The Concept: A teenager named Steven finds himself trapped in his nightmares, encountering hungry black widow spiders, necrophiliacs, and Vincent Price before a rude awakening and a happy ending. Sit back, press “play” and envelope yourself in a whole bunch of music you’ve really got to pay attention to. 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. Many are long, several are very very long. Some of those longform listens have been rattling bongs since back when your hippie uncle bought them on 8-track some are more recent pop masterpieces that sneak deep meanings inside slick packages. 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.” Our list touches on everything from classic rock to R&B to punk to hip hop. These are the mindblowers that define music at its most ambitious. In honor of Midnights and its concept siblings, we present the 50 Greatest Concept Albums of All Time. Smashing Pumpkins’ ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts begins a three-part rollout next month. Other story-song albums released over the last year or so include Sturgill Simpson’s cowboy revenge saga The Ballad of Dood and Juanita and the Tedeschi-Trucks Band’s I Am the Moon, a four-EP response to Layla. Taylor Swift’s upcoming Midnights is, she says, “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.” That kind of thematic follow-through is impressive even for a detail-oriented genius like Taylor. But right along with vinyl, the theme record is having a new moment. In the streaming era, you’d think concept albums, which require listening to a record all the way through, would have about as much appeal as ripping the plastic packaging off a new CD. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Who’s Tommy, and so many more, rock took the concept of a concept album and ran with it-with narrators, characters, and lots of lyrics and liner notes to explain it all to enrapt listeners. Billboard then started the Top Current Albums chart with the old rules of the Billboard 200.Thematic albums, tied together by very specific moods or interconnected songs, aren’t new to pop the kingpin of the form, Frank Sinatra, started making them 70 years ago. Īfter the continued success of such catalog albums, Billboard Comprehensive Albums chart was discontinued in November 2009, and the Billboard 200 began to incorporate the catalog albums. Three of Michael Jackson's albums ( Number Ones, The Essential Michael Jackson and Thriller) claimed positions 1-3 respectively on Top Pop Catalog Albums and Top Comprehensive Albums in the week following Jackson's death. The issue dated Jwas the first time any catalog album outsold the number-one album on the Billboard 200. Instead, it could be viewed via paid subscription to Billboard's online service,. The Billboard Comprehensive Albums chart was not published in the print edition of Billboard magazine. This policy was changed following the first-week success of The Eagles' album Long Road Out of Eden, sold exclusively at Wal-Mart and on the Eagles' website the rule change took effect with the issue dated November 17, 2007. Until November 2007, albums sold as an "exclusive" to a particular retail outlet (such as iTunes, Starbucks, or Wal-Mart) were not eligible for the Billboard 200 due to a long-standing policy. Generally, the Billboard Comprehensive Albums was nearly identical to the Billboard 200, with the exception of approximately 20 to 30 "catalog" albums that still sell well enough to be one of the top 200-selling albums in any given week.Īlbums which are over 18 months old (from the date of release) and have dropped below position 100 on The Billboard 200 were removed from that chart and placed on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. Billboard Comprehensive Albums was established in 2003 and was a weekly albums chart produced by Billboard magazine that ranked the biggest selling albums in the United States regardless of the product's age or method of sales.īillboard Comprehensive Albums included any album, old or new, sold anywhere, for which sales data was available.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |