Just what are the plots of concept albums?
Printed From: MetalMusicArchives.com
Category: Metal Music Lounges
Forum Name: Metal Music Lounge
Forum Description: General metal music discussions (no polls)
URL: http://www.MetalMusicArchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3572
Printed Date: 22 Dec 2024 at 11:32am Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 10.16 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Just what are the plots of concept albums?
Posted By: Kingcrimsonprog
Subject: Just what are the plots of concept albums?
Date 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.
-------------
![](http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm28/kingcrimsonprog/progsig2-1.jpg)
My Blog: http://kingcrimsonprog.wordpress.com/
|
Replies:
Posted By: Wilytank
Date 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...
-------------
|
Posted By: IMPF2112
Date 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.
|
Posted By: IMPF2112
Date 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.
|
Posted By: Triceratopsoil
Date Posted: 20 May 2012 at 10:54pm
Posted By: dtguitarfan
Date Posted: 21 May 2012 at 5:38am
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 Wink](smileys/smiley2.gif) 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.
------------- http://tinyurl.com/cy43zzh" rel="nofollow - My 2012 List
|
Posted By: UMUR
Date Posted: 21 May 2012 at 6:20am
http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/life-of-agony--river-runs-red.aspx" rel="nofollow - http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/life-of-agony--river-runs-red.aspx 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.
------------- http://www.lyngby-boldklub.dk/" rel="nofollow - Forever TRUE - Forever BLUE! https://rateyourmusic.com/~UMUR" rel="nofollow - UMUR on RYM
|
Posted By: UMUR
Date Posted: 21 May 2012 at 6:35am
I could have picked any King Diamond album but "Abigail" has always been my favorite: http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/king-diamond--abigail.aspx" rel="nofollow - http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/king-diamond--abigail.aspx 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.
------------- http://www.lyngby-boldklub.dk/" rel="nofollow - Forever TRUE - Forever BLUE! https://rateyourmusic.com/~UMUR" rel="nofollow - UMUR on RYM
|
Posted By: Tupan
Date Posted: 21 May 2012 at 11:30am
Posted By: LittleBig
Date 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.
|
Posted By: rushfan4
Date 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.
-------------
|
Posted By: Tupan
Date 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.
|
Posted By: Wilytank
Date Posted: 25 May 2012 at 7:39pm
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.
-------------
|
Posted By: The Angry Scotsman
Date 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
|
Posted By: Time Signature
Date 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).
-------------
|
Posted By: Tupan
Date 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 LOL](smileys/smiley36.gif) 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. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulu_%28Lou_Reed_and_Metallica_album%29#cite_note-nme-4" rel="nofollow - - [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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playwright" rel="nofollow - - Frank Wedekind . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulu_%28Lou_Reed_and_Metallica_album%29#cite_note-exclaim-5" rel="nofollow - - [6] Reed shared the demos of these songs with the members of Metallica to help bring the "piece to the next level," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lulu_%28Lou_Reed_and_Metallica_album%29#cite_note-blabbermouth-6" rel="nofollow - - [7] and the group provided "significant arrangement contributions" to the material from wikipedia
|
Posted By: Kingcrimsonprog
Date 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 ?
-------------
![](http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm28/kingcrimsonprog/progsig2-1.jpg)
My Blog: http://kingcrimsonprog.wordpress.com/
|
Posted By: Nick Dilley
Date Posted: 19 Jun 2012 at 6:15pm
No one talking about the Something Wicked albums?!?!
Hi dtguitarfan! Fancy seeing you here!
|
Posted By: Nick Dilley
Date 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.
|
Posted By: CCVP
Date 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.
-------------
![](http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/1893/deathmetale.jpg) ![](http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/3292/1269652916316.jpg)
|
Posted By: Tupan
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 11:32am
Posted By: UMUR
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 1:40pm
Yes and being forced fed broken glass while being fucked with a knife and cum blood . My goodness those guys are vile .
------------- http://www.lyngby-boldklub.dk/" rel="nofollow - Forever TRUE - Forever BLUE! https://rateyourmusic.com/~UMUR" rel="nofollow - UMUR on RYM
|
Posted By: Tupan
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 1:54pm
^These guys released an album named "Vile" too!
EDIT: And probably I will regret this question, but someone knows if actually exists a splattercore band with a concept album?
|
Posted By: UMUR
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2012 at 2:30pm
Not sure but http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/accused-the.aspx?ac=accus" rel="nofollow - http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/accused-the.aspx?ac=accus had the Martha Splatterhead thing going. I�m not familiar enough (it�s been a while since I�ve listened to the early releases) with their material to tell if there is a grander scale plot going on or just a random mention of the Martha Splatterhad character in their music.
------------- http://www.lyngby-boldklub.dk/" rel="nofollow - Forever TRUE - Forever BLUE! https://rateyourmusic.com/~UMUR" rel="nofollow - UMUR on RYM
|
Posted By: CCVP
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2012 at 12:39am
Tupan wrote:
^You forgot the rape. |
True.
UMUR wrote:
Yes and being forced fed broken glass while being fucked with a knife and cum blood . My goodness those guys are vile . |
Hahahahahaha, quite. Even though Vile isn't a very good album IMO.
-------------
![](http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/1893/deathmetale.jpg) ![](http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/3292/1269652916316.jpg)
|
Posted By: Wilytank
Date Posted: 28 Jun 2012 at 6:56am
Tupan wrote:
EDIT: And probably I will regret this question, but someone knows if actually exists a splattercore band with a concept album? |
Pretty much every goregrind band: "I am the man who threw the bitch into the over-sized meat grinder and jacked off as she was turned into giblets."
Or something to that effect.
-------------
|
|