Theme Albums
AsSiMiLaTeD
Posts: 11,728
Lately I've started getting more into theme albums, wondering if I'm the only one.
I'll define a theme album as one that either tells a story or one that has a similar theme among all the songs (be it mood, attitude, topic, etc).
So we're talking about anything from Tommy or Operation Mindcrime that actually tells a story to something like Dark Side of the Moon or Number of the Beast that doesn't really tell a singular story, but still exhibits a common thread throughout the album.
It's probably no surprise that my favorite is Dream Theater's 'Scenes From A Memory'.
So which ones do you guys like?
I'll define a theme album as one that either tells a story or one that has a similar theme among all the songs (be it mood, attitude, topic, etc).
So we're talking about anything from Tommy or Operation Mindcrime that actually tells a story to something like Dark Side of the Moon or Number of the Beast that doesn't really tell a singular story, but still exhibits a common thread throughout the album.
It's probably no surprise that my favorite is Dream Theater's 'Scenes From A Memory'.
So which ones do you guys like?
Post edited by AsSiMiLaTeD on
Comments
-
Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime is my favorite!
Another good one, Iron Maiden's 7th Son of a 7th Son. -
Jethro Tull- " A Passion Play"
Floyd- "The Wall"
Floyd- "Animals""SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE" -
Wasp - Neon God 1 and 2
Wasp - Crimson Idol
King Diamond - Them
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut (has been in rotation in my CD player for more than 8 years) -
One I like that is probably not very well known is "Pink World" by Planet P Project. Released in late 1984 or early 1985.
-
Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory.- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
-
Sting - The Soul Cages
The Wall
Miles Davis - **** Brew (Musical Themes count IMO), Kind Of Blue, Sketches of Spain
Drive By Truckers - Southern Rock Operasystem 1:
Athena: AS-F1 mains, AS-C1 center, AS-B1 surrounds, AS-P400 sub, Yammie RXV-730, Rotel RB-976 driving front stage, Samsung BD3600 Blue Ray, Denon DVD2900 for sacd/cd , jbl n24awII on the deck, samsung 40" 1080p lcd
system 2:
XBox 360 Spherex 5.1 system, HK DVD38, Phillips CDC 926 CD changer, Phillips 32" LCD
2 channel
NAD 1600 pre, NAD 2400 THX amp, Phillips CDC 926, Linn extra speaks, crappy TT -
Roger Waters; Amused to death. Old thread but a good one if you never seen it.
-
YES - Tales From Topographic Oceans. This is absolutely a phenominal album, with the shortest of the 4 tracks being approximately 19min. 30 sec.
Jon Anderson - Toltec
Jon Anderson - Olias Of Sunhillow
Marillion - Misplaced Childhood
Marillion - Brave
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
These are for starters....
Greg
Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
"I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion."
My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....
"Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson
"Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee -
Sisters of Mercy!!Polk Audio SDA 2.3tl Fully Hot Rodded. 😎
SVS SB16 X2
Cary SLP-05/Ultimate Upgrade.
Cary SA-500.1 ES Amps
Cary DMS 800PV Network
OPPO UDP 205/ModWright Modification
VPI Scout TT / Dynavector 20x2
Jolida JD9 Fully Modified
VPI MW-1 Cyclone RCM
MIT Shotgun 3 cables throughout / Except TT, and PC’s -
The Monkeys (does crap count as a theme) :twisted::twisted::evil:
Sorry couldn't help myself. :rolleyes:“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ~ Mark Twain -
How about
Roger Waters The Pro's and Cons of Hitchhiking
Bowie's Ziggy Stardust
Beattles Sgt Peppers
Zappa's Freak Out
Zappa's Joe's Garage Acts I, II, III,
Styx Paradise Theater
Alan Parsons Project Tales of Mystery and ImaginationHome Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable
2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+
Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365
Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin -
Jethro Tull "Thick As A Brick"
The Who "Quadrophenia"If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money. -
One I like that is probably not very well known is "Pink World" by Planet P Project. Released in late 1984 or early 1985.
That is a really good one.
Also:
Rush 2112
Pink Floyd - The Wall -
It's nice to see this thread resurrected.
I've had vinyl since their original release dates, but just bought Yes; Tales From Topographic Oceans and The Who; Quarophenia on CD last week. I've listened to both several times they are so good!VTL ST50 w/mods / RCA6L6GC / TlfnknECC801S
Conrad Johnson PV-5 w/mods
TT Conrad Johnson Sonographe SG3 Oak / Sumiko LMT / Grado Woodbody Platinum / Sumiko PIB2 / The Clamp
Musical Fidelity A1 CDPro/ Bada DD-22 Tube CDP / Conrad Johnson SD-22 CDP
Tuners w/mods Kenwood KT5020 / Fisher KM60
MF x-DAC V8, HAInfo NG27
Herbies Ti-9 / Vibrapods / MIT Shotgun AC1 IEC's / MIT Shotgun 2 IC's / MIT Shotgun 2 Speaker Cables
PS Audio Cryo / PowerPort Premium Outlets / Exact Power EP15A Conditioner
Walnut SDA 2B TL /Oak SDA SRS II TL (Sonicaps/Mills/Cardas/Custom SDA ICs / Dynamat Extreme / Larry's Rings/ FSB-2 Spikes
NAD SS rigs w/mods
GIK panels -
-
Springsteen The RisingMain Rig-Realistic AM/FM Record player 8 track boasting 4 WPC
Backup Rig-2 CH-Rogue Audio Zeus w/Factory Special Dark Mods,Joule-Electra 300ME Platinum Preamp,OPPO-105 w/Modwright Tube Mod, Auralic Aries G2.1,Polk 2.3TL,3.1TL's,Dreadnought,RTA-15TL's,1C's All Fully Modded,2xRTA-12c's ,Benchmark DAC3 HGC,Synology NAS,VPI Scout w/Dynavector DV-20XH and Rogue Audio Ares Phono Preamp,Sony PCM-R500 DAT,HHB-850 Pro CDR,Tascam CC-222SLMKII Cassette/CDR,MIT S3.3 Shotgun Cables,Shunyata Hyra-8,Shunyata and Triode Labs Power Cords
I’M OFFENDED!!!! -
King Diamond-Abigail
King Diamond-Fatal Portrait (either side 1 or side 2 only, haven't listened to either of these in years...Where's my cassette player?!)Jay
SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0 -
Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado.
Love this album."Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then." Bob Seger -
The Antlers - Hospice
-
Oh, themed recordings. You fellows are missing the boat.
I see your 20 or 30 albums here but all you guys are missing out on the real deal.
Broadway Show tunes !
Common theme all the way through and they're fun to sing in the car.
I personally don't own any show tunes but I encourage the other Polkies to buy some. -
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Mastadon - Cracke The Sky
Tool - Most of their albums -
One of my favorites. The Kinks; Soap Opera.
-
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
The Beatles- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars -
"The Point" by Nielson is a fun listen. My kids really liked listening to it.
-
These are some of my fav theme or concept albums, in no particular order....
Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
The Who -Quadrophenia
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery & Tarkus
The Kinks - Face to Face
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot
Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Joni Mitchell -Song to a Seagull
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Roger Waters - Radio K.A.O.S.
Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Oh, forgot an oldie.....
The Dave Brubeck Quartet -Time OutSalk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 * -
Some great albums here. I think most of my favorites are listed, except:
Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Roger Waters - Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking
+1 on ELO - Eldorado -- awesome album.
EDIT: well, gudnoyez beat me to these. They're worth a re-mention.2.1: PC>Schiit Gungnir MB>Schiit Freya Noval>NAD C-270>Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1, HSU STF-2 5.1: HDMI Bitstream>Denon AVR-1910>polkaudio RTE55, CS350-LS, RT3, HSU STF-2, Visio M55-F0 -
How about the P Funk theme albums from Parliament. Mothership Connection, The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein, Funtentelechy v. Placebo Syndrome, Motor Booty Affair, and Gloryhallastoopid(or Pin the Tail on the Funky).
-
I'll add 12 Angry Months by Local H
Beck's Sea Change probably qualifies too (and has excellent sonics!)Jay
SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0