The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has often been considered the best concept album of all time, even though only the first two songs and the reprise are conceptually connected.
Well, a group of Rolling Stone writers don't feel it's the best -- it came in at number-11 on their list "The 50 Greatest Concept Albums of All Time."
They define concept albums as "the mind blowers that define music at its most ambitious. They map out epic narratives (from raging coming-of-age dramas to dystopian sci-fi fantasies); they strive to embody vast historical and political moments; they’re 'cinematic,' 'operatic,' 'novelistic'... Many are long, several are very very long. One is by Styx."
To make it "high on the list," an album had to be "both conceptually tight and musically awesome, which is why a few classic albums with relatively loose thematic conceits didn’t end up higher."
With that, the Top 10 is as follows:
- Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
- Green Day - American Idiot
- Pink Floyd - The Wall
- Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx …
- The Who - Tommy
- Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
- Rush - 2112
- My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
- Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours
- Rosalía - El Mal Querer
Other notable choices:
- 11. Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- 13. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
- 14. Radiohead - Kid A
- 17. Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
- 18. The Who - Quadrophenia
- 19. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
- 21. Brian Wilson - Smile
- 23. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
- 24. Randy Newman - Good Old Boys
- 28. The Kinks - The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
- 34. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
- 37. Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare
- 41. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
- 45. Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
- 48. XTC - Skylarking
- 50. Styx - Kilroy Was Here
I don't agree with this list at all. I think The Who and Pink Floyd are kings of the concept album, and while Tommy and The Wall were included in the Top 10, I believe Quadrophenia and Dark Side of the Moon also should've been included near the top.
I also would've like to have seen The Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed on this list.
Who would you add or delete from this list? Hit me up on socials - @lisaontheradio on twitter and IG, Lisa Berigan On The Radio on fb.
Source: Rolling Stone and Premiere