Is Pink Floyd's The Wall the greatest concept album of all time?

sweepy

Its not even the best Floyd album, but it did hit a nerve in 79

fields5069

I don't think my primary school teachers liked us very much when we wouldn't stop singing it at the school disco.

gusman2x

I think it is the best concept album. Followed closely by Deltron 3030, which I doubt would get much love round here.

StageStruck

No, It's probably not even the greatest Pink Floyd album


(in my opinion!)

prowla

It may or may not be, but I don't much like it.

Grangousier

Philly_Q said:

fields5069 said:

The Wiki list misses out Promenade by The Divine Comedy, which is my favourite, and I believe Neil Hannon's last album before he disappeared up his own arse.

I saw him on Mastermind the other day, I'd almost forgotten he existed.  He doesn't look any different.

And he wrote a song called Mastermind, too. Most quiz shows like that have titles that could easily be Divine Comedy songs: Only Connect, University Challenge, Pointless... you can almost hear the orchestral rum-ti-tums.

viz

I’m slightly ‘astonished’ to find out how much I’m enjoying Dream Theater’s The Astonishing. Four vinyl records of a totally overblown extravaganza of rock music with all the dyanamics changes, wierd timings, flashy guitar and keys solos and expressive singing that you expect from DT, but it’s growing on me day by day. They have a knack of writing songs with tunes that infect and stick with you. It’s actually an amazing feat, this box set. 

Blueingreen

I'd have preferred to see the question phrased: Is Pink Floyd's The Wall

a/ the greatest concept album of all time; or

b/ turgid shite like every other Pink Floyd album?

I know which option I'd have ticked.

Philtre

Blueingreen said:

I'd have preferred to see the question phrased: Is Pink Floyd's The Wall

a/ the greatest concept album of all time; or

b/ turgid shite like every other Pink Floyd album?

I know which option I'd have ticked.

or

c/ complete and utter turgid shite but Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Dark Side of the Moon are OK

BTW Roger Waters - we don't fucking care about your father, your mother, your childhood, your whatever. There are more important things going on in the world.

prowla

I like Wish You Were Here best and can listen to Dark Side Of The Moon.

sofasteve

The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society?

adampeter

Well done to all those who gave the correct answer, which of course it,,,,,,,,,



Yes 

andy_k

It is a great ride, the film is a nice tie in.
I'd also put 'Antichrist Superstar' up as a great 'concept album', and also point out it is the first in a trilogy.
Obviously massively influenced by 'The Wall', jst dragged out over 3 albums.

Whitecat

sofasteve said:

The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society?

Ooooh great shout. That one has aged very well.

Cirrus

I think there are some great concepts and moment in there, but it's got some failings imo - it jumps around a bit in time and theme, and honestly I think the narrative's muddled - you need the show and the movie to properly make sense of it. It's not helped by the tracks that don't really feel like part of the narrative at all - "Young Lust" I could do without. It feels like there's one too many ideas competing for inclusion - bittersweet nostalgia for the era that killed his dad, an autobiographical troubled rock star thread, using fascism as a; a metaphor for the megalomania of stardom and b; as a straight ahead rant against fascism, elements of Syd's mental breakdown, metaphysical retreat from the world, mock-operatic grandeur for the live show, complaining about 1950s teachers... did I miss anything?

Musically, the recurring motifs aren't necessarily strong enough to sustain a double album's worth of material either (it feels like half the tracks use a rising minor scale played through a fuzz as the key emotional part).

I think it could have been one great album with 30 mins less material, even better if the producer had forced Roger to be more focussed, and even better still if he hadn't been dragging along two bandmates that had passing to no interest in what he was doing. I wonder if there's an alternative world where Another Brick pts 1,2 & 3, Happiest Days of our Lives & Run like Hell were made into 2 or 3 tracks on a better iteration of "The Wall".

Artistically, it's younger brother The Final Cut is way more accomplished, but suffers from having had to share most of that period's moments of inspiration with its older brother The Wall.

That's my mini review haha!

axisus

@Cirrus I can respect your opinion, but to me personally it would be an act of vandalism to consider removing as much as one moment of the album. Perfection for me. We all like different stuff I guess!

Hurling_Fruitmig

ICBM said:

...Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love...

I was going to suggest that (although I do love The Wall). The 'concept' part The Ninth Wave is one of my favourites.

Danny1969

axisus said:

@Cirrus I can respect your opinion, but to me personally it would be an act of vandalism to consider removing as much as one moment of the album. Perfection for me. We all like different stuff I guess!

Yep agree totally. For me there's no filler on it and each song is there for a reason. Young Lust is there to show a willingness but an inability to interact with his peer group due to the  wall being built around him. 

For me it's one piece of work whether a lot of concept albums are really a collection of works with a common theme. 

ICBM

Danny1969 said:

For me it's one piece of work whether a lot of concept albums are really a collection of works with a common theme. 

Agreed. It's a complete narrative from start to finish.

That's quite rare even among concept albums, although The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is another good example.

Gassage

As a concept, Animals has a lot more modern relevence.

It's also Gilmour's finest hour playing wise.