Anyways, because of (maybe in spite of) that exposure, it makes a lot of sense to me to consider an album as (essentially) a novel with a beat -- and I mean "a novel" and not "a thematically unified short story collection." Plenty of great albums fit into the latter category, but my richest musical experiences tend to come from the former. Discovering The Wall during high school was a real benchmark in my early musical explorations (and not just because The Wall speaks directly to disaffected youth seeking their identity in the face of soul-crushing adulthood). In fact, I can probably say that my list of favorite albums from any given time of my life has at least a couple concept albums in the top 5 (if not at the #1 slot).
Sunday, August 19, 2012
"So ya' thought ya' might like to go to the show ..."
I'm a big fan of the concept album. Maybe it has to do with the fact that my parents subjected me to a constant rotating loop of movie soundtracks growing up -- Jesus Christ Superstar, Saturday Night Fever and (for the holidays), Star Wars - Christmas In The Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album ... which does exist:
Anyways, because of (maybe in spite of) that exposure, it makes a lot of sense to me to consider an album as (essentially) a novel with a beat -- and I mean "a novel" and not "a thematically unified short story collection." Plenty of great albums fit into the latter category, but my richest musical experiences tend to come from the former. Discovering The Wall during high school was a real benchmark in my early musical explorations (and not just because The Wall speaks directly to disaffected youth seeking their identity in the face of soul-crushing adulthood). In fact, I can probably say that my list of favorite albums from any given time of my life has at least a couple concept albums in the top 5 (if not at the #1 slot).
Anyways, because of (maybe in spite of) that exposure, it makes a lot of sense to me to consider an album as (essentially) a novel with a beat -- and I mean "a novel" and not "a thematically unified short story collection." Plenty of great albums fit into the latter category, but my richest musical experiences tend to come from the former. Discovering The Wall during high school was a real benchmark in my early musical explorations (and not just because The Wall speaks directly to disaffected youth seeking their identity in the face of soul-crushing adulthood). In fact, I can probably say that my list of favorite albums from any given time of my life has at least a couple concept albums in the top 5 (if not at the #1 slot).
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