Do you know what I miss? #1

Do you know what I miss? I miss Concept albums.

now, whats brought this on is listening to Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds for the three-billionth time today. I love this Album. I've listened to it so many times that I can recite most of it and just going "Dun-Dun-DUUUUUUUNNNNN" sends shivers up my spine. for me, its possibly the best concept album in the world.

Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge, defines a concept album as "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical."

See, thats a very broad definition, and one that I feel is fundamentally wrong. a true concept album shouldnt be "Unified by a theme."

it should, by its very nature, tell a story. War of the worlds tells a story. Thats the whole point of it. To tell a tale through music.

I should point out now that there have been some concept albums in recent years. The Streets did A Grand Dont Come For Free, a tale of the main character losing £1000.

I did a little research on Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge, and whilst there are concept albums coming out, most of them seem to be severely in the realm of metal. Don't get me wrong, I like metal, but it is not the kind of music geared to telling a story. Screaming into a microphone blurs lyrics so much that you cant even hear the words half the time. Seriously, it isnt anything against the music, but I listened to Midian, Cradle of Filth's concept Album based off of Clive Barker's Novella Cabal and I really didnt get any sense of story - primarily because of their musical style.

But unfortunately, I dont have a solution. despite the fact that the aformentioned War of the Worlds is constantly riding high in the charts -now of both DVD and Music, no-one seems to be capitalising on the interest in concept albums.

But oh, wouldnt it be grand if someone truly talented made something truly worth listening to?