claims as the first 'concept album', but ''Sgt. Pepper'' was the record that made that idea convincing to most ears."{{sfn|Riley|1988|p=11}}{{refn|group=nb|[[Frank Zappa]] said that within ''Freak Out!'', "It wasn't as if we had a hit single and we needed to build some filler around it. Each tune had a function."{{sfn|Zappa|Occhiogrosso|1989|pp=65–80}} The Beatles' [[John Lennon]] commented: "''Sgt. Pepper'' is called the first concept album, but it doesn't go anywhere ... it works because we ''said'' it worked."{{sfn|Sheff|1981|p=197}} }} Musicologist Allan Moore says that "Even though previous albums had set a unified mood (notably Sinatra's ''[[Songs for Swingin' Lovers!]]''), it was on the basis of the influence of ''Sgt. Pepper'' that the penchant for the concept album was born."{{sfn|Moore|2016}}{{refn|group=nb|He continues that: "Things might have looked different had Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys managed to complete the album ''[[Smile (Beach Boys album)|Smile]]'' at the time. ... it would have suggested an entirely different possible line of development for the concept album, wherein parts of tracks reappeared in others producing a form frankly far more sophisticated than any of its contemporaries."{{sfn|Moore|2016}}}} Adding to ''Sgt. Pepper''{{'}}s claim, the artwork reinforced its central theme by depicting the four Beatles in uniform as members of the Sgt. Pepper band, while the record omitted the gaps that usually separated album tracks.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Johnny|last=Black|title=Concept Albums: A-may-zing!|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|date=April 1991}} Available at [https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/concept-albums-a-may-zing Rock's Backpages] (subscription required).</ref> Music critic and journalist Neil Slaven stated that [[Frank Zappa]]'s ''[[Absolutely Free]]'', released the same day as ''Sgt. Pepper'', was "very much a concept album, but The Beatles effortlessly stole his thunder", and subsequently ''Sgt. Pepper'' was hailed as "perhaps the first 'concept album' even though the songs were unrelated."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Slaven|first=Neil|title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-85712-043-4}}</ref>
===1960s–70s: Rock operas, progressive rock, soul, and disco=== {{Main|Rock opera|Progressive rock}}
{{see also|Progressive soul}} <!--- Information that is not verified with a reliable source will be removed. Do not fill this section with miscellaneous examples of concept albums that fail to elaborate on their significance.
--->Author Bill Martin relates the assumed concept albums of the 1960s to [[progressive rock]]:
{{blockquote|In discussions of progressive rock, the idea of the "concept album" is mentioned frequently. If this term refers to albums that have thematic unity and development throughout, then in reality there are probably fewer concept albums than one might first think. ''Pet Sounds'' and ''Sergeant Pepper's'' do not qualify according to this criterion ... However, if we instead stretch the definition a bit, to where the album ''is'' the concept, then it is clear that progressive rock is entirely a music of concept albums—and this flows rather directly of ''Rubber Soul'' (December 1965) and then ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Pet Sounds'', and ''Sergeant Pepper's''. ... in the wake of these albums, many rock musicians took up "the complete album approach."{{sfn|Martin|2015|p=41}} }}[[File:Genesis live 1974-11-20.jpg|thumb|left|[[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] recreating their concept album ''[[The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway]]'' (1974) for a live performance. Band member [[Peter Gabriel]] is wearing a costume for one of the album's characters.]]
''[[Popmatters]]''{{'}} Sarah Zupko notes that while the Who's ''Tommy'' is "popularly thought of as the first rock opera, an extra-long concept album with characters, a consistent storyline, and a slight bit of pomposity", it is preceded by the shorter concept albums ''[[Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake]]'' ([[Small Faces]], 1968) and ''[[S.F. Sorrow]]'' ([[The Pretty Things]], 1968).<ref>{{cite magazine|first = Sarah|last = Zupko|url=https://www.popmatters.com/pm/reviews/article/24787/prettythings-sf |title=The Pretty Things: S.F. Sorrow |magazine=PopMatters |access-date=18 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080623190644/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/reviews/article/24787/prettythings-sf |archive-date=23 June 2008 }}</ref> Stewart Mason of [[AllMusic]] also retrospectively described ''[[The Story of Simon Simopath]]'' by British [[psychedelic pop]] band [[Nirvana (British band)|Nirvana]], released in 1967, as an "unashamedly twee early concept album" with a "deliberately childlike tone",<ref name="Mason">{{cite web|last=Mason |first=Stewart |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-story-of-simon-simopath-r14160/review |title=The Story of Simon Simopath - Nirvana |website=[[AllMusic]] |date= |accessdate=2012-03-10}}</ref> and the album was also selected for ''[[Mojo (magazine)|The MOJO Collection]]'' as one of the most significant albums in musical history due to its early forays into the format.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AVQbF9lTBwgC&dq=%22Simonpath%22+mojo+collection&pg=PA115|title=The Mojo Collection: 4th Edition |last=Mojo Magazine|date=November 1, 2007|publisher=Canongate Books|isbn=9781847676436 |via=Google Books}}</ref> On the consolidation of the format, author Jim Cullen states: "The concept album reached its apogee in the 1970s in ambitious records like [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon|Dark Side of the Moon]]'' (1973) and the [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]]' ''[[Hotel California (Eagles album)|Hotel California]]'' (1976)."{{sfn|Cullen|2001|p=98}} In 2015, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked ''Dark Side of the Moon'' at number one among the 50 greatest progressive rock albums of all time, also noting the LP's stature as the second-best-selling album of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-greatest-prog-rock-albums-of-all-time-20150617/pink-floyd-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-1973-20150617|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=17 June 2015}}</ref> Pink Floyd's ''[[The Wall]]'' (1979), a semi-autobiographical story modeled after the band's [[Roger Waters]] and former member [[Syd Barrett]], is one of the most famous concept albums by any artist.<ref name= "barker2015">{{cite web|last1=Barker|first1=Emily|title=23 of the Maddest And Most Memorable Concept Albums|url= https://www.nme.com/photos/23-of-the-maddest-and-most-memorable-concept-albums-1425767|website=[[NME]]|access-date=23 January 2017|date=8 July 2015}}</ref> In addition to ''The Wall'', Danesi highlights [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]]' ''[[The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway]]'' (1974) and [[Frank Zappa]]'s ''[[Joe's Garage]]'' (1979) as other culturally significant concept albums.{{sfn|Danesi|2017|p=72}}
According to author Edward Macan, concept albums as a recurrent theme in progressive rock was directly inspired by the counterculture associated with "the [[proto-progressive]] bands of the 1960s", observing: "the consistent use of lengthy forms such as the programmatic [[song cycle]] of the concept album and the multimovement suite underscores the hippies' new, drug-induced conception of time."{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=13}}
[[Progressive soul]] musicians inspired by this approach conceived concept albums during this era reflecting themes and concerns of [[the African-American experience]], including [[Marvin Gaye]] (1971's ''[[What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album)|What's Going On]]''), [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]] (the 1975 [[Parliament (band)|Parliament]] album ''[[Mothership Connection]]''),<ref>{{cite journal|last=Keister|first=Jay|title=Black Prog: Soul, Funk, Intellect and the Progressive Side of Black Music of the 1970s|journal=American Music Research Center Journal|volume=28|year=2019|url=https://www.colorado.edu/amrc/sites/default/files/attached-files/109701_cu_amrcjournal_cover_prf.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124071719/https://www.colorado.edu/amrc/sites/default/files/attached-files/109701_cu_amrcjournal_cover_prf.pdf |archive-date=2020-11-24 |url-status=live|via=colorado.edu|access-date=29 January 2021|pages=5–22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Amadour |date=December 16, 2022 |title=15 Minutes with George Clinton |url=https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/15-minutes-with-george-clinton/ |newspaper=Lamag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles}}</ref> and [[Stevie Wonder]]'s ''[[Innervisions]]'' (1973) and ''[[Songs in the Key of Life]]'' (1976).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perone |first=James E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOPNEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22concept+album%22+%22songs+in+the+key+of+life%22&pg=RA2-PA87 |title=The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations [4 volumes] |date=2012-10-17 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-37907-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Neal |first=Mark Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Omzh7ZVOtJkC&dq=%22concept+album%22+%22songs+in+the+key+of+life%22&pg=PA110 |title=What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture |date=1999 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-92071-1 |language=en}}</ref>
By the mid-1970s, concept albums extended to [[Disco|disco music]] artists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brooks |first=Dwight E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=POOTEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22concept+album%22+%22earth+wind+%26+fire%22&pg=PA61 |title=Earth, Wind & Fire's That's the Way of the World |date=2022-11-03 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-5013-7807-2 |pages=61–62 |language=en}}</ref> Examples include [[Phylicia Rashad]]'s 1978 album ''[[Josephine Superstar]]'', which details the life of film star and activist [[Josephine Baker]];<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shapiro |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hT86CQAAQBAJ&dq=%22concept+album%22+%22josephine+superstar%22&pg=PT270 |title=Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco |date=2015-06-23 |publisher=Macmillan + ORM |isbn=978-1-4668-9412-9 |language=en |quote=Phylicia Allen's (Victor Willis's wife and the future Mrs. Huxtable on The Cosby Show) Josephine Baker concept album, Josephine Superstar}}</ref> Parliament's ''[[Mothership Connection]]'' (1975) featuring [[space disco]] elements such as [[Science fiction|sci-fi]], [[Unidentified flying object|UFOs]], [[Space exploration|galactic exploration]], and [[Interplanetary spaceflight|spaceflight]];''<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC - Music - Review of Mothership Connection |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/hgcz/ |access-date=August 19, 2018 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>'' [[The Undisputed Truth]]'s ''[[Method to the Madness]]'' (1976) which is [[Frame story|framed]] by the group's abduction by aliens and performance for "the Space Gods";<ref>{{Citation |title=The Undisputed Truth - Method To The Madness |date=1976 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/336042-The-Undisputed-Truth-Method-To-The-Madness?srsltid=AfmBOopFek4sKks_zg7RbCz6CpVSH9Bxfgt-4mw8aDm-LdWPVMDzryx2 |access-date=2025-02-13 |language=en}}</ref> French band [[Voyage (band)|Voyage]]'s [[Voyage (Voyage album)|self-titled debut album]] (1977);<ref>{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: V|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=V&bk=70|accessdate=March 21, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref> and [[Dee D. Jackson|Dee D. Jackson's]] space disco album ''Cosmic Curves'' (1978).<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKenna |first=Richard |date=2018-01-15 |title=Unidentified Object Could Be Earthling: Dee D. Jackson's 'Cosmic Curves' |url=https://wearethemutants.com/2018/01/15/unidentified-object-could-be-earthling-dee-d-jacksons-cosmic-curves/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127182237/https://wearethemutants.com/2018/01/15/unidentified-object-could-be-earthling-dee-d-jacksons-cosmic-curves/ |archive-date=2023-01-27 |access-date=2022-04-02 |website=We Are The Mutants |language=en-US}}</ref>
In the country realm, [[Willie Nelson]] recorded the most prominent concept albums, releasing ''[[Phases and Stages]]'' in 1974 and ''[[Red Headed Stranger]]'' in 1975. The latter went double platinum in the United States, launching him from being merely a noted songwriter and regional success to worldwide superstardom.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Myers |first=Marc |date=May 19, 2025 |title=Willie Nelson's 'Red Headed Stranger' Turns 50 |url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/music/willie-nelsons-red-headed-stranger-turns-50-a8334087 |access-date=June 23, 2025 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref>
===1980s–present: Decline and return to popularity=== <!--- Information that is not verified with a reliable source will be removed. Do not fill this section with miscellaneous examples of concept albums that fail to elaborate on their significance. ---> With the emergence of [[MTV]] as a [[music video]] [[Cable television|network]] which valued [[Single (music)|singles]] over albums, concept albums became less dominant in the 1980s.{{sfn|Cullen|2001|p=98}}<ref name="independent"/> Some artists, however, still released concept albums and experienced success in the 1990s and 2000s.<ref name="independent"/><ref name=":0" /> [[Self (band)|Self]]{{'}}s fourth studio album ''[[Gizmodgery]]'' (2000) was recorded entirely with toy instruments,<ref>{{cite web |last=Heisel|first=Scott|date=August 27, 2014|title="We never broke up, but we got burned out"—Matt Mahaffey on the return of Self |url=https://www.altpress.com/we_never_broke_up_but_we_got_burned_outmatt_mahaffey_on_the_return_of_self|website=[[Alternative Press (magazine)|Alternative Press]]|access-date=January 6, 2026}}</ref> selling 13,000 units in one week.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harkey |first=Scott |date=September 11, 2000 |title=Self / Interviews |url=https://silentuproar.com/interviews/3/self/ |accessdate=January 6, 2026 |website=Silent Uproar |language=en}}</ref> ''[[NME]]''{{'}}s Emily Barker cites [[Green Day]]'s ''[[American Idiot]]'' (2004) as one of the "more notable" examples,<ref name="barker2015"/> having brought the concept album back to high-charting positions.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Top 10 Concept Albums of All Time|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/gw-archive-features-news-artist-lists/top-10-concept-albums-all-time/1995|website=[[Guitar World]]|date=26 October 2015|access-date=27 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802113546/http://www.guitarworld.com/gw-archive-features-news-artist-lists/top-10-concept-albums-all-time/1995|archive-date=2 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[My Chemical Romance]]’s ''[[The Black Parade]]'' (2006) is another example of a modern concept album. {{Interlanguage link|Dorian Lynskey|qid=Q61710065}}, writing for ''[[GQ]]'', noted a resurgence of concept albums in the 2010s due to [[Streaming media|streaming]]: "This is happening not in spite of the rise of streaming and playlists, but because of it. Threatened with redundancy in the digital era, albums have fought back by becoming more album-like."<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/concept-album-muse-kendrick-lamar-beyonce-daft-punk | title=Why everyone from Beyoncé to Daft Punk is releasing a concept album | first=Dorian | last=Lynskey | work=[[GQ]] | date=13 July 2015 | access-date=25 April 2016 }}</ref> Cucchiara argues that concept albums should also describe "this new generation of concept albums, for one key reason. This is because the unison between the songs on a particular album has now been expanded into a broader field of visual and artistic design and marketing strategies that play into the themes and stories that form the album."<ref name="PMperf" /> Albums like [[Twenty One Pilots]]' ''[[Blurryface]]'' (2015) and [[Trench (album)|''Trench'']] (2018) are unique examples of concept albums achieving wide-scale success that also translated into the singles market during the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Platt |first=Josh |date=20 November 2025 |title=Review: Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface |url=https://www.undertherockies.com/reviews/blurryface |access-date=20 November 2025 |website=Under The Rockies}}</ref> As well as presenting individual themes and stories, they follow each other in a progressing storyline, as part of a universe that spans over the course of multiple albums including [[Clancy (album)|''Clancy'']] (2024) and [[Breach (Twenty One Pilots album)|''Breach'']] (2025), which is the final installation of the story.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jocelyn |first=Hannah |date=September 15, 2025 |title=Album Review: Breach, Twenty One Pilots |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/twenty-one-pilots-breach/ |access-date=20 November 2025 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref>
Towards the end of the 1980s, however, as [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] suited a fairly niche crowd, a small number of heavy metal artists began producing concept albums, particularly groups with more influences from progressive rock, and this would further develop the [[progressive metal]] and [[power metal]] genres. [[King Diamond (band)|King Diamond's]] ''[[Abigail (album)|Abigail]]'' and [[Savatage|Savatage's]] ''[[Hall of the Mountain King (album)|Hall of the Mountain King]]'', both released in 1987, stand some of the earliest examples of concept albums produced by a heavy metal artist.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=darkluna |date=2023-08-12 |title=Epic Concept Albums in Heavy Metal: Unveiling the Saga Behind the Sound |url=https://iloveheavymetalradio.com/epic-concept-albums-in-heavy-metal-unveiling-the-saga-behind-the-sound/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=I love Heavy Metal |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cao |first=Dr Philip |date=2012-06-22 |title=Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King [1987] |url=https://rockworld.vn/2012/06/23/savatage-hall-of-the-mountain-king-1987/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=RockWorld.vn |language=en}}</ref> A year later, [[Iron Maiden|Iron Maiden's]], ''[[Seventh Son of a Seventh Son]]'', released in 1988, would become one of the most commercially successful examples of a heavy metal concept album at the time.<ref name=":1" /> Also around this point, the genre of progressive metal became more fully consolidated with artists such as [[Queensrÿche]], [[Fates Warning]], and Savatage attaining success, particularly following the release of Queensrÿche's successful concept album ''[[Operation: Mindcrime]]'' in 1988, which is considered to be one of the first definitive examples of a true progressive metal album.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Belling">{{Cite web |last=Belling |first=Alasdair |date=2020-07-27 |title=In retrospect: The heavy metal concept album |url=https://www.bluntmag.com.au/features/in-retrospect-the-heavy-metal-concept-album/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Blunt Magazine |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Blum |first=Jordan|date=2024-01-18 |title=The History of Prog Metal in 21 Albums |url=https://loudwire.com/history-evolution-prog-metal-albums/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref> Thus it could be argued that from the genre's inception, progressive metal has been a hotspot for concept albums, like its rock counterpart. Other notable progressive metal concept albums are [[Dream Theater]]'s ''[[Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory]]'', [[Opeth]]'s ''[[Still Life (Opeth album)|Still Life]]'',<ref name="Belling"/> and [[Orphaned Land]]'s ''[[Mabool]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Uncreator |first=The |title=Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven Review |url=https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Orphaned_Land_-_Mabool:_The_Story_of_the_Three_Sons_of_Seven_Review}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Guy |first=Angry Metal |date=2010-01-08 |title=Orphaned Land The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR Review |url=https://www.angrymetalguy.com/orphaned-land-the-never-ending-way-of-orwarrior-review/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Angry Metal Guy |language=en-US}}</ref>
In the 21st century, the field of classical music has adopted the idea of the concept album, citing such historical examples as [[Franz Schubert|Schubert's]] ''[[Winterreise]]'' and [[Robert Schumann|Schumann's]] ''[[Liederkreis, Op. 39 (Schumann)|Liederkreis]]'' as prototypes for contemporary composers and musicians.{{sfn|Shuker|2017|p=10}} Classical composers and performers increasingly adopt production and marketing strategies that unify otherwise disparate works into concept albums or concerts.<ref name="bennett">{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Dawn and Diana Blom |title=Pinching (or taking back) ideas from popular music: Placing the concept album in contemporary classical music |url=https://www.academia.edu/19068346 |website=Academia.edu |access-date=11 December 2019}}</ref> Since 2019, the classical music magazine [[Gramophone (magazine)|''Gramophone'']] has included a special category for "concept album" in its annual [[Gramophone Classical Music Awards|recordings of the year awards]], to celebrate "albums where a creative mind has curated something visionary, a programme whose whole speaks more powerfully than its parts. A thought-through journey, which compels to be heard in one sitting."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cullingford |first1=Martin |title=Concept Album |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/2019/concept-album |website=Gramophone |access-date=11 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/article/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2019-the-full-report|title=Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2019: the full report|website=Gramophone|language=en|access-date=2024-08-15|archive-date=25 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125034852/https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/article/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2019-the-full-report|url-status=live}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=March 2020}}
In a year-ending essay on the album in 2019, [[Ann Powers]] wrote for ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' that the year found the medium in a state of flux. In her observation, many recording artists revitalized the concept album around autobiographical narratives and personal themes, such as intimacy, [[intersectionality]], African-American life, boundaries among women, and grief associated with death. She cited such albums as [[Brittany Howard]]'s ''[[Jaime (album)|Jaime]]'', [[Raphael Saadiq]]'s ''[[Jimmy Lee (album)|Jimmy Lee]]'', [[Jamila Woods]]' ''[[Legacy! Legacy!]]'', [[Rapsody]]'s ''[[Eve (Rapsody album)|Eve]]'', [[Jenny Lewis]]' ''[[On the Line (Jenny Lewis album)|On the Line]]'', [[Julia Jacklin]]'s ''[[Crushing (album)|Crushing]]'', [[Joe Henry]]'s ''[[The Gospel According to Water]]'', and [[Nick Cave]]'s ''[[Ghosteen]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Powers|first=Ann|author-link=Ann Powers|date=17 December 2019|url=https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/music-club-2019-concept-albums-not-dead.html|title=The album is evolving.|magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|access-date=15 September 2020}}</ref> ''[[Epic: The Musical]]'', a series of concept albums retelling ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]'', arose to massive popularity, with its first release in January 2023 surpassing three million streams within its first week of release<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=EPIC: THE TROY SAGA Passes 3 Million Streams in First Week of Release |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/EPIC-THE-TROY-SAGA-Passes-3-Million-Streams-in-First-Week-of-Release-20230104 |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=[[BroadwayWorld]] |language=en |archive-date=2024-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113012848/https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/EPIC-THE-TROY-SAGA-Passes-3-Million-Streams-in-First-Week-of-Release-20230104 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the musical remaining popular as subsequent "saga" albums were released, the last one being released in December 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mann |first1=Jesse |last2=Fienemann |first2=Cailen |date=2024-08-02 |title='EPIC: The Musical': A Review |url=https://deadtalknews.com/2024/08/02/epic-the-musical-a-review/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Dead Talk News |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== * [[List of concept albums]] * [[Visual album]] * [[Leitmotif]]
==Notes== {{reflist|group=nb}} ==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{refbegin|30em}} * {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5Ny7Z1c-4zEC&pg=PA98 |title=Restless in the Promised Land |first=Jim|last=Cullen |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn= 978-1-58051-093-6 |date= 2001}} * {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=61mBDQAAQBAJ&q=concept+album |title=Concise Dictionary of Popular Culture |first=Marcel|last=Danesi |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-5312-4 |year=2017}} * {{cite book|last=Elicker|first=Martina|title=Word and Music Studies: Essays on the Song Cycle and on Defining the Field|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tVPFUS7FIAQC&pg=PA227|year=2001|publisher=Rodopi|isbn=90-420-1565-9|chapter=Concept Albums: Song Cycles in Popular Music}} * {{cite book|last1=Friedwald|first1=Will|title=Sinatra! the Song is You: A Singer's Art|date=1995|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780684193687|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCBrW4AtY8QC&q=%22sinatra%22+concept+album+first&pg=PA26}} * {{cite book|last=Jones|first=Carys Wyn|title=The Rock Canon|year=2008|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0-7546-6244-0|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=rdC3n62ArX8C}}}} * {{cite book|last=Macan|first=Edward|title=Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture|url=https://archive.org/details/rockingclassicse0000maca|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-509887-7}} * {{cite book|last=Martin|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Martin (philosophy)|title=Listening to the Future: The Time of Progressive Rock, 1968-1978|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UoT6CgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Open Court Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-8126-9944-9}} * {{cite book|last=McKnight-Trontz|first=Jennifer|title=Exotiquarium: Album Art from the Space Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRvQ8odl3RYC|year=1999|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-20133-3}} * {{cite book|last=Moore|first=Allan F.|title=Song Means: Analysing and Interpreting Recorded Popular Song|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S6DeCwAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-05265-4}} * {{cite book|editor-last=Moskowitz|editor-first=David V.|title=The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World [2 volumes]: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XG9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA689|year=2015|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-0340-6}} * {{cite book|last=Riley|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Riley (music critic)|title=Tell Me Why: The Beatles: Album By Album, Song By Song, The Sixties And After|year=1988|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=JXn8AgAAQBAJ}} |isbn=978-0-394-55061-9}} * {{cite book|last1=Rojek|first1=Chris|title=Frank Sinatra|date=2004|publisher=Polity|isbn=9780745630908|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4DEdXSMYikC&q=%22sinatra%22+%22concept+album%22&pg=PA43}} * {{cite book|last=Sheff|first=David|author-link=David Sheff|editor1-last=Golson|editor1-first=G. Barry|year=1981|edition=2000|title=All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono|publisher=St Martin's Griffin|isbn=978-0-312-25464-3|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=HL7X-YyrINUC}}}} * {{cite book|last=Shuker|first=Roy|title=Popular Music Culture: The Key Concepts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAHJBQAAQBAJ|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-57771-0}} * {{cite book |last1=Shuker |first1=Roy |title=Popular Music: The Key Concepts |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1138680920}} * {{cite book|last=Smith|first=Chris|title=101 Albums that Changed Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4mP7u6mPdkC|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-537371-4}} * {{cite book |last1=Starr |first1=Larry |author1-link=Larry Starr |title=American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3 |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780195300536 |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/americanpopularm0000star_k8g4/ |url-access=registration|orig-year=2006}} * {{cite book |last1=Zappa |first1=Frank |last2=Occhiogrosso |first2=Peter |title=The real Frank Zappa book |date=1989 |publisher=Poseidon Press |location=New York |isbn=0-671-70572-5}} {{refend}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=Shute|first=Gareth|title=Concept Albums|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vcuujgEACAAJ|year=2015|publisher=Investigations Publishing|isbn=978-1-517-28755-9}} * {{cite book|last=Tunbridge|first=Laura|author-link=Laura Tunbridge|title=The Song Cycle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DS8VesiqWFcC|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-89644-3}}
{{Progressive music}}
[[Category:Concept albums| ]] [[Category:Album types]] [[Category:1967 neologisms]]