Concept albums must have gotten a bad name: You don’t see too many of them anymore. It’s true that they are often dull, impractical and reeking of the worst sort of artistic pretentiousness, but I don’t think this should detract from the idea as a whole.
I got on this whole concept album trip with the release of Neil Young’s latest album, “Greendale.” The album tells the story of a small California town and the trials and tribulations of its residents. It’s wrapped up in a distorted roadhouse rock groove that diligently stays in the background while the story takes hold. Great stuff from Young, and more worthwhile than last year’s “Are You Passionate?” Remember the knee-jerk post-9/11 homage song “Let’s Roll”? Neither do I.
It’s not much of a surprise that an old pro like Young is the one putting out a concept album today. The 1970s were the heyday for them. Now, people just seem to lack the time or patience.
But Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and The Who’s “Tommy” are great albums, and what makes them great is not only the quality of the songs, but the themes sustained among them.
Most people attribute the birth of the concept album to the same group every other great thing in rock is attributed to: The Beatles. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is usually given the title of the first.
As far as the more sophisticated concept albums go, I’ve always had a fondness for Frank Zappa’s “Joe’s Garage,” a three-part rock opera about a musician in a near-future world of obedient consumers, mechanical pseudo-religions and a totalitarian authority that believes in “total criminalization” of the populace. The plot is so convoluted that it approaches total anarchy, the characters are two-dimensional and the whole thing borders on the irrational. Much like a real opera, when you get down to it.
But what is on the outside surface isn’t the point; it’s what’s under the façade that matters. The album shows a depressing vision of a dehumanized society that reality resembles more every passing day. While the album has other merits, like Zappa’s stellar guitar work and compositional skills, it is this unifying vision that makes the whole thing worthwhile.
Another favorite of mine is The Who’s “The Who Sell Out.” It’s otherwise known as the other Who concept album, long overshadowed by the success of “Tommy” and, to some extent, “Quadrophenia.” The difference is that those two were rock operas with narrative stories. “Sell Out” is just a concept with no story attached or necessarily needed.
Incorporating original Radio London commercial ads with songs full of product references, The Who do in fact sell out, but in such an extravagant way that you know it’s a joke. The songs are tuneful, catchy and melodious, just like radio jingles are supposed to be. Personal fave: “Odorono,” a song about a singer who is rejected by a man because her antiperspirant breaks down, an embarrassment that leads to her to giving up her musical career. She should have used Odorono.
So is anyone releasing concept albums today? Other than the eminent Mr. Young and his band, Crazy Horse, Tool is the only group that comes to mind, with the album “Ænima” in particular. Describing life in Southern California after an apocalyptic earthquake, the album is a big, rumbling, scary trip through the minds of a group of Jungian metal freaks. What could be more fun?
So there’s still hope for the concept album, so long as musicians keep having ideas bigger than a single song can contain. Keep up that big thinking, boys and girls. I’m listening.