[Cantankerous]

fuck david gilmour! roger waters is behind it all. david gilmour just happens to be a competent enough musician to execute roger's plans.

[pbradley]

I don't consider Sonic Youth a concept band and I don't consider any album a concept album apart from the sound that they are experimenting with (i.e. the spawling guitars of DN).

Also I don't like concept albums. They're ridiculously pretentious in my eyes.

[Cantankerous]

I find that if there's a major theme running through an album, just like any other piece of work, it seems to be more cohesive and well-thought-out, rather than pretentious. stronger, more consistent. like a real piece of work, just like if you were to put together a book of various authors' work, short stories or something, they should all relate to each other. different peoples' perspectives on the war in iraq, or the vietnam war, or more broadly war in general could make a book. not allen ginsberg's thoughts on sex and hunter thompson's thoughts on the american dream and timothy leary's thoughts on drugs and ann coulter's thoughts on religion all rolled into one. that doesn't make sense. no flow.
concept albums are like it has a purpose rather than being a jumble of shit cobbled together. however there are some really terrible concept albums out there. you've got to back it up with the music.

[flophousefloozie]

Originally Posted by pbradley

I don't consider Sonic Youth a concept band and I don't consider any album a concept album apart from the sound that they are experimenting with (i.e. the spawling guitars of DN).

Also I don't like concept albums. They're ridiculously pretentious in my eyes.

How are concept albums (in general) pretentious?

I just don't get that....

...

Also, if Sonic Youth titled BMR as a concept album, then it would be so.
If you can find a reason in your own mind to call it a concept album with whatever theme you interpret for the album, then once again, you could consider it a "CA".

With that said, I think the answer really can be determined by each listener's idea of the album.

It's the same idea as coming up with an explanation for a piece of absract art. That's how I see it.

[uhler]

zen arcade is the best concept album ever made.

[ZEROpumpkins]

BMR has a concept. It's fuckin scary.

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by flophousefloozie

How are concept albums (in general) pretentious?

I just don't get that....

I just find them showy and a poor medium for intellectual expression. I prefer the music being the focus with the lyrical matter being supportive through a counter melody rather than the other way around. Then again, I employ a strict definition of a concept album. I hear Zen Arcade called a concept album but I don't see it. Sometimes I wonder if fans just become so romantically attached to an album that they start attributing some intellectual value onto the music as a whole. Like the idea of progressive rock, why does it have to progress in order to be good? Why do the lyrics need to express some story? Can't an album share a cohesive sound and a similar themes without being a hidden epic poem?

But then again I'm good at ignoring the lyrical concept if the lyrics themselves don't get in the way of the music so if SY called BMR a concept record, I just wouldn't see it and like it for what I hear.

But like I said from the beginning, this is my opinion and I know that there are people that are excited by the idea of concept albums, etc. That's just not me. Give me the music, make sure the immediate lyrics aren't painful, and make the melody work.

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by uhler

zen arcade is the best concept album ever made.

I love that album but I don't hear the concept. Sure I hear themes but it is too all over the place for me to make sense of it.

[ZEROpumpkins]

Originally Posted by uhler

zen arcade is the best concept album ever made.

You'll do well here

 

[uhler]

Originally Posted by pbradley

I love that album but I don't hear the concept. Sure I hear themes but it is too all over the place for me to make sense of it.

i just read somewhere that it's about a kid that leaves home and everything. then he find out it's a dream and the last song is suppose to represent that or something.

even if it's not a concept album, it's still the best concept album ever.

[ZEROpumpkins]

No you're spot on Uhler. That's exactly what it's about.

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by uhler

i just read somewhere that it's about a kid that leaves home and everything. then he find out it's a dream and the last song is suppose to represent that or something.

even if it's not a concept album, it's still the best concept album ever.

Yeah, I know what it is suppose to be about and I hear the theme but the whole bookending dream intro/outros allows them to ponder and move into different subjects like the Hare Krishna song. I suppose Zen Arcades nonlinear path helps me to not let the story get in the way.