The Playlist Episode 23
23 January 2012
8 Concept Albums (good)
Did the concept album ever go away? Thought of by many of my generation as a ‘bad thing’ laden with the baggage of pre-punk pomposity, that view itself is a kind of inverse musical snobbery. There are good concepts and bad (that’s another list). Can’t make up my mind about The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, so it loses out to Listen Now.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
David Bowie
I have never been convinced of any coherence around the story, the ordering of the songs nor especially the plot which beyond the bleedin’ obvious is the usual trite, self-indulgent, ‘poor little rock star’ twaddle, but even so it is a cracking collection of songs and fair comment on it’s times. Still the definitive concept album.
Berlin
Lou Reed
It took the best part of 25 years for Berlin to be recognised for what it is: Lou’s finest and one an all time great albums of any kind.
Quadrophenia
The Who
Very long, musically complex (any classical smartarse who thinks otherwise should try the drum parts), and very influential. Townshend’s masterpiece. Play loud.
The Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd
Does this really qualify, or does it just have a strong theme. Probably I think, not least because the song progression really works and it is stronger as an album than the sum of it’s parts. It is also the most accessible bit of Floyd. Sometimes the charts don’t lie. 50 million copies and 741 weeks in the charts speak for themselves.
The Tain
Horslips
Tales of very old Ireland by a damn fine bunch of folk rockers who were a much better band that U bloody 2.
Listen Now!
801
It listens like a concept album, feels like a concept album and was quite of it’s time. Not sure if it is a concept album or not, but maybe that’s a good thing. It was cool at the time.
A Grand Don’t Come for Free
The Streets
Proof positive that concept albums don’t belong to Prog Rock. Intelligent, poetic and of it’s time. Good, solid pop music themes: being young, chasing the girl, getting out of it, getting dumped, going on holiday, getting drunk, being poor, bad luck good luck, glass half empty, glass half full – you decide.
Lulu
Lou Reed and Metalica
Perhaps it’s more of a soundtrack looking for a show, but that’s what a good concept album is.
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6 January 2013
I was in the kitchen, Sunday morning, Josh had left to catch the 8.50 to Paddington and on to Kings Cross for a connection to Newcastle to see his girlfriend in some little place in Northumberland. There are no direct trains or Birmingham connections on a Sunday. Josh seemed pretty serious about her, but who knows – college girlfriends don’t usually outlast college and the ones that do? People change at University, but they change more with work. We don’t change. We stay big students, never quite growing out of the idea that what we do is the most important thing – even when it is palpably trivial or marginal. We remain passionate about tiny details, obscure theorems and abstract constructs. We work with ideas and hypotheses we seek to prove or to disprove. Whether in science, arts or humanities we seek the truth and the new frontier. Are we pompous and self-important, you bet your sweet bippy!
That’s why I was up and about. Sunday is about lying in bed and reading. Reading for fun, not for work and not generally before ten. The night before I had watched football with Josh and talked for a while about his plans for the summer once he had his finals out of the way. He had said he was hoping to find a postgraduate place because he wasn’t optimistic about the prospects of work. I told him that wasn’t a good enough reason but we agreed long since not to argue about Universities as I was in no position to be objective. Sue had joined us after the football and we drank some wine. We’re proud of him. He’s a good kid.
I had offered to drive Josh, but he wanted to walk. Sue was sleeping. She likes to sleep long on Sunday too. I had tried not to wake her. I had got up to make Josh his breakfast. My Dad did that for Mum at Weekends when he didn’t have a shift. I cooked breakfast for the family and I always thought of Dad frying bacon and eggs for Pete and I. Too fond of his frying pan, Dad.
I caught sight of a shape at the front door. I quickly went to the door. It must be post – the letterbox was noisy I didn’t want it to wake Sue. But there were two shapes at the door. I opened it,
“My wife’s asleep, oh.”
“Sorry sir.”
“I wanted to catch you before you pressed the bell, um, officer. What, um, can I do for you?”
I don’t know how you know, but somehow you do. Is it the faces? Is it their tone of voice? But you just know.
“What is it?”
There was a man and a woman. A sergeant and a very young female constable.
“Are you Professor Madison?”
“Yes”
“Professor Martin Madison?”
“That’s right? What’s happened.”
“Would it be alright if we came inside Professor Madison?”
“Oh no. please, yes come in.”
The made a point of wiping their feet. They don’t do that on TV.
“May we sit down Professor.”
“Through here.”
We sat in the lounge. I was quiet now. It was Jules. Juliet.
“What’s happened to Juliet?”
“Em. Professor Madison. Can I ask you if you are related to a Peter Madison …”
To be continued …