[Bigduggieface]

Good idea for a thread, Crimson. I'm glad that you included a definition, but it may still be difficult to quantify what qualifies as a 'concept album' from what does not.

I'm a Frank Zappa fanatic. His artistic philosophy of "conceptual continuity" runs not only within individual albums, but across his whole discography (over 60 albums).

Zappa's "Joe's Garage" is a classic example of one of his many concept albums. Also include FZ's "200 Motels", "Thing Fish" and arguably "You Are What You Is" and "We're Only In It For The Money".

Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick" is a masterpiece of its day (1972).

Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is great, but I may prefer "Animals" slightly more.

George Clinton and Parliament certainly had a clear thread running through most of their albums. The ongoing struggles of Dr. Funkenstein and the Thumpasorus people from the Mothership battling Sir Nose D'VoidofFunk. Great stuff.

Do symphonies and ballets qualify as 'conceptual' in this case? If so, add Berlioz' "Symphonie Fantastique" and Stravinsky's "The Rite Of Spring" to the list, respectively. Many reoccurring and related themes in epic proportion.

I'm drawn to the so-called concept album because they are usually created by credible artists. The musically sub-standard artists are generally incapable of creating an entire album's worth of music with a common thread that runs throughout.