Favourite Concept Album..?

[harv]

Concept albums, I love them.

What's your favourite one..? For me it would have to be The Mad Hatter (1978) by Chick Corea, closely followed by The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974) by Genesis.

Most of the best concept albums came out in the 70s, guess that may have something to do with the copious amounts of drugs flying about...although that wouldn't explain why the 60s didn't produce as many of comparable quality.

[chelseachelsea]

i by Patrick Moraz closely followed by The Lamb

[harv]

Will check out Moraz, never heard of him.

Alan Parson's Project's Tales of Mystery And Imagination is also a corker.

I'm really surprised that there aren't more quality concept albums from the 60s given the ridiculous amounts of LSD floating about lol, the only one that stands out is Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Maybe it's just selective memory on my part because I tend to prefer 70s stuff.

[chelseachelsea]

Moraz actually played with Yes for a few years/tours. I think he also had a close collaberation with Chris Squires the Yes Bassist.

The album isn't actually called i, it's the story of i, but not the letter i, i is a building....you really have to listeen to yhe album to understand. 

[harv]

Will definitely check it out.

Tommy and Quadraphenia would have to be up there with the best too, and Ziggy Stardust too. But that's still only two from the 60s including Sgt Pepper. Really weird how that works out, perhaps LSD flashbacks in the 70s from drugs taken in the 60s is to blame.

[chelseachelsea]

As it's a concept album, you really need to read the album notes...

[harv]

Yup, always essential...although with The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway you're still none the wiser after doing that lol

Roger Waters has done some great concept albums, Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking, Radio Kaos and Amused To Death are all excellent. And not forgetting The Wall and The Final Cut too, although the latter is more of a themed album than a concept album.

Was trying to play Mother on my SG yesterday but forgot how to play it lol. It's been about 12 years since I picked a guitar up and my fingers are a bit bloody sore now.

Really happy with that kit, although I'm gradually going to replace everything. Going to get black machine heads, a black bridge, black tailpiece and completely replace the electrics including the pickups. Still, as it is it's bloody great for £68

[Dragontao]

Now I've been thinking about this ...

... but to pick a favourite, very difficult to pick just one ...

... damn you Harv.

[nyjyrk]

The Floyd fan in me wants to say "The Wall", but it is so overplayed that I find myself skipping tracks as I listen to it.

A forgotten gem in the metal community is Queensryche's "Operation:Mindcrime". Loved it when it first came out,and saw them perform it in its entirety live.

[harv]

Queensryche weren't too bad, been about 25 years since I heard them though. Might have to check them out again.

Was playing around with my RP255 earlier, got a nice sci-fi type sound out of it. Bit of everything - distortion, chorus, reverb, flange and phaser goodness. Sounds very cool.

There are various patches that people have uploaded to the Digitech web site including a Sitar and church organ type effects, going to have to check them out. Can't believe the vast amount of sounds you can get out of the thing, the world is your lobster

60 pre-set sounds that you can't write over, 60 user-defined sounds (which out of the box mirror the pre-set ones) to edit and/or delete, a 20 second looper, a drum machine, a metronome, 24 Amp types, 15 Cab types, 30 Tones in the Tone Library and 30 Effects in the Effects Library.

And Cubase LE4 with it too

The only downside is that it isn't really suited for gigs because switching from one pre-set to another gives a slight delay in the sound but it's ideal for practicing and recording. Wish I'd spent the extra 40 quid and got the RP355 now though, but might do that at a later date and have them both working together.

Definitely worth buying as long as you're not expecting to gig with it though.

Edit: Have just downloaded all of the available presets and the church organ one is awesome lol. Bit weird having your guitar sound like a church organ though!!! The supposed Sitar one is a bit pants though but the guy that posted it on the forums admitted as much. Sounds good but doesn't sound much like a Sitar!

[styles]

The best of U2

Great concept