I just played American Idiot and The Wall from start to finish. For me, both are absolute masterpieces. I wouldn’t be able to say which is better than the other.
What’s the best concept album for you?
I just played American Idiot and The Wall from start to finish. For me, both are absolute masterpieces. I wouldn’t be able to say which is better than the other.
What’s the best concept album for you?
Foreign Skies by The Dreadnoughts
It’s a concept album by a folk-punk/cider-punk band about WWI, released for the centennial. True to the punk roots, most of the songs deal with the dark, ugly, and gritty sides of war.
There’s “Anna Maria”, a metal love/revenge ballad about a sailor losing his beloved brigantine to a U-boat.
“Gavrilo” about the horrific consequences of the murder of Archduke Ferdinand.
“Black Letters”, a rather haunting song inspired by the last correspondence that a young Canadian soldier wrote to his wife.
“Back Home in Bristol” tells the story of a young man, afflicted by PTSD, facing court-martial for failing to obey orders due to his condition.
“A Broken World” is a reading of English poet Amy Lowell’s “September, 1918”, which is both heart-wrenching and blossoming with hope.
It’s not all bleak though. There’s also an original instrumental piece called “The Amiens Polka”. And am original shanty called “The Bay of Suvla”, which I feel is an upbeat prequel to The Pogues’ “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”.
To top it off, they saved songs that didn’t make the cut and released a B sides album as well.
In my opinion, this album does such a great job of striking the emotions that it makes “The Wall” and any of the other “greats” seem vapid and mediocre.
Mmm. Just had a listen. I thought it was ok but not a challenger to the “greats”. Certainly not musically.
But that’s ok, different people like different things.
<3 That’s very fair.
I personally find most of the “greats” to be significantly overrated. They were incredible for their time as a departure from what preceded them but, over-produced and lacking in genuine-ness. They may have had higher levels of instrumental virtuosity but lack relatability, depth, and exploration of the human condition.
To be fair, there’s a lot of people who don’t want any of that. Many people want escapism, heavy bass with questionable lyrics, or something weird and fun to trip balls to at a laser show. That’s fine. I don’t care for out of touch celebrity musicians; I want something “real” that evokes emotions across the spectrum and unafraid to dwelling in unpleasant places when the subject matter calls for it.