{"id":2219216,"date":"2026-01-01T21:17:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T21:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2219216"},"modified":"2026-01-01T21:17:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T21:17:52","slug":"kopp-explores-the-world-of-concept-albums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/kopp-explores-the-world-of-concept-albums\/","title":{"rendered":"Kopp Explores the World of Concept Albums"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Music has always been a vehicle for telling stories \u2013 of love and heartbreak, of history and fantasy, and much more.\u00a0 Sometimes the stories can be related in a tuneful single lasting under three minutes. In other cases, beginning in the late \u201860s, these stories could unfold across a dozen interconnected songs, an audio movie or novel on four or more sides of vinyl. In time, these bodacious pieces would become a genre unto themselves \u2013 some beloved, some the object of seemingly endless ridicule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, some of the best and least known examples of this ambitious musical form are the subject of a new book:\u00a0What\u2019s the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums<\/a>\u00a0by Bill Kopp (HoZac Books).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Kopp begins by defining a concept album in terms that are broader than some people\u2019s idea of the category. \u201cA concept album can be a collection of songs built around a single theme, mood, idea, or set of things.\u201d It could be a collection of songs in which an artist assumes a temporary persona, like The Beatles\u2019\u00a0Sgt. Pepper\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0or the supreme example, a \u201crock opera\u201d with a vague narrative, such as The Who\u2019s\u00a0Tommy<\/em>, Pink Floyd\u2019s\u00a0The Wall,<\/em>\u00a0Frank Zappa\u2019s\u00a0Joe\u2019s Garage\u00a0<\/em>and the Smashing Pumpkins\u2019 three-disc\u00a0Atum<\/em>. The author believes that an unlikely artist and entry may have birthed the whole genre, Frank Sinatra\u2019s 1955 classic,\u00a0In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning<\/em>. It is a fantastic 16-song LP centered on the themes of love and loss, with a unified, after-midnight musical mood.\u00a0 In 1968, the mighty Sinatra even took a shot at a narrative song cycle, a sort of easy-listening pop opera, if you will, with one of his worst-selling albums,\u00a0Watertown<\/em>, a disc now getting belated cred courtesy of today\u2019s crate-digging hipsters.<\/p>\n

Kopp\u2019s journey through the world of concept albums provides a wide range of examples, some well-known and vintage, others way more obscure and surprisingly current.<\/p>\n

The idea for prog rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman\u2019s\u00a0The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth<\/em>\u00a0came not from the artist himself but from his record label head, a savvy businessman who was looking to cash in on the popularity of the group he was then playing with, Yes. Wakeman penned the instrumentals that comprised the album while on tour with Yes, while reading a book on the fates suffered by the nasty King\u2019s many wives. The label didn\u2019t like or promote the record, but it took off after Rick performed it on Britain\u2019s top TV music showcase,\u00a0The Old Grey Whistle Test<\/em>. In the U.S., it emerged as a hit thanks to the burgeoning FM radio world, whose DJs delighted in spinning long tracks.<\/p>\n

Rick Wakeman OGWT 1972<\/strong><\/p>\n

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