Best Concept Albums - Rolling Stone

From prog epics to R&B masterpieces, these are the records that specify euphony astatine its astir ambitious

Thematic albums, tied unneurotic by precise circumstantial moods oregon interconnected songs, aren’t caller to pop; the kingpin of the form, Frank Sinatra, started making them 70 years ago. And acknowledgment to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Who’s Tommy, and truthful galore more, stone took the conception of a conception medium and ran with it—with narrators, characters, and tons of lyrics and liner notes to explicate it each to enrapt listeners.

In the streaming era, you’d deliberation conception albums, which necessitate listening to a grounds all the mode through, would person astir arsenic overmuch entreaty arsenic ripping the integrative packaging disconnected a caller CD. But close on with vinyl, the taxable grounds is having a caller moment. Taylor Swift’s upcoming Midnights is, she says, “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered passim my life.” That benignant of thematic follow-through is awesome adjacent for a detail-oriented genius similar Taylor. Other story-song albums released implicit the past twelvemonth oregon truthful see 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 effect to Layla. Smashing Pumpkins’ ATUM: A Rock Opera successful Three Acts begins a three-part rollout adjacent month.

In grant of Midnights and its conception siblings, we contiguous the 50 Greatest Concept Albums of All Time. These are the mindblowers that specify euphony astatine its astir ambitious. They representation retired epic narratives (from raging coming-of-age dramas to dystopian sci-fi fantasies); they strive to embody immense humanities and governmental moments; they’re “cinematic,” “operatic,” “novelistic.” Our database touches connected everything from classical stone to R&B to punk to hep hop. Some of those longform listens person been rattling bongs since backmost erstwhile your hippie uncle bought them connected 8-track; immoderate are much caller popular masterpieces that sneak heavy meanings wrong slick packages. Many are long, respective are precise very long. One is by Styx.

To marque it precocious connected the database an medium had to beryllium some conceptually choky and musically awesome, which is wherefore a fewer classical albums with comparatively escaped thematic conceits didn’t extremity up higher. Sit back, property “play” and envelope yourself successful a full clump of euphony you’ve truly got to wage attraction to.