10 records you never knew were concept albums
The Wall, Tommy, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Days of Future Past: there is a long legacy of outstanding concept albums in music history. Dedicating themselves to a particular story or theme, artists across every genre have tried their hand at the concept release, but some have been more notable than others. In fact, some projects have managed to slip by without their storytelling nature getting enough attention.
The ‘concept album‘ is a term thrown around a lot in music. Often used to describe works with a common thematic thread running through every track, its true meaning is more accurately a storytelling record with a clear tale or purpose.
This can be done to varied degrees. For some, like Pink Floyd or Electric Light Orchestra, their concept albums are all-encompassing, with extending tracks running into each other and instrumentals to amplify the drama. For modern artists like Father John Misty, Arctic Monkeys or Fizz, their dedication to the story is more subtle but is still just as worthy of note.
It’s hard for an artist to decide whether to market the project as a concept album while still wanting individual pieces to be listened to and enjoyed. Even concept projects need to have a hit to help them shift copies. But the continuous story is always an exciting and interesting thing to pay attention to, with these ten albums deserving more hype for their conceptual craft.
10 surprising concept albums:
Alice Cooper – Welcome To My Nightmare
In 1975, singer Vincent Furnier decided to adopt his band name as a new moniker and go solo. On his debut release, the world met Alice Cooper – the twisted tour guide to your inner fears, desires and nightmares. Welcome To My Nightmare was his debut release, merging melodrama and childish fears for a concept piece of epic musical proportions.
The album is a tour of Cooper’s childhood fears and nightmares. Each track introduces new figures and settings as the listener jumps between different dream worlds. Full of the macabre humour that he would become known for, the concept release is the perfect introduction to Cooper.
Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino
When Arctic Monkeys followed up their widely beloved 2013 release AM with Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino in 2018, fans were upset. Their sound dramatically changed as they dropped the classic indie rock sound for something stranger and sparser. Alex Turner was suddenly singing like a lounge crooner, and their lyricism no longer contained universal experiences of lust and loss but was instead about monster trucks and the moon.
But the issue comes when fans don’t view the album as one collective piece. While imagining a luxury hotel on the moon, the band cast off Earth for a romanticised science-fiction project. With songs that flow into one another and a sound designed not for radio repeats but instead simply to fit the purpose of the record’s landscape, the total change-up only makes sense if you commit to the story.
Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
So much of Elton John’s work is highly theatrical that it’s easy for his concept work to merely get swept up with the rest of it. But Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is a concept album through and through, complete with an opening track that seems to serve as a kind of opening title number, introducing the characters.
As John was enjoying a new height to his fame, he seemed nostalgic for the struggle that had got him there. Alongside his long-time co-writer and collaborator Bernie Taupin, the record returns to their early days as young artists barely getting by. Pieces like ‘Writing’ and ‘(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket’ take the listener back to their pre-success era as they worked to get the fame they found themselves with now. Captain Fantastic and the Cowboy were stand-in characters for themselves that they’d visit again in 2006 on The Captain & The Kid.
Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado
Electric Light Orchestra are another band that is immediately thought of when the topic of concept albums pops up. But while Time is the one commonly brought up, Eldorado was their essential first step into that world.
Jeff Lynne came up with the primary narrative story long before writing any music, imagining a tale of a man escaping into daydream worlds to avoid the mundanity of his life. Eldorado follows the characters through them, changing up the sound and style to suit. The record was a major stepping stone for the group, helping them discover the synthesised sound that would become their staple.
Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
It could be argued that Father John Misty’s entire career is a concept piece. Playing the role of a cultish leader, he leans heavily on the charm and devotional charisma of the preachers he was raised around. All of his music exists in this dramatised world. But on I Love You, Honeybear, the singer dedicates an entire album to one clear story.
It is the tale of the love of his life, his wife, Emma Elizabeth Garr. Immortalised in his incredible ‘Chateau Lobby #4’ as he sings, “Emma eats bread and butter / like a queen would have ostrich and cobra wine,” the project centres around the fate of their meeting. While going in reverse from the adoration of the title track and the fast-moving devotion of the Chateau Marmont set love song, the record flows backwards through their courtship and Misty’s bachelor lifestyle before.
Fizz – The Secret To Life
Released in 2023, Fizz prove that the artistry of the concept album is alive and well. From the moment they revealed themselves to the world to the final note on their debut, Fizz committed to the bit. Made up of Dodie, Orla Gartland, Martin Luke Brown and Greta Isaac, the four artists were in desperate need of a break from the pressures of their solo careers. After basically taking a holiday from their music, during which they made more music, The Secret To Life was born.
Taking them away from the stress of their brands and public identities, the record lands them in Fizzville, a place of unadulterated fun with no expectations or preconceptions. Telling the story of a kind of magical holiday designed to heal the inner child and find catharsis, the four artists totally shrug off their individual careers to be absorbed into their collective world.
Tracks like ‘High In Brighton’ and ‘Strawberry Jam’ build a Wonka’s factory-like imaginary land, while ‘As Good As It Gets’ and ‘Hell Of A Ride’ scream out for relief, using the protection of Fizzville to tackle issues of sexism or societal pressures that plague them in the real world. Dedicated to silly costumes, bright colours and cinematic music videos, the record commits to itself like a true concept release.
Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage (Acts i, ii & iii)
Some concepts are so big they need a second release. While no stranger to making records tied together by a common theme or tale, On Joe’s Garage, Frank Zappa launched his most adventurous storyline yet, stretching it out over a double album.
The 1979 release finds its setting in a dystopian America where the government has outlawed or controlled music. The protagonist, Joe, is secretly forming a band in his garage when he encounters scheming groupies, cult leaders, and critics who don’t get his vision. The project was a controversial release due to its problematic cover and regularly offensive lyrical content. But musically, Joe’s Garage is a perfect example of Frank Zappa’s expansive vision and technical skill.
Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love
While the first half of Hounds Of Love is a racing tour of some of Kate Bush’s most beloved hits, when the side flips, a story begins. ‘And Dream Of Sheep’ opens up The Ninth Wave, Bush’s take on a Titanic story. “Little light shining / Little light will guide them to me,” she sings in a hauntingly sparse soundtrack, imagining herself floating in a freezing ocean after a shipwreck.
It’s a blink and you’ll miss it, but if you hook into the story, the second half of the album is a thrilling concept piece on the topic of survival. Desperately clawing to consciousness and life on pieces like ‘Under Ice’ and ‘Waking The Witch’, or wistfully dreaming about the family that would miss her on ‘Watching You Without Me’, it’s a melodrama of epic proportions.
Ending with ‘The Morning Fog’, the euphoria of these final moments is all that much more impactful when tracing the narrative. During her 2014 Before The Dawn concerts, the tale was acted out on stage complete with a wrecked ship and illusion waves.
Pink Floyd – Animals
Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall are held up as golden examples of what a concept album is or should be, sticking to a tight theme or story and changing up their musical style to suit. But Animals is equally as great. It’s the project that led to the infamous promotional Battersea flying pig, but its origins are far more literary than an inflatable animal.
Based on George Orwell’s Animal Farm, they borrow his animal metaphors to make the same point about politics and the mindless following of leaders like sheep. While the original text was about Stalinism, Pink Floyd’s Animals is an anti-capitalist piece that dreams of the people overcoming the greed of the pigs.
The Kinks – Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
While the band’s 1968 release, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, is widely regarded as an incredible, early example of a concept album, their later releases didn’t get the same analytical view. After that, it seemed the group couldn’t shake the conceptual bug, continuing the pattern on their next two projects, including the 1970 hit Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One.
But their 1969 record is an underrated storytelling release. While it might feel like a slight cheat, as it was technically a soundtrack, Arthur is undoubtedly the most cohesive of their concept pieces. Made to score an experimental TV play, the visuals were eventually axed due to funding issues, but the record remained. Telling the story of a typical working man contemplates the way the world was changing from his post as a carpet layer. It was a deep dive into the outfit’s favoured topic of nostalgia.
