Top 30 Concept Albums of All Time, Part One
Steve Hackett (R) with Genesis comrades, Phil Collins and Tony Banks, at their Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)
Defined by Wikipedia as an album that is “unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical,” the “concept album” dates back to the 1940s with Woody Guthrie‘s Dust Bowl Ballads.
Here are the first ten from our list of the Top 30 Concept Albums of All Time.
#30. Savatage – Wake of Magellan (1997)
Concept: Built around two events: the drowning of stowaways on a Romanian freighter and the death of Irish anti-drug crusader Veronica Guerin.
#29. Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain (1960)
Concept: Jazz based on traditional Spanish folk music.
#28. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
Concept: African-American empowerment.
27. The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come for Free (2004)
Concept: British hip-hop about a protagonist’s relationship with a girl named Simone.
#27. Dr. Octagon – Dr. Octagonecologyst (1996)
Concept: Psychedelia, electronica and rap blended into the weird story of extraterrestrial Dr. Octagon
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