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What’s the best concept album? (feddit.uk)

submitted 3 days ago by JohnSmith@feddit.uk to c/ukmusic@feddit.uk

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I just played American Idiot and The Wall from start to finish. For me, both are absolute masterpieces. I wouldn’t be able to say which is better than the other.

What’s the best concept album for you?

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[–] nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Foreign Skies by The Dreadnoughts

It's a concept album by a folk-punk/cider-punk band about WWI, released for the centennial. True to the punk roots, most of the songs deal with the dark, ugly, and gritty sides of war.

There's "Anna Maria", a metal love/revenge ballad about a sailor losing his beloved brigantine to a U-boat.

"Gavrilo" about the horrific consequences of the murder of Archduke Ferdinand.

"Black Letters", a rather haunting song inspired by the last correspondence that a young Canadian soldier wrote to his wife.

"Back Home in Bristol" tells the story of a young man, afflicted by PTSD, facing court-martial for failing to obey orders due to his condition.

"A Broken World" is a reading of English poet Amy Lowell's "September, 1918", which is both heart-wrenching and blossoming with hope.

It's not all bleak though. There's also an original instrumental piece called "The Amiens Polka". And am original shanty called "The Bay of Suvla", which I feel is an upbeat prequel to The Pogues' "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda".

To top it off, they saved songs that didn't make the cut and released a B sides album as well.

In my opinion, this album does such a great job of striking the emotions that it makes "The Wall" and any of the other "greats" seem vapid and mediocre.

[–] Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Foreign Skies by The Dreadnoughts

Mmm. Just had a listen. I thought it was ok but not a challenger to the "greats". Certainly not musically.

But that's ok, different people like different things.

[–] nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 days ago

But that's ok, different people like different things.

<3 That's very fair.

I personally find most of the "greats" to be significantly overrated. They were incredible for their time as a departure from what preceded them but, over-produced and lacking in genuine-ness. They may have had higher levels of instrumental virtuosity but lack relatability, depth, and exploration of the human condition.

To be fair, there's a lot of people who don't want any of that. Many people want escapism, heavy bass with questionable lyrics, or something weird and fun to trip balls to at a laser show. That's fine. I don't care for out of touch celebrity musicians; I want something "real" that evokes emotions across the spectrum and unafraid to dwelling in unpleasant places when the subject matter calls for it.