Hey Scot! First and foremost I want to thank you for having THE BEST channel on y/t! Well deserving of my 1000th comment! In your opening you spoke of Rick Wakeman and I immediately thought Journey needs to be on this list. Glad it made the top 10, barely! For once I agree with your placement of YES or their solo companions. Your number one I also agree on. Did I just pick Genesis over YES? Must be the no sleep for the past miserable week! Will definitely watch this vid again because it was that good!! Would like to give a few of my honorable mentions. Even though Rick's Journey was number 10, obviously 6 wives could of been there. The music are the words! King Arthur and The Red Planet also came to mind. Crime of the Century is a masterpiece and a debatable concept album. The Grand Illusion also has to get a nod. Scot your list was awesome and I'm sure you know it could of easily have been a top 50 or top 100. Obviously a much longer video would have been necessary! But 25 always seems to be the magic number. Once again thank you Scot for the awesomeness that is you! Don't ever change! The Prog Corner makes my day everyday! Here's to the next 1000 comments and beyond!!!!!!!!!Love and Light brother.❤🌅😎
The Red Planet is so amazing. Definitely could have been there. And I honestly forgot The Grand Illusion was a concept album. I was considering Kilroy Was Here but it was obviously 86ed…
My girlfriend and a few of my friends acted and sang the first side of Lamb like an opera with costumes and everything for my 40th birthday. I was totally blown away. I wasn’t expecting it.
@@TheProgCornerOk Scot, It doesn't make any sense to have the finest music ever written or recorded in all music history not number 1 on any list it qualifies for. Tales MUST be no lower than number 1 on any list it qualifies for. That said, I declare that Tales is NOT a concept album. If you claim that its concept is the four shastras of Hindu scriptures, there is not a single line in the hundred lines of lyrics that are from any type of Hindu scriptures. So, that cannot be the concept of Tales. The four tracks on Tales are fashioned after the four shastras of Hindu scriptures, not about anything Hindu at all. As a matter of fact, one can make a case for Tales having a number of themes that are Christian. But again, not including any Christian scriptures either. It is now necessary to give you the title of the greatest concept album in all music history. It is the ONLY YES ALBUM that is a real and true concept album. Borrowing a theme from their previous album, Yes chose to create a concept album titled Relayer because the entire album is about various qualities and outright adoration of The Relayer. Regardless of if you associate the person they call Relayer to any particular individual in history, or if a fictional character, The Relayer is a victor in a battle that defeats "the demons wings" and silences "the devils sermon". The second half of this most brilliant concept album deals with the reason for desiring to "know and see the look" in His eyes. Even while we find ourselves being "lost in trance of dances" The Relayer is always there to change that rhythm "as is my want." We reach out for Him only "to look in" His eyes. This crown jewel of all concept albums concludes with a gentle plea to the listener to accept a personal journey with The Relayer "in every light", which will open true pathways throughout your life. The coda of this last track has some words not on the lyric sheet that are difficult to hear what they are saying. I can just barely make out "Son of man ...." and ending with the word "Sanctus" pronounced sank too, latin for Holy or sacred. Again, it is very difficult to hear exactly what they are singing there. But it ends this most important concept of all concepts extremely appropriately, and is surely worthy of the subject matter, The Relayer (between us and a higher entity of some sort). Scot, I hereby declare that Relayer is the finest concept album ever written or recorded in all music history, Tales From Topographic Oceans is NOT A CONCEPT ALBUM even though it's the finest music ever written or recorded in all music history. And the two albums are intimately linked "as the links span our endless caresses for the freedom of life everlasting." Just a few things to ponder, Scot. Have a great week.
great list, some obvious choices, and some other unexpected ones. My favorites: Marillion - Brave Kevin Gilbert - The Shaming of the True Apes & Androids - Blood Moon Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element I Angra - Holy Land
Love seeing Olias getting some love - what an incredible album, and probably more than any other really shows what an incredible talent Jon Anderson truly is. He didn't have his Yes bandmates for this, and he had to play a lot (or all?) of the instruments himself, and he's definitely not the guitarist that Howe is, the keyboardist that Wakeman and Moraz are, or the bassist that Squire was. And yet this album was absolutely brilliant, as musically beautiful as the best Yes albums, and it was all Jon.
The band has stated numerous times it isn't a concept album, but it sure sounds like one(which makes it cooler, IMHO): Supertramp's " Crime Of The Century "
Great list.... agree with your #1. An overlooked gem is IQ's Subterranea. Oh, and had the Gong trilogy been released as a triple album, it'd surely would have been in the top 2 :)
My top 10 (including stuff out of prog): 1. Genesis- The lamb lies down on Broadway 2. Dream theater- Scenes from a memory 3. Devin Townsend- Deconstruction 4. Gorillaz- Plastic beach 5. Kendrick Lamar- To pimp a butterfly 6. Kanye West- My beautiful dark twisted fantasy 7. The Who- Quadrophenia 8. Ayreon- The human equation 9. Between the buried and me (basically every album since Colors but my favorite is Parallax II) 10. Pink Floyd- The Wall
Totally agree with your first place. Few suggestions from me... XII Alfonso - Charles Darwin Aisles - Hawaii Sylvan - Posthumous Silence Gandalf's Fist - The Clockwork Fable
Love this Scot! Thank you so much. Lamb... is one of my favourite albums. I also have the bootleg- Swelled and Spent, on vinyl from the tour. Strange coincidence, in that I was listening to Olias...on Sunday afternoon. For me, the whole album has to be a concept, not just one side, or one long track.
Many might not know, that Neil Peart with Kevin Anderson, (Of DUNE Prequil series), wrote 3 books of Clockwork Angels. I have not read them, and if I was not so addicted to RU-vid, I would have the time to actually Read more! Hehe.. YES TFTO is very good, if not a wee bit long winded. However the overall Production is magnificent IMHO. PF The Wall was always overrated to me in a way. Sur it has its GREAT Parts, and IS the Ultimate Concept Album off all time I think. This is another album with EXELLENT overall production! A georgous package, even in its early days, just like TFTO. About Genesis TLLDOB... 😞 I could Never get into this album.. I might try again though.. "sigh" 😞 Great channel man! Keep up the Awesome work that you do. 🙂
Always love a good concept album! Some more that I have to mention... Mercy Falls and Tiara, both by Seventh Wonder (the former is probably the stronger album overall but I love both, but man the ending of Mercy Falls shatters me every time), V - The New Mythology Suite and Paradise Lost, both by Symphony X, The Visitor, The Unquiet Sky, and The Theory of Molecular Inheritance, all by Arena, Falling Satellites by Frost*... A few artists mentioned with other albums to name, The Mars Volta (not just Frances, but also The Bedlam in Goliath and even their new self-titled release), Pink Floyd (Dark Side, WYWH, Animals), Ayreon (basically all of them but I'll spotlight 01011001)... And a few that sure feel like concept albums but I have no idea what the story would be, Isolate by Circus Maximus and The Road of Bones by IQ.
Great albums picked . The only difference is I would pick tales of topographic oceans number 1. But then I'm biased on Yes 😅. Thank you for everything you do for us 👍
Like your enthusiasm for music .Your knowledge is very eclectic and thanks for putting me on to some great albums. Listening to the Human Equation now and that will take a lot of listening to take it all in. Liked and subscribed.
Is Gentle Giant's Octopus a concept album? I think Styx probably had at least one but maybe they were more of a semi prog band overall. Not sure what else. You mentioned that you didn't include Spock's Beard's snow but that's maybe one of the better modern prog concept albums (imo anyway). Great job with this though. I enjoyed watching it.
When I first bought The Lamb back in 1992 or so, I actually spent more time reading and analyzing the story in the liner notes than I did listening to the music. (And this was the original Atco CD release, which required a magnifying glass in order to read the story.) Of course, I eventually listened to and loved the album as well, but man, that story completely captivated me for months.
I would give you Tales at number 2, Olias at 3, The Lamb at 4 and The Wall at 5. If that was the case, the number one concept album for me would be RELAYER because it is the concept that involves the meaning of all three songs on the album. Relayer is a direct concept, whereas Tales is only based on a concept unrelated to Hindu scriptures but structured around the shastras noted in the liner notes about Tales. In fact, Christian notions are much more prevalent in Tales than anything from Hindu texts, if any of them are there at all. I would detail for you why The Relayer is the primary concept in each song, but you are bright enough to know that if you take what Anderson says in a different way that it's confusing. But as Jon sees a new day in himself, he shows it to you on Relayer and Tales, and you may follow. It appears that you do follow, even though you frequently say that you don't know why. I love that about you. It's not blind faith like religious folks. It's something in your spirit that senses the power from The Relayer.
Yea! For the Lamb landing at #1 I love the crazy lyrics, and I even sing along...which isn't easy at times. The prog big 6 are supposed to be Yes, Genesis, ELP,, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, and Pink Floyd. I am a weirdo though and only love the big 3. For me it's Yes, Genesis, and ELP. The other three I just don't care for. Then there are qualifiers even for my big 3. As for your ranking, I'm glad you had Subterranea, but my list would have it much higher. I love The Human Equation. It is by far my favorite Ayreon release. It's great you included The Similitude of a Dream...I love Neal Morse. Hand Cannot Erase is also my favorite Steven Wilson release. I hate that Olias disc from Jon Andeson. What a snoozefest! If I have said anything here from your other video's, sorry for the redundancy.
Cool! I would include The Depths of Winter by Tiger Moth Tales. I'm glad you included Subterranea and BTW you were right about Road of Bones! Awesome album! Who knew the 80's could produce a great band? And if I have to pick a hill to die on...Tommy is Prog and Tommy rules!!!
Oh you definately picked the correct number 1 for sure...I REALLY love a concept album I like plenty of non prog/proggish concept albums too, Ziggy, Mindcrime 7th Son, I think 2112 might be in top section? I mean Pink Floyd could have had the top 4 in an alternate dimension couldnt they?..Dark Side, Wish you were here, Animals and The Wall..But I like to go a little left field here what about the greatest Concept Album ever as Argus, Wishbone Ash, they really hit Bullseye with this LP dead centre and why is it the best? Because you get TWO concept albums in one LP Side one is all about Lost love and rebuilding your life and Side 2 Oh dont start me on side 2... The call to battle, the reflection of what your life was and what it will soon become..The actual Battle itself and the aftermath, to hear the Double lead solos live back in the day of Throw down the Sword was to just peek through a musical crack and into heaven itself for 10 minutes
As always, i agree with you, Scott. The Lamb is the best of all and glad you included the superb Spartacus in the list. Only missed Camel's The Snow Goose. Greetings from Spain, amigo.
Great concept Scott! The definition of a concept album is always nebulous. I had an argument in the comments once about whether or not Spock's Beard's first album, The Light, was a concept album. I argued that the four songs shared many common themes. Since this was the first SB album I listened to, I really didn't know Neal Morse's "code" for writing lyrics (ie, water, red sky, home, ego, darkness, light....). But if you listen to The Light, He lays out the groundwork for his subsequent albums almost like a template. Is it prog by numbers? Maybe. Or is it a giant mind f@ck puzzle that never gets solved. Just like Peter Gabriel's liner notes on The Lamb or John Anderson's beautifully poetic gibberish.
Great video. I'd recommend Treasure Island by Colossus Projects, Jeff Wayne's Spartacus, Ayreon's space operas starting with The Source and Merlin: Bard of the Unseen by Kayak. Most recently, check out “The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up” by Marco Bernard from the Samurai of Prog. Great concept album about Peter Pan that's new this year. I just love big epic concept albums and can never have enough.
I love The Samurai Of Prog!!! Gulliver and Robinson Crusoe were awesome. Can’t wait to hear this one. And…they have ANOTHER album due out this year (with all three of them) called The Man In The Iron Mask. Fun!!!
@@TheProgCorner Oh man I forgot a super important one! "Ghosts & Spirits" by Phil Woodward from 2007! This one is a little more Radiohead than 70s prog but it's definitely a concept album where each track is about a character or event from "The Great Divorce" by C. S. Lewis. This one may be my favorite of all time.
Huzzah for Aphrodite’s Child making the list! You know I’m flipping Olias and Lamb. Even though Every Good Boy Deserves Favor is my favorite Moody Blues, for concept I’m going In Search of The Lost Chord. I love the concept of a day/lifetime/reincarnation of Days of Future Passed, but I personally vibe with Search more both story wise and musical segue wise. I know the concept for Dark Side of The Moon is much looser than The Wall, but I enjoy both the music and general madness concept of DSoTM more than The Wall. “And everything under the Sun is in tune… BUT!”
If you like The Human Equation, you should give a listen to Mercy Falls by Seventh Wonder. The concept is very similar, good prog-metal in the style of Dream Theater.
@@TheProgCorner, Me too! I was in the bargain basement of my favourite record shop, looking for deals. I was still at school (I am almost 60 now), and so at the time I was well into fantasy literature, Roger Dean, Rodney Matthews, etc.....and of course, PROG, (although that name didn't exist at the time). I saw the artwork and loved it, although I could not read the words at first. When I did, and saw the title, and that it was by Jon Anderson (my favourite YES member) and I didn't even know about it, I bought it straight away. And totally LOVED it. I still listen to it at times today. 😊😊
Several concept albums to add with no order : "The Visitor" & "Contagion" by Arena ; "Mouse" by Aragon ; "Nude", "The Snow Goose", "Stationary Traveller", "Dust & Dreams", "Harbour Of Tears" by Camel ; "The Electric Castle" by Ayreon, "Brave" by Marillion, "Casino" by Casino (feat Geoff Mann !) ; "The Key" part I & II by Strangers On A Train ; "Revolutions" & "Seven" by Magenta ; "Leonardo The Absolute Man" by a bunch of the best proggers at the time ; "The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking" by Roger Waters ; "Operation Mindcrime" by Queensrÿche ; "The Incident" by Porcupine Tree ; "Snow" by Spock's Beard ; "The Services Of Mary Goode" by Janison Edge ; "The Inconsolable Secret" by Glass Hammer ; "She" by Caamora ; "Jabberwocky" & "The Hound of the Baskervilles" by C Nolan /O Wakeman...... Thanks for sharing your passion Scot !
Completely outside of the prog realm, but I have to recommend a great concept album by a venerable band: Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) by The Kinks (1969). Not as cool or spiritual as “Tommy”, but equally melodic, inspiring and touching. Check it out!
@@TheProgCorner Although not prog, The Kinks Schoolboys In Disgrace is an awesome concept album. My favorite Kinks album in which I cry at the beginning. Know every word by heart.🎓📚✏️
I have several blanks on my collection from this list, I’ll see to cover some of them. It’s not World famous but I miss Phideaux’s ‘Doomsday Afternoon’, it’s on my top list. And let me add, for your knowledge, a wonderful album from Catalonia, my land: ‘Ciutòpolis’, from Roger Benet, nice and verd funny!
Enjoyed the show. I'd add Glass Hammer in somewhere. Most of their albums are conceptual from Journey of the Dunadan to the Skallagrim trilogy. Lex Rex is their best, but Valkyrie may be their most ambitious and is growing on me.
Talking about epic prog albums and there's a Big Boys lp behind you... Yeah man, that rules! Of course THE LAMB has to be #1. So pumped to see the Musical Box do that in Cincinnati soon, seeing them do that never gets old.
@@TheProgCorner they nail whatever it is every time. I always catch them when they come within a couple hundred miles of me. Playing Cincinnati pretty regularly now which is nice.
One album that comes to mind with a Theme.. IF this counts by a kinda Prog band from Canada.. "Triumph" Thunder Seven! A Very underappreciated thing I think. My very first Triumph album actually.. Ever since I aquired it at about 11 years old, It has Haunted me in it's Theme, for alot of the songs, which is "TIME" = It Goes By and We get Older and we lose Loved ones, throughout Time. It is a Dark and kinda cold and rocking album that should be listened to again. Unfortunately, this is where MCA wanted TRIUMPH to maybe try to make a HIT, and they did "Spellbound", which is ok, but kind of lame and the video is God Aweful! The next 2 studio albums only had about maybe 3 good songs each and then Rik Emmet called it quits to pursue a solo career and I do not blame him one bit! Such a Great guitarist / singer being hammered down from Corporate MCA. I wish that they could form again and do at least one more GOOD strong studio album, on their own again, could be such a great thing! CORPORATIONS Suck! Also I msdo not think that the 3 really get along much, is my instincts of feel.
@@TheProgCorner Yeah, I don't think Kilroy makes the cut either. Clearly a popular list. My collection is only missing a couple from the entire list. ;)
@@TheProgCorner Lamb was the first concept album I ever listened to, and so that is my standard I use to determine a concept album. Only Mindcrime, Olias and Thick as a Brick have come close to living up. I don't consider it a concept album unless the story is OBVIOUS, so for that reason I don't call The Wall, or Topographic as concept albums. Like for example it's easy to take something like Comfortably Numb out of the context of the story but try taking 'The Lamia' or even the Lamb title track out of context....you'll still get trippy thoughts of Rael. Olias over Fish is quite a rare take as well, that made me go WHAAAAAT?! And ofc how can I forget the Moorglade on the cover of fragile ;) The most unexpected pick on here was.....the hello kitty fizzy drink ;P
While I'm at it, thoughts on Muse? PROG? Especially the middle of their album career. Not so much the latest issues. And thoughts on Polyphia? I'm not quite sure where to post these inquiries. I don't see them discussed much.
