Which artist has the most concept albums?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Folknik, Mar 28, 2015.

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  1. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I'm a big fan of concept albums and I have well over 200 in my collection. I've just been wondering which artist has made more of them than anyone else. In my collection, the Kinks are in first place with 11. Johnny Cash is in second place with 9. The Moody Blues and Richard Harris are tied for 3rd place with 7 each. I'm guessing that the Alan Parsons Project may have made more than the Kinks, but somehow I only have one of those (Tales of Mystery and Imagination). I'm thinking about collecting some of their others. What are some of your perspectives on this?
     
  2. Beaneydave

    Beaneydave Forum Resident

    What is your concept of a concept album? I would say Frank Sinatra had more than the kinks, for example.
     
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  3. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident Thread Starter

    For me, it can be an album where the songs tell a story or if they just all revolve around a unified theme (and also if the album consists of one continuous piece like Tubular Bells or Thick as a Brick). I have about 3 of Sinatra's. I'm not sure how many others he made.
     
  4. Giant Hogweed

    Giant Hogweed Senior Member

    Location:
    Exeter, Devon, UK
    Zappa? The Kinks? I like a concept album every now and then but they get a bit tiresome when every release is one which is partially why I find the Kinks 70s albums such a struggle to get through.
     
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  5. music and movies

    music and movies Forum Resident

    Do you have Electric Light Orchestra's Eldorado and Time?

    A few lesser-known ones that I recommend adding to your collection:

    Dimensionaut by Sound of Contact
    New World (Deluxe Edition) by Dave Kerzner

    Dimensionaut is about a space-time traveler who finds himself alienated from Earth because of his new abilities and foresight. His longing for romance results in a bond with a woman, although realizing he can not be with her he decides she must return home; the conclusion is open-ended.



    New World is about a nomad in a futuristic desert world who finds himself stranded. The only place where humans are safe are the biodomes which protect local populations and have become the habitat of humanity. His journey back home is treacherous, and in trying to survive he revisits what caused him to be in his situation and challenges his inner demons, attaining a spiritual sense of himself by the album's end.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2015
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  6. LandHorses

    LandHorses I contain multitudes

    Location:
    New Joisey
    The Kinks were my first thought when seeing the thread title.
     
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  7. music and movies

    music and movies Forum Resident

    New World is about a nomad in a futuristic desert world who finds himself stranded. The only place where humans are safe are the biodomes which protect local populations and have become the habitat of humanity. His journey back home is treacherous, and in trying to survive he revisits what caused him to be in his situation and challenges his inner demons, attaining a spiritual sense of himself by the album's end.

     
  8. Maggie

    Maggie like a walking, talking art show

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Doesn't Rick Wakeman have like 8 dozen concept albums?
     
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  9. Rfreeman

    Rfreeman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lawrenceville, NJ
    I would go with The Residents. Almost every one of their albums is a concept album. And they have put out well over 50.

    Off the top of my head their studio concept albums include

    Third Reich & Roll
    Commercial Album
    Eskimo
    Mark of the Mole
    Tunes of Two Cities
    The Big Bubble
    God in 3 Persons
    Stars & Hank Forever
    George and James
    The King and I
    River of Crime
    Tweedles
    Have a Bad Day
    Lonely Teenager
    Animal Lover
    Demons Dance Alone
    Freak Show
    Bunny Boy
    Wormwood
    The Ughs

    Those 20 are only a partial sample of their studio concept albums. And all their live albums and shows are concept driven too.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2015
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  10. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    Jethro Tull has to be in the running.
     
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  11. SirNoseDVoid

    SirNoseDVoid Forum Resident

    A lot of current prog rock bands almost do concept albums exclusively, up to the point where it has become a cliché..
     
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  12. Don't forget Nibbles, the comp where the concept was that there was no concept.
     
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  13. BMac19

    BMac19 Forum Resident

    When it comes to hip hop, Kool Keith
     
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  14. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I do have Eldorado and Time. I'll check out the others. Thanks.
     
  15. Former Scientist

    Former Scientist Now on wheels....

    Location:
    UK
    Donna Summer....yes, Donna Summer, did five or six concept/themed albums in a row, including I Remember Yesterday, music from the past, present and future, the future cut being I Feel Love....right on the money there, Donna....
     
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  16. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident Thread Starter

    That's a good one! I also love her Once Upon a Time and Bad Girls albums.
     
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  17. Former Scientist

    Former Scientist Now on wheels....

    Location:
    UK
    Got Bad Girls on right now, still a great Saturday night record!
     
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  18. ibanez_ax

    ibanez_ax Forum Resident

    Frank Sinatra (I might have missed a couple)


    SONGS FOR YOUNG LOVERS
    SWING EASY
    IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS
    SONGS FOR SWINGIN' LOVERS!
    CLOSE TO YOU
    A SWINGIN' AFFAIR!
    WHERE ARE YOU?
    COME FLY WITH ME
    ONLY THE LONELY
    COME DANCE WITH ME!
    NO ONE CARES
    NICE 'N' EASY
    SWINGIN' SESSION!!!
    COME SWING WITH ME!
    POINT OF NO RETURN
    SWING ALONG WITH ME
    SINATRA AND SWINGIN' BRASS
    MOONLIGHT SINATRA
    WATERTOWN
     
  19. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Looks like he's already ahead of the Kinks. Also, The September Of My Years. One of his best.
     
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  20. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    You've pretty much covered his Capitol albums (missing just two), but there were many more before and after. His first concept album—often called the first in pop music—came in 1946.

    Here's what I would consider the complete list of 50 original Frank Sinatra concept albums:

    Columbia​

    1946... The Voice of Frank Sinatra
    1946... Frank Sinatra Conducts the Music of Alec Wilder
    1950... Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra

    Capitol​

    1954... Songs for Young Lovers
    1954... Swing Easy!
    1955... In the Wee Small Hours
    1956... Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
    1956... Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color
    1957... Close to You
    1957... A Swingin' Affaiir!
    1957... Where Are You?
    1957... A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra
    1958... Come Fly with Me
    1958... Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely
    1959... Come Dance with Me!
    1959... No One Cares
    1960... Nice 'n' Easy
    1961... Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!
    1961... Come Swing with Me!
    1962... Point of No Return

    Reprise​

    1961... Ring-a-Ding Ding!
    1961... Swing Along with Me
    1961... I Remember Tommy
    1962... Sinatra & Strings
    1962... Sinatra and Swingin' Brass
    1962... All Alone
    1962... Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain
    1962... Frank Sinatra Conducts Music from Pictures and Plays
    1963... Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First
    1963... The Concert Sinatra
    1963... Sinatra's Sinatra
    1964... Academy Award Winners
    1964... It Might as Well Be Swing
    1965... September of My Years
    1965... A Man and His Music
    1966... Moonlight Sinatra
    1966... Strangers In The Night
    1966... That's Life
    1967... Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
    1967... The World We Knew
    1968... Francis A. & Edward K.
    1968... Cycles
    1969... My Way
    1969... A Man Alone
    1970... Watertown
    1973... Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back
    1974... Some Nice Things I've Missed
    1980... Trilogy
    1981... She Shot Me Down
    1984... L.A. Is My Lady

    (One might argue with a few of the Reprise titles, but all of these were conceived and executed as complete albums with some unifying conceptual theme—be it story line, subject material, arrangements, orchestrations, conductors, etc. None were collections of random songs or singles, although a few had a hit single slapped on by the record companies.)
    __________________
    ~ Frank's Albums
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2015
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  21. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Alice Cooper has several.
     
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  22. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    Pete Townshend/The Who
     
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  23. Wade

    Wade Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Anywhere but here
    Bing Crosby had numerous concept albums--many more than The Kinks
     
  24. malco49

    malco49 Forum Resident

    lou reed album's
    new york
    berlin
    the raven
    metal machine music
    lulu
     
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  25. ubiknik

    ubiknik Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
     
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