Bring Back Concept Albums 2025
Article ★ Kenzie Gay ★ @kenzwrites ★ 700 words
Concept albums have long been a staple in the world of music. Offering a unique experience where every song works together to tell a larger story or explore a central theme, they’re easily my favorite “type”. They push the boundaries of traditional music-making by creating immersive narratives that draw listeners into a world beyond the individual tracks. This style of album challenges the very nature of listening as we know it.
Today we’ll discuss what a concept album is, the most revolutionary ones, and how it’s faded out with time.
What The Hell is a Concept Album?
In a nutshell, concept albums are albums that tell one grand story rather than several individual ones. Let’s take a standard album to compare.
Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind, for example. The record is seen as a pioneering piece of media in rock and grunge history for its experimentation and boldness. Each song possesses a different theme, however. Track one, for instance, Smells Like Teen Spirit, is ‘an anthem for disenfranchised youth’ named after a brand of deodorant. There’s also track four, Breed, which deals with apathy and fear within the American middle class. Then we’ve got track eight, Drain You, a song that discusses codependency in relationships. Nevermind is undoubtedly a fantastic, radical album but as I’ve showcased, it is not a concept album since it doesn’t follow a cohesive storyline but rather individual notions that vary from song to song.
Nevermind album cover, Nirvana band members
Concept Albums That Blazed The Trail
Now that we have a basic understanding as to what a concept album is, we can take a look at some examples both old and new.
Arguably the most popular concept album in history is The Wall by Pink Floyd. The album takes listeners through a story about a burnt out rock star named “Pink” as he builds a psychological “wall” of social isolation. This is highlighted from the opening track, In the Flesh, to the closing number, Outside the Wall. Each song only builds on the last to formulate a whole story and Pink Floyd even went as far to make a movie under the same name based on the album and its narrative.
The Wall album cover, The Wall movie poster
Under this same period of time (1960s-1980s), there’s also David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, The Who’s Tommy, Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick, The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and plenty more in terms of concept albums.
Concept Albums and Their Place in Modern Music
Modernly speaking, concept albums are still around they are just much rarer from a mainstream perspective. The most recognizable is probably that of Twenty One Pilots and essentially their entire discography (minus their first two albums, Vessel and Self Titled). Blurryface, Trench, Scaled and Icy, and the most recent, Clancy, all connect together in a grand story that mixes fantasy and dystopia courtesy of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dunn’s vast songwriting abilities. The story itself is set in the city of Dema on the continent of Trench and it revolves around the protagonist Clancy, which is introduced in Trench. Its themes include insecurity, rebellion, and the struggle against self-destruction, with the story culminating in Clancy's journey and the end of the Dema narrative that officially concluded with the release of Clancy in May of 2024.
(left to right) album art for Blurryface, Trench, Scaled and Icy, and Clancy
Other notable contemporary concept albums include Green Day’s American Idiot, The Antlers’ Hospice, The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Sufjan Stephens’ Illinois, Drive by Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera, and even Greta Van Fleet’s The Battle at Garden’s Gate (though the concept/story for that specific album is rather vague and up to listener interpretation).
Concept albums have proven to be a powerful and enduring force in the world of rock music and elsewhere. By blending storytelling with sonic exploration, these albums allow artists to push creative boundaries, while offering listeners a deeper, more immersive experience. Whether it's the grandiose narratives of Pink Floyd's The Wall or the intricate themes of Twenty One Pilots’ Clancy, concept albums continue to inspire and captivate.
As long as music evolves, the concept album will remain a unique and influential format, offering both artists and fans an opportunity to engage with music in a way that transcends the traditional song-by-song approach. For those willing to dive into the journey, the world of concept albums is one full of discovery, emotion, and artistry.
