At the risk of either killing this thread or turning it in a different direction, I'd be curious to hear other people's favorite concept albums. I'll list mine, first.
5: The Man from God Knows Where--Tom Russell: An amazing folk-album song-cycle filled with stories about Russell's ancestors, weaving in Irish and Norwegian traditional music with contemporary songwriting.
4: Operation Mindcrime--Queensryche: Fantastic for all the reasons mentioned in the article. Fascinating and dark story.
3: Frank's Wild Years--Tom Waits: One of Waits' theatre-albums, this one has some absolutely fantastic individual moments, as well as holding together nicely over the whole, telling a story about an individual's journey and aging.
2: Outside--David Bowie: Bowie's done some really interesting concept albums and I have several others, but this one is my favorite--extremely inventive. Story about a detective investigating an art-murder.
1: 2112--Rush: I loved this one when I was in high-school. Now I love it mostly for sentimental reasons. Story about an individual using music to create rebellion in a disutopian, futuristic society.
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