![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kleenexwomanI've just discovered an incredibly cool thing to do with playlists: concept albums. Now, your average concept album will tell a story. "The Wall" (although every Pink Floyd album is really a concept album), the Who's "Tommy," David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust," the Moody Blues' "Days of Future Past," the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (all right, the concept kind of breaks down somewhere around the second freaking song), Motley Crue's "Shout At The Devil" (can't quite make out the story in that one, but Chuck Klosterman says it's a concept album and that's good enough for me).
Now that I think about it, you could probably consider most really good albums to be some kind of concept album. Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" is clearly about the end of the world, as is the Clash's "London Calling". Any original work by Guns 'N' Roses (I'm excluding "Spaghetti Incident" because it's all covers) could be considered a concept, even if said concept is simply what issues Axl happened to be dealing with at the time. "Led Zeppelin IV", a.k.a. the Zoso album, tells some kind of story, probably having to do with Tolkien. Was Not Was's "What Up Dog?" is...well, I can't quite figure out the story to that one, but it's probably something profound about growing up in modern America. The entire body of work of Steely Dan could be considered a concept album (see FeverDreams.Net for some interpretations).
ETA: Apparently Daniel's uncle grew up in Oak Park with Don Was. Damn cool.
So I've been making up my own concept albums with many different artists. It's a good way to relax. I've created some themed lists, like "Places" (London Calling! I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea! Penny Lane! Rockaway Beach!) and "Outer Space" (there are a lot of David Bowie songs on this one). The ones that I am most pathetically proud of, however, tell stories.
My first one is fairly simple, more of an argument than anything.
"Kill the Poor" by the Dead Kennedys
"Fucking capitalist asshole, think you're so great. You make people die."
"Capitalism" by Oingo Boingo
"There's nothing wrong with making money. You don't know what you're talking about."
"Eat the Rich" by Aerosmith
"Oh yeah? I have first-hand knowledge of economic inequality, I'm bloody poor."
"Holiday in Cambodia" by the Dead Kennedys
"You think you're poor? Go see what REAL hardship's like."
"Back in the USSR" by the Beatles
"Fine, I will. And I like it a lot more than I like you rich bastards."
Which goes back up to "Kill the Poor", this time taken literally: "We got rid of the annoying socialists, let's have some fucking fun."
The second one is a little more complex and tells a real story, complete with a small amount of dramatic irony.
"Only A Lad" by Oingo Boingo: Our antihero, a young man with destructive tendencies, is introduced.
"Psycho Therapy" by the Ramones: The young man tells his side of the story, admitting that he needs help.
"Doctor Robert" by the Beatles: He is told of a doctor who uses some highly experimental treatments, and might be able to help him.
"Doctor, Doctor" by the Who: Young man goes to see the doctor and tells him of his problem.
"Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" by the Ramones: The doctor listens to his story and agrees to help him.
"Elementary Physics" by Oingo Boingo: The doctor explains the procedure to the young man.
"Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo: The procedure begins and the curtain closes.
There should be a short intermission here, to keep the suspense high and allow people to get popcorn. The second act begins with...
"Teenage Lobotomy" by the Ramones: The young man wakes up from his anesthesia and figures out what the doctor has done to him.
"Creature From the Black Lagoon" by Dave Edmonds: The doctor, having lobotomized and zombified the young man, sends him out to do his evil bidding.
"Bark at the Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne: The young man bemoans his fate and realizes that the doctor has tricked him and made him his slave.
"No Spill Blood" by Oingo Boingo: The doctor tries to re-brainwash the young man when he rebels.
"Dead or Alive" by Oingo Boingo: The young man fights with and kills the doctor, possibly turning him into a zombie in the process as well.
"Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo: Having won his freedom, the young man returns to his old life as a juvenile delinquent zombie.
I think I maybe need to stop fucking with playlists and do something productive.
Now that I think about it, you could probably consider most really good albums to be some kind of concept album. Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" is clearly about the end of the world, as is the Clash's "London Calling". Any original work by Guns 'N' Roses (I'm excluding "Spaghetti Incident" because it's all covers) could be considered a concept, even if said concept is simply what issues Axl happened to be dealing with at the time. "Led Zeppelin IV", a.k.a. the Zoso album, tells some kind of story, probably having to do with Tolkien. Was Not Was's "What Up Dog?" is...well, I can't quite figure out the story to that one, but it's probably something profound about growing up in modern America. The entire body of work of Steely Dan could be considered a concept album (see FeverDreams.Net for some interpretations).
ETA: Apparently Daniel's uncle grew up in Oak Park with Don Was. Damn cool.
So I've been making up my own concept albums with many different artists. It's a good way to relax. I've created some themed lists, like "Places" (London Calling! I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea! Penny Lane! Rockaway Beach!) and "Outer Space" (there are a lot of David Bowie songs on this one). The ones that I am most pathetically proud of, however, tell stories.
My first one is fairly simple, more of an argument than anything.
"Kill the Poor" by the Dead Kennedys
"Fucking capitalist asshole, think you're so great. You make people die."
"Capitalism" by Oingo Boingo
"There's nothing wrong with making money. You don't know what you're talking about."
"Eat the Rich" by Aerosmith
"Oh yeah? I have first-hand knowledge of economic inequality, I'm bloody poor."
"Holiday in Cambodia" by the Dead Kennedys
"You think you're poor? Go see what REAL hardship's like."
"Back in the USSR" by the Beatles
"Fine, I will. And I like it a lot more than I like you rich bastards."
Which goes back up to "Kill the Poor", this time taken literally: "We got rid of the annoying socialists, let's have some fucking fun."
The second one is a little more complex and tells a real story, complete with a small amount of dramatic irony.
"Only A Lad" by Oingo Boingo: Our antihero, a young man with destructive tendencies, is introduced.
"Psycho Therapy" by the Ramones: The young man tells his side of the story, admitting that he needs help.
"Doctor Robert" by the Beatles: He is told of a doctor who uses some highly experimental treatments, and might be able to help him.
"Doctor, Doctor" by the Who: Young man goes to see the doctor and tells him of his problem.
"Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" by the Ramones: The doctor listens to his story and agrees to help him.
"Elementary Physics" by Oingo Boingo: The doctor explains the procedure to the young man.
"Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo: The procedure begins and the curtain closes.
There should be a short intermission here, to keep the suspense high and allow people to get popcorn. The second act begins with...
"Teenage Lobotomy" by the Ramones: The young man wakes up from his anesthesia and figures out what the doctor has done to him.
"Creature From the Black Lagoon" by Dave Edmonds: The doctor, having lobotomized and zombified the young man, sends him out to do his evil bidding.
"Bark at the Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne: The young man bemoans his fate and realizes that the doctor has tricked him and made him his slave.
"No Spill Blood" by Oingo Boingo: The doctor tries to re-brainwash the young man when he rebels.
"Dead or Alive" by Oingo Boingo: The young man fights with and kills the doctor, possibly turning him into a zombie in the process as well.
"Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo: Having won his freedom, the young man returns to his old life as a juvenile delinquent zombie.
I think I maybe need to stop fucking with playlists and do something productive.