hm i like them if their done well, their are some god awfull ones out their, i know im probably gonna get slated for saying this but Manowars 'gods of war' is one such album, thiers too much talking and all the songs are crap, i want old manowar back! and iron maidens a matter of life and death is just overhyped crap. personally i love 'in the name of god, welcome to planet genocide' by the Meads Of Asphodel and rhapsodys onoging saga i think its called 'legendary tales or something i cant remebr but as total said metal shouldn't really do this, it should be left to prog rockers mainly. although i do like nostradamus by judas priest.

Leviathan by mastiodon is an amazing album, based in the book Moby Dick. They did a great job, and IMO, it's pretty unique to find a concept album of this book in the genre Mastodon plays...

Written by +{Jonas}+ on 01.09.2008 at 23:33

Leviathan by mastiodon is an amazing album, based in the book Moby Dick. They did a great job, and IMO, it's pretty unique to find a concept album of this book in the genre Mastodon plays...

Totally agree with you. Mastodon truly breaks some misconceptions about what a concept album is. I personally love Blood Mountain. Basically, the album is talking about an epic journey up a mountain to obtain the crystal skull so they can place it into their heads to eradicate their reptilian brains and transcend to the next stage of evolution...or something like that lol I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. Great album though.

Operation: Mindcrime is, without a doubt, the best concept album of all-time.

Others I dig are King Diamond's "Them" and then VooDoo - in fact, most KD albums are excellent, though a couple are a little weak (Abigail II? why? of course, then I also have to ask why Operation:Mindcrime II?).

My favorite new concept album is Hail of Bullets ... of Frost and War, though I like it more for the overall comoposition than for the storyline - I would like it just as much if it wasn't a concept album.

My favourite concept album is the crimson idl by w.a.s.p.

I like Crimson by Edge of Sanity.. And also I like Mabool by Orphaned Land is great too.. And I like all of Pain of Salvation concept albums..
But what I like the most is BE by Pain of Salvation.. The concept is great, and the tracks made the story even better.. In fact for a concept album a good storyline is not enough to sound good.. The performance must make it a good concept and in BE it was true..

I Can't believe no one has mentioned this one:
Still Life by Opeth. It was a fantastic concept album. Sure, the main theme was love, but it did explore other topics like religious exile etc. I was really impressed with it. Mastodon's albums are always fantastic. Their new album, Crack the Skye, is also a concept album and I cannot wait to hear it.

For me, the best concept album I have heard so far is Metropolis Part II: Scenes From a Memory by Dream Theater.

Written by CrowKiller on 18.01.2009 at 08:18

I Can't believe no one has mentioned this one:
Still Life by Opeth.

Actually it has been mentioned, several times already, you just might not have read the previous pages.

Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime....Not So Much The Sequel Though

Written by Dane Train on 19.01.2009 at 21:05

Actually it has been mentioned, several times already, you just might not have read the previous pages.

Actually I did read the previous pages. It seems you didn't. Another Opeth album was mentioned, My Arms Your Hearse, and not Still Life. They are completely different albums.

Grave Digger -
''Tunes of War'' - "Tunes of War" is a conceptual album about thousand years of Scottish history,
rebellion and fighting for freedom.

''Knights of the Cross'' - A conceptual album based on the Knights Templar, Crusades and Holy Grail.

''Excalibur'' - The lyrics are based on British Celtic mythology, specifically King Arthur, the
sword Excalibur and the Knights of Round Table.

''Rheingold'' - Based on Richard Wagner's opera, "Der Ring des Nibelungen".

Written by +{Jonas}+ on 01.09.2008 at 23:33

Leviathan by mastiodon is an amazing album, based in the book Moby Dick. They did a great job, and IMO, it's pretty unique to find a concept album of this book in the genre Mastodon plays...

When I think of Moby Dick... I think of the Funeral Doom band Ahab.
The album "The Call Of The Wretched Sea" is one of my favorite albums ever. The slow music truly captures the feeling not only of the ocean but also the sounds of the whale done from a very talented vocalist. Gloomy music at it's best.

Mastodon is also great
Both bands also have really talented drummers. The guy from Ahab is probably my favorite drummer in the doom metal scene. The guy is a fucking beast... Different from the usual drum from most of the funeral doom bands.

The best one for me (aside from those mentioned) is without a doubt Ophthalamia. It's a black metal band with all of it's lyrics based on tales about a fantasy world (called Ophthalamia) thought up by IT (more known as the main guy behind Abruptum, who alos was the main man behind Ophthalamia). They play some really sublime black metal, and are among the best to come out of the Swedish scene of the mid 90s.

also: at Ahab

Rhapsody of Fire's albums

King Diamond's albums

Dream Theater's Scenes from a memory & Six degrees of Inner turbulence

Alice Cooper - Along came a spider

Those I remember right away, but I bet something's missing still

First post

I really love to sit down and listen to concept albums and get into the lyrics, music and all the little details. Apart from the albums already mentioned (specially by Opeth, Ayreon and Pain Of Salvation), I like Nightfall In Middle-Earth by Blind Guardian, Epica by Kamelot, and more progrock'ish things like A Passion Play and Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull and The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Genesis.

Iced Earth - Something Wicked stuff
Iced Earth - Dark Saga (this is brilliant)
King Diamond stuff
Haggard - Eppur Si Muove
Haggard - Awaking The Centuries
Therion - Secret of the Runes (excellent)
Wasp - the crimson idol
Bruce Dickinson (the chemical wedding)
Blind Guardian (nightfall in middle earth)
Symphony X stuff

Written by ForeverDarkWoods on 03.02.2009 at 20:41
The best one for me (aside from those mentioned) is without a doubt Ophthalamia. It's a black metal band with all of it's lyrics based on tales about a fantasy world (called Ophthalamia) thought up by IT (more known as the main guy behind Abruptum, who alos was the main man behind Ophthalamia). They play some really sublime black metal, and are among the best to come out of the Swedish scene of the mid 90s.

I've never really evaluated their material as concept albums, but on a purely musical level that was one fine band. Especially Via Dolorosa, I recall being obsessed with that album for some time. Relatively unknown considering how unique it is, that record was downright hypnotic.

Written by [user id=35853] on 05.02.2009 at 08:51


King Diamond's albums

I like King Diamond's "The Puppet Master".. (The story is about a young couple who works in a theater in Budapest, and in the end they end up as "living dead dolls", who the Puppet Master and his wife controls). It's a real cool album!

And ofcourse Opeth.. and so many more of the albums mentioned earlier

I have sinned against nature.

When I wrote that post about good concept albums I totally forgot about Ceremonial Castings and their Salem 1692 album. It's a totally awesome symphonic black metal album based on the Salem witch trials. This alsbum is so good damned awesome you won't believe it. I don't think it contains a bad riff.

My favourite concept album is probably Ragnarok by Týr, the album is just perfect. I always enjoy listening through the whole album.

I think Savatage have a habit of writing concept albums. In fact I think most of their albums stick too a concept. In fact their albums are more like a novel written with music.
Dead Winter Dean - Sarajevo and the incident their post soviet collapse.
Streets A Rock Opera - A stage play written with music
The Wake of Magellan - Magellan's Expedition.

I would definitely recommend a look at eidolon by dark fortress. or at least the lyrics.

Nightfall in Middle Earth is my favorite concept album, and my favorite metal album overall.

Eternal Kingdom from Cult Of Luna is a interesting concept album. While during rehearsing the album, they found old medical journals and stuff like that. The area where they rehearsed was once an old mental institution. They found the diary by a former inmate who had drowned his wife. So in this diary, the inmate had created his own fantasy story to where is stated that Näcken had killed his wife and he was innocent. So the album is based on that diary, and it is a good album too.

Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son and Somewhere In Time instantly come to mind when mentioning concept albums. Edge Of Sanity's Crimson is pretty decent too.

Mastodon - Leviathan and Ayreon - The human Equation... maybe:)

Edge Of Sanity's Crimson is mindblowing. It tells a story about a time in the future when people are no longer able to produce, except for a princess... I dunno, I forgot it.

I like the ones that are stories: Still Life, Operation Mindcrime, Abigail , The Metal Opera, etc.
And does anyone else think there's a loose narrative in Nightwish's Century Child? It seems to be telling a vauge story (at least it does to me).

Written by X-Ray Rod on 03.02.2009 at 19:01

Written by +{Jonas}+ on 01.09.2008 at 23:33

Leviathan by mastiodon is an amazing album, based in the book Moby Dick. They did a great job, and IMO, it's pretty unique to find a concept album of this book in the genre Mastodon plays...

When I think of Moby Dick... I think of the Funeral Doom band Ahab.
The album "The Call Of The Wretched Sea" is one of my favorite albums ever. The slow music truly captures the feeling not only of the ocean but also the sounds of the whale done from a very talented vocalist. Gloomy music at it's best.

Mastodon is also great
Both bands also have really talented drummers. The guy from Ahab is probably my favorite drummer in the doom metal scene. The guy is a fucking beast... Different from the usual drum from most of the funeral doom bands.

I was just about to mention Ahab... Great band. It's actually distorted whale song in slow motion...