My middle son, 15 years of age, was telling me the other day that he had to tell a contemporary what an album actually was. Yes... I was slightly gobsmacked!
I'm not surprised at the lack of understanding of an 'album', but I do think that depends on the parents of your son's friend. If his parents are not into music, and haven't played much around him, then it's pretty normal as a young person today to consume music as individual tracks and not know much else beyond that. Still, there album charts today... I guess we notice what's of interest to us.
Great piece. Guthrie was a huge influence on Dylan so I’ve heard his stuff. I must check out the Janelle Monáe album. I recently discovered her while compiling a list of songs from the 2010s by queer artists for GCN. (I picked her song ‘Make Me Feel’ which she worked on with Prince). I have some musical exploring to do.
'Make me Feel' is a fantastic track. Good choice. A point I didn't make in the post is that concept albums do require a bit more attention. And attention can be a scare resource these days.
I’m leaning more towards albums lately. My favourite band Arcade Fire’s albums often work like concept albums. You can listen to songs separately but they are part of a whole.
There's a lot of thought that goes into constructing an album, so they are worth listening through. Actually, one of my somewhat recent favourites was Joanna by Lady Gaga... a bit of a departure, going back to Americana rock, I loved it. But the album should be considered in total.
I love Arcade Fire and second this rec. I think their most conceptual album was Reflektor + it's got a David Bowie appearance on at least 2 songs (+ in the Reflektor video) + it's produced by James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem) who also produced Hot Chip.
Love the newsletter today. I'm in the middle of two music projects myself and though it's produced more like Indie Rock with folk guitars & synthesizers Dark Side of the Moon has been a noticeable influence on our band Lightning Delay. A few concept albums are regularly rotated in and out of my playlists every year. I'm going to eventually check out a few you mentioned I'm not familiar with! 👩🏻🎤 L⚡D
Best of luck with your projects, Michael! I think people who are enmeshed in making music are far more aware of all its forms than the average listener. I hope you enjoy some of my suggestions.
Thank you, Maura! Well...I must admit I'm pretty obsessed and keep myself informed in like 20-30 different music genres and guess I am pretty aware but there's never too many gems to find and treasure!
I've always had a wide range of interest in music, from Jazz, blues, rock, folk, pop, funk, global music, classical... there is so much to enjoy. I do particularly like songs with good lyrics though. (When there are lyrics.)
Love this post! I see that others below-thread have also done some great recommendations. Therefore, a few other hard-rock/metal + science fiction (sometimes concept) albums (meaning that while some albums aren't full concept albums, they handle the same theme like, indeed, The Dark Side of the Moon):
Voivod—Nothingface
Fear Factory—Demanufacture
Arena—Contagion
Ark—Burn the Sun
Code Orange—Underneath
Strapping Young Lad—City
Threshold—Clone
Vicious Rumors—Digital Dictator
Warrior—Fighting for the Earth
Also, if you like a hard rock/heavy metal homage to classic SF movies, then Ayreon (Arjen Lucassen)'s Star One albums Space Metal and Revel in Time come highly recommended.
Hey Maura!
My middle son, 15 years of age, was telling me the other day that he had to tell a contemporary what an album actually was. Yes... I was slightly gobsmacked!
Other favourite concept albums;
Rush '2112'
Alice Cooper 'From the Inside'
Genesis 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'
Jethro Tull 'Thick as a Brick'
Frank Zappa 'Joe's Garage'
Take care!
Andrew
Andy, You've got some great choices there!
I'm not surprised at the lack of understanding of an 'album', but I do think that depends on the parents of your son's friend. If his parents are not into music, and haven't played much around him, then it's pretty normal as a young person today to consume music as individual tracks and not know much else beyond that. Still, there album charts today... I guess we notice what's of interest to us.
Great piece. Guthrie was a huge influence on Dylan so I’ve heard his stuff. I must check out the Janelle Monáe album. I recently discovered her while compiling a list of songs from the 2010s by queer artists for GCN. (I picked her song ‘Make Me Feel’ which she worked on with Prince). I have some musical exploring to do.
'Make me Feel' is a fantastic track. Good choice. A point I didn't make in the post is that concept albums do require a bit more attention. And attention can be a scare resource these days.
I’m leaning more towards albums lately. My favourite band Arcade Fire’s albums often work like concept albums. You can listen to songs separately but they are part of a whole.
There's a lot of thought that goes into constructing an album, so they are worth listening through. Actually, one of my somewhat recent favourites was Joanna by Lady Gaga... a bit of a departure, going back to Americana rock, I loved it. But the album should be considered in total.
Plus you can miss gems that weren’t singles or popular.
I love Arcade Fire and second this rec. I think their most conceptual album was Reflektor + it's got a David Bowie appearance on at least 2 songs (+ in the Reflektor video) + it's produced by James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem) who also produced Hot Chip.
This is a stellar post.
Aw, thanks!
Love the newsletter today. I'm in the middle of two music projects myself and though it's produced more like Indie Rock with folk guitars & synthesizers Dark Side of the Moon has been a noticeable influence on our band Lightning Delay. A few concept albums are regularly rotated in and out of my playlists every year. I'm going to eventually check out a few you mentioned I'm not familiar with! 👩🏻🎤 L⚡D
Best of luck with your projects, Michael! I think people who are enmeshed in making music are far more aware of all its forms than the average listener. I hope you enjoy some of my suggestions.
Thank you, Maura! Well...I must admit I'm pretty obsessed and keep myself informed in like 20-30 different music genres and guess I am pretty aware but there's never too many gems to find and treasure!
I've always had a wide range of interest in music, from Jazz, blues, rock, folk, pop, funk, global music, classical... there is so much to enjoy. I do particularly like songs with good lyrics though. (When there are lyrics.)
Check these out if you ever get bored enough/find the time:
David Sylvian 'Secrets of the Beehive'
Cocteau Twins 'Treasure'
Dead Can Dance 'Into the Labyrinth'
AIR 'Moon Safari' + 'Virgin Suicides' + 'Talkie Walkie'
Goblin 'Profondo Rosso' aka 'Deep Red' + 'Zombi' aka 'Dawn of the Dead soundtrack'
Swaine Delgado 'Run boy, run'
Electronic/Deep House tracks:
Lane 8 'Sunday Song' + 'Brightest Lights'
Rüfüs Du Sol 'Innerbloom'
Gallago 'Sun'
São Miguel feat. Sebastian Reynoso 'Hope in the Balance'
The Blaze 'Virile' + 'Runaway' + 'Territory'
Else 'Night Thoughts' + 'Back to 8' + 'Views' + 'Paris'
Bicep 'Apricots' + 'Atlas' + 'Saku' + 'Glue'
Thanks for the recommendations! I'm always keen to listen to new tunes
Love this post! I see that others below-thread have also done some great recommendations. Therefore, a few other hard-rock/metal + science fiction (sometimes concept) albums (meaning that while some albums aren't full concept albums, they handle the same theme like, indeed, The Dark Side of the Moon):
Voivod—Nothingface
Fear Factory—Demanufacture
Arena—Contagion
Ark—Burn the Sun
Code Orange—Underneath
Strapping Young Lad—City
Threshold—Clone
Vicious Rumors—Digital Dictator
Warrior—Fighting for the Earth
Also, if you like a hard rock/heavy metal homage to classic SF movies, then Ayreon (Arjen Lucassen)'s Star One albums Space Metal and Revel in Time come highly recommended.