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Fifty Years of the Concept Album in Popular Music: From The Beatles to Beyoncé
The concept album is one of popular music's most celebrated-and misunderstood-achievements. This book examines the untold history of the rock concept album, from The Beatles to Beyoncé.
The roots of the concept album are nearly as old as the long-playing record itself, as recording artists began using the format to transcend a mere collection of songs into a listening experience that takes the listener on a journey through its unifying mood, theme, narrative, or underlying idea.
Along the way, artists as varied as the Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Pink Floyd, Parliament, Donna Summer, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, The Notorious B.I.G., Green Day, Janelle Monáe, and Kendrick Lamar created albums that form an extended conversation of art and music. Limits were pushed as the format grew over the subsequent eras.
Seminal albums like the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , the Who's Tommy , Marvin Gaye's What's Going On , stand alongside modern classics like Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville , Kendrick Lamar's good kid , "m.A.A.d city," and Beyoncé's Lemonade . Mixing iconic albums with some newer and lesser-known works makes for a book that ventures into the many sides of a history that has yet to be told-until now.
The roots of the concept album are nearly as old as the long-playing record itself, as recording artists began using the format to transcend a mere collection of songs into a listening experience that takes the listener on a journey through its unifying mood, theme, narrative, or underlying idea.
Along the way, artists as varied as the Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Pink Floyd, Parliament, Donna Summer, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, The Notorious B.I.G., Green Day, Janelle Monáe, and Kendrick Lamar created albums that form an extended conversation of art and music. Limits were pushed as the format grew over the subsequent eras.
Seminal albums like the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , the Who's Tommy , Marvin Gaye's What's Going On , stand alongside modern classics like Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville , Kendrick Lamar's good kid , "m.A.A.d city," and Beyoncé's Lemonade . Mixing iconic albums with some newer and lesser-known works makes for a book that ventures into the many sides of a history that has yet to be told-until now.
- GenresMusic
264 pages, Paperback
Published February 8, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 23, 2024
I thought this book was bad. The writing was cringe and some of the conclusions really just didn’t seem right. It was also littered with typos. However. I got a lot out of it. It provided important context for me to listen to music I was unlikely to have gotten around to otherwise. It also inspired a broader project for me to educate myself on important music I don’t know, (with markos’ help) and that is definitely a good thing. A fulfilling read overall.
May 24, 2024
This was such a fun journey through the history of concept albums! I listened to each of the albums as I read along with their respective chapters and definitely gained a newfound appreciation for all the albums that the book goes through. My only complaint was the amount of typos and grammatical errors that kept showing up - felt like the book definitely could’ve used another round in the editing stage.
June 10, 2024
Wolfson has written a terrific collection of essays about a wide variety of concept albums. The variety of musical genres and the author’s expertise and enthusiasm with the subject matter make this a must-read for serious music fans.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews