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Just what are the plots of concept albums?

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Kingcrimsonprog View Drop Down
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    Posted: 20 May 2012 at 3:51pm

A List Of Concept Albums And A Brief Synopsis Of My Understanding Of Their Stories.

The following is a description of the plots (as I understand them) of most of the concept albums that I have ever heard. These could be completely wrong for all I know, but its what I got out of them.

If anybody knows what the correct plots are, could they please inform me.
Also add your own synopsis of concept albums that you have heard. 






Camel � The Snow Goose: Its instrumental, but the music is supposed to represent key chapters in the novella The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico.

Coheed & Cambria � All Albums To Date: The lyrics tell a story called The Amory Wars which is also covered in comics, graphic novels and a novel. It is a multifaceted sci-fi story with a lot of murder and political corruption involving three generations of a family, some of whom are robots and some of whom have a virus that turns them into a monster. The central character is a messianic figure in league with an angel-esque race of aliens who gets involved in both a civil war style armed revolution and a prevention-of-apocalypse plot. This story itself is contained inside a meta-story in which a writer has created this universe as an exaggerated version of his own life in order to exorcise the daemons of his own inadequate life and romantic problems.

Cradle Of Filth � Cruelty And The Beast: Something To Do With Countess Bathory?

Cradle Of Filth � Damnation And A Day: Scenes From The Bible

Dream Theatre - Metropolis 2 Scenes From A Memory: A man discovers his past life through hypnotic therapy, in which he was a girl who got murdered by her lover�s brother in the 1920s and because her spirit carried on as his soul, he wants to solve the murder mystery (and possibly gets murdered by his therapist, who was the reincarnation of the original murderer.)

Fear Factory � Obsolete: A domestic-terrorist cyborg leads a campaign for humanity�s freedom against a cruel dystopian police-state run by machines (but fails).

Genesis � The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway: A New York City street punk who is possibly hallucinating, possibly suffering from mental illness or possibly dead after being run over by a taxi (or perhaps a combination of some/all these) flees an apocalyptic situation above-ground and awakens underground in a prison. Upon escaping he enters a psychedelic world and encounters a collection of various mystical creatures of allegorical significance as well as his brother who he cannot follow quickly enough to reunite with. He is eventually castrated by a Doctor who is also a testical-monster and his genitals get stolen by a raven, during his attempts to recover them he is finally reunited with his brother and realizes that his brother is himself (and so either awakes from the hallucination, becomes mentally unwell or finally dies)

Gentle Giant � Three Friends: Three boys are school friends as young children but lead vastly different lives as adults separated by the class system.

Gentle Giant � The Power And The Glory: A Description of a political leader/king throughout the stages of his career.

Gentle Giant � Interview: The album is a radio interview and the lyrics are all answers to frequently asked questions that bands answer on radio interviews.

Greenday � American Idiot: A punk fan from a broken home goes out into the world to make it on his own, falls in love for the first time, meets a small time drug dealer who eventually kills himself, breaks up and deals with a lot of sadness until finally moving on.

Greenday � 21st Century Breakdown: A straightforward love story between two people.

Iron Maiden � Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son: A psychic who�s power had been prophesized is born and fights evil (possibly dying in the process)

Jethro Tull � Thick As A Brick: A description of war as written by a child poet.

Jethro Tull � A Passion Play: A description of death, the funeral, the aftermath and the afterlife including the business man-esque God & Son, as told through the metaphor of a stage-play.

Jethro Tull � Too Old To Rock And Roll� : An aging and out-of-touch biker gets a chance to relive his youth when he becomes popular as the result of a combination of reconstructive surgery and instant TV celebrity in the aftermath of a bike-crash.

Jethro Tull�s Ian Anderson � A description of several stages in several of the different types of life that a child could grow up in, and how small circumstances could cause dramatic changes over a whole life.

Judas Priest � A story about the prophet Nostradamus and a description of how his future-seeing powers affect his emotions, family and overall life.

Kiss � Music From The Elder: ?

Marillion � Misplaced Childhood: A Scottish man looks back at the childhood loss of his early love interest and then recalls growing up unsatisfied in the heavy drinking culture of the time while affirming his national/civic-pride.


Marilyn Manson � Antichrist Superstar: A lowly person becomes a political figure then destroys the world
Marilyn Manson � Mechanical Animals: A glam rock alien becomes famous ? (the world sucks) ?
Marilyn Manson � Holywood: The world sucks ?

The Mars Volta � Deloused In The Comatorium: While in a coma, a man experiences a psychedelic experience in which a civil war between two tribes of strange unnatural creatures takes place?

The Mars Volta � Frances The Mute: An orphan who grew up in America searches for his biological parents and learns that he was only taken to America by a nun who took pity on him because he survived a survived a back-street abortion in the sexually conservative South American home-country. His parents were publicly executed for breaking the law but despite being able to ever meet his biological family, he finally decides that he feels a family connection with the people he had grown up with in America.

Mastodon � Leviathan: The lyrics describe some of the characters and scenes from the book Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

Mastodon � Blood Mountain: The central character climbs a perilous mountain full of various exotic mystical creatures with a view to finding a mystical crystal skull to place on his head and herald the beginning of next stage in human evolution.

Mastodon � Crack The Skye: A young boy in modern times has an out of body experience using astral projection but severs the golden umbilical tying his spirit to his body and is lost in the void until getting summoned by the occultist sect (in Tsarist Russia) that Rasputin belonged to. Rasputin has uncovered a murder plot against his leaders and after the climax of this political crisis, with the help of the occultists the boy is able to use the death as a means to return to his own time and body.

Nine Inch Nails � The Downward Spiral: A list of the things that are bad about the world made by a depressed nihilistic drug addict who eventually commits suicide in a fit of despair and hopelessness. 

Nine Inch Nails � Year Zero: A corrupt government impinge on civil liberties and ruin the people�s lives, then aliens show up (but it might be a government-made phenomenon). A scientist sends a warning back in time.

Parkway Drive � Deep Blue: A man is dissatisfied with the crushing rat-race of modern urban life and decides to try and live under the sea, it doesn�t go well and he eventually returns to land.

A Perfect Circle � Thirteenth Step: A drug addict with personality problems eventually gets clean for their child�s benefit.

Pink Floyd � The Wall: A rock star with personality problems, who�s father died in World War 2 becomes dissatisfied with crowds and fame. He drives away his friends, wife, mother and colleagues and then in a depressed drug addled stage hallucinates a grim alternative reality of himself as a fascist dictator directing crowds to commit violence. Upon waking he gets over his personality problems and allows the people that he drove away to help him at last.

Queensryche � Operation Mindcrime: In a dystopian society, A drug addict becomes involved in a domestic terrorist movement lead by a shady doctor turned politician in exchange for scoring drugs. He falls in love with a former prostitute turned nun and then later gets sent to murder the priest who took her in/sleeps with her. He then gets told to murder the nun herself but cannot do it, the politician has her killed anyway and the addict is framed for the crime and sent to prison.

Queensryche � Operation Mindcrime: After being released from prison many years later, the addict tries to enjoy freedom but society has changed a lot since his imprisonment. He decides he was only ever happy when he was with the nun. Eventually thoughts of revenge against the politician grow so overwhelming that  he sets about to kill him.
Upon capturing the politician after a high speed chase, the addict struggles with his conscious before going ahead and murdering him in cold blood anyway. Wracked with guilt and the knowledge that nothing has really changed, he kills himself. In the afterlife he is reunited with the nun that he loved and is finally at peace.

Sleep � Dopesmoker: A caravan transports marijuana through the desert to Jerusalem.




Edited by Kingcrimsonprog - 20 May 2012 at 3:54pm


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Wilytank Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2012 at 6:45pm
Here's what I can think of

Nocturnus - The Key: Satan raises an army and breaks out of hell to kill God ("Lake of Fire").  He successfully does so ("Standing in Blood").  The earth gets torn asunder ("Neolithic").  Satan synthesizes himself with robotic technology ("Andromeda Strain" and "Enter the Droids").  He goes back in time to kill baby Jesus ("Destroying the Manger"), then returns to the present to rule his kingdom of slaves ("Empire of the Sands").  I know I missed some songs, but they don't all seem to be relevant to the overall vision.

More to come later...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote IMPF2112 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2012 at 9:34pm
Opeth - Still Life: Years after being exiled from his village, a man risks his life to return to the town to be with the woman he loves.

Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the Omniscient: An alien warlord declares war on Earth, after he is unimpressed with the cup of black coffee they give him.

Ulver - Nattens Madrigal: Through the powers of Satan, a man slowly turns into a werewolf.

Edge of Sanity - Crimson: In a dystopian future when mankind has the lost the ability to reproduce, the king's wife miraculously gives birth to a daughter, who later grows up to be an evil tyrant-queen of the earth.

Make a Change... Kill Yourself - s/t: A tortured misanthrope longingly dreams of, and finally commits, suicide.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote IMPF2112 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2012 at 9:36pm
Those are some of my favourite Metal ones though. There are definitley some Prog Rock ones that you missed, most of them more modern ones though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Triceratopsoil Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 May 2012 at 10:54pm
Cheeseburger
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dtguitarfan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2012 at 5:38am
Originally posted by Kingcrimsonprog Kingcrimsonprog wrote:


Dream Theatre - Metropolis 2 Scenes From A Memory: A man discovers his past life through hypnotic therapy, in which he was a girl who got murdered by her lover�s brother in the 1920s and because her spirit carried on as his soul, he wants to solve the murder mystery (and possibly gets murdered by his therapist, who was the reincarnation of the original murderer.)

First off...TheatER. Wink
As to the plot, from what I've heard in interviews it's based on a Greek Myth.  Basically, you've got two guys and a girl.  Girl is in love with Guy A, but used to have a thing with Guy B, so Guy B is jealous, kills the two of them and makes it look like a murder/suicide.  The Fates are pissed because that was their favorite soap opera.  So the Fates plant memories in a third guy's head, and he eventually figures out and proves that Guy B actually murdered the two lovers.  Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From a Memory is a modern retelling of this myth.  That's the five minute summary.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote UMUR Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2012 at 6:20am
LIFE OF AGONY - River Runs Red cover
 
A young guy goes through all kinds of misery (loses his job, his girlfriend leaves, his dad is busy with his new family and doesn�t have time for him and his annoying ass mother keeps yelling at him what a loser he is). So eventually he can�t take it anymore and commits suicide.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote UMUR Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2012 at 6:35am
I could have picked any King Diamond album but "Abigail" has always been my favorite:
KING DIAMOND - Abigail cover
 
It�s been a while so I might get some of the details wrong. Please don�t hesitate to correct me.
 
A man (Jonathan) and his young bride (Miriam) arrive at the mansion that he has inherited to start their life together there. Before entering the house they are warned by seven dark horsemen who used to work for the man�s ancestors that the house is possessed and that they shouldn�t enter. Jonahtan laughs at their warnings but the first night at the house Miriam is haunted by the family ghost, who tells her the horrifying story of Jonathan�s ancestors. A tale of infidelity, murder and a stillborn bastard child (Abigail) who becomes a monster. Soon after Miriam is possesed by Abigail and appears pregnant. Abigail plots to be born again by Miriam. Jonathan is encouraged by the family ghost to throw her down the stairs like his ancestor did when he found out his wife was pregnant with another man�s child, but before Jonathan has summoned the strength to do that, Miriam throws him down the stairs and he dies. Soon after Miriam gives birth to Abigail and dies while giving birth. Soon after the seven horsemen arrives to kill Abigail.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tupan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2012 at 11:30am
^And Abigail II?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LittleBig Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2012 at 12:38pm
Evergrey - In Search of Truth - a concept album about alien abduction, the main hero going though the (e)motion trying to understand what has happened to him.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rushfan4 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2012 at 12:48pm
I like this idea for a thread.  I find myself kind of wondering what the actual concept is of some of these stories.   Avantasia and Ayreon would both fall under this category, as well as Transatlantic's The Whirlwind and many of Neal Morse's albums.  Not to mention The Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tupan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 May 2012 at 8:02am
Suidakra - Emprise to Avalon: Tells the story of King Arthur and The Knights of Round Table.
 
Grave Digger - Excalibur: Tells the story of King Arthur and The Knights of Round Table.
 
Dark Avenger - Tales of Avalon, The Terror: Tells the story of King Arthur and The Knights of Round Table.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Wilytank Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 May 2012 at 7:39pm
Originally posted by Kingcrimsonprog Kingcrimsonprog wrote:

Mastodon � Blood Mountain: The central character climbs a perilous mountain full of various exotic mystical creatures with a view to finding a mystical crystal skull to place on his head and herald the beginning of next stage in human evolution.

Allow me to expand on that.

A man goes into a black hole searching for a crystal skull.  He finds it, then ascends Blood Mountain fighting off wolves, birchmen, hunters in the sky, and something called a bladecatcher.  Fortunately, this thing called a Cysquatch, who people claim to be a one eyed Sasquatch but is really a robot (the protagonist figures this out when the Cysquatch speaks and sounds like a robot).  He gives the protagonist a strategy guide on how to beat Blood Mountain after successfully navigating a labyrinth.  The guide tells him to "DIG!  CLIMB!  ANCIENT ELM ROOT!  RIDE THE VINE OF FATHER GROUND OUR CAVING!"  However, he almost dies of hypothermia at the snowy part near the top of the mountain, but the crystal skull lights up and warms the empty climb.  

At the top of the mountain, the does his thing with the skull, and triggers the next stage in human evolution which, judging by the closer's title "Pendulous Skin", is the appearance of testicles on human males implying that this journey occured millions of years before this album existed.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote The Angry Scotsman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 May 2012 at 4:05pm
Oh, I thought this was gunna be one of those "what are your concept album ideas" we see on PA...but for metal.

The only one I could think of off the top of my head was Crimson by EoS but someone already nabbed that!
Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer and Testament. The real Big Four of thrash metal!



Listen to doom metal, worship Satan
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Time Signature Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2012 at 1:11am
Dick Delicious and the Tasty Testicles' "Vulgar Display of Obscenity" is a concept album, dealing with the hardships of a Mr. D. Delicious who's been charged with viagrivated assaults on women (or surprise sex, as his lawyer calls it).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tupan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2012 at 11:34am
Metallica - St. Anger: A once great band reunites to make the worst metal album ever. There's something about ticking clocks too.LOL
 
No, seriously though, Metallica actually have a concept album. It's the collaboration with Lou Redd, Lulu. And the story is:
 
The collaboration was originally intended to be Metallica re-recording various previously unreleased tracks Reed had written over the years.[5] Among these unreleased demos was a collection of songs composed for a play called Lulu�a theatrical production of two plays originally written by the German playwright Frank Wedekind.[6] Reed shared the demos of these songs with the members of Metallica to help bring the "piece to the next level,"[7] and the group provided "significant arrangement contributions" to the material
 
from wikipedia
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kingcrimsonprog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jun 2012 at 4:37pm
Whats the story though.
Isn't it about a lesbian in ye olden days who gets murdered by a homophobic playright, or something  ?


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nick Dilley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jun 2012 at 6:15pm
No one talking about the Something Wicked albums?!?!

Hi dtguitarfan! Fancy seeing you here!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nick Dilley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Jun 2012 at 6:17pm
Also, you might want to discuss the "concept" pieces that were written over the span of many albums. Dream Theater's 12-step thingy, which was cool, and others. Some are loosely related like Unforgiven 1 - 3, and sometimes they shouldn't really happen, like Hanger 18: part deux. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CCVP Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2012 at 10:00pm
Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera: something about going to an opera house and otehr gay stuff.
Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle Earth: Simarillion, elves, dragons, jewelry and some other shit.
Cannibal Corpse's whole discography: how to kill somebody, be a zombie and other fun things.

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