Concept albums are so much fun to work through, especially if you’re a fan of both music and storytelling. That being said, some such records focus on concepts that have been done to death. And some concept albums are truly, very much unique. Let’s look at a few examples of the latter, shall we?
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1. ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ by Grace Jones
In an era where concept albums were either pure fluff or quite existential, Grace Jones decided to do something totally different and produce a concept album in which she was the concept.
Slave To The Rhythm was released back in 1985 and is one of Trevor Horn’s greatest productions of his career. This record feels like both a love letter to Jones and an autobiographical, dramatic retelling of her life story.
2. ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’ by David Bowie
It’s up for debate whether or not this record is actually a concept album, per se. However, this unique record is often included on lists of the best concept albums of all time, so we’ll roll with it.
On the surface level, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars is a sonically great album with futurist proto-punk and glam rock elements. Under that, though, there’s a grand operatic story being told about an alien rock star hero who makes it big. Sound familiar?
3. ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ by Genesis
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is one of our favorite works from Peter Gabriel. Musically, it is a sublime piece of work with stunning prog melodies and arrangements throughout.
The story this album tells follows a kid named Rael who searches for meaning, though you’d need to listen to it to get the full picture. How many concept albums out there end on a pretty crazy pun? We can only think of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.
4. ‘Tommy’ by The Who
We just couldn’t leave out Tommy by The Who from our list of unique concept albums. This record was far from the band’s debut rock opera, but it does show them at their most refined and dare we say creative. It spawned a movie as well, and we get why.
The storytelling on this record is incredible, complete with themes of isolation, the human need for meaning, imagination, religious fanaticism, and pinball machines.
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