How to Make Any Album a Concept Album
By: Christian Hagen
Music criticism, at least good music criticism, can be boiled down to two essential elements: Context and Analysis. Without a thoughtful analysis of music, there’s no point to reviewing an album. Context on its own says very little, and analysis without context just wouldn’t make sense. To craft strong, thought-provoking music criticism, a writer must provide context for listening to an album and then explain what the album does within that context.
Note that Opinion is not one of the two essential concepts; it can be present, but it’s entirely possible to write good music criticism without taking an opinionated stance.
Having said all of that, I’ve discovered a very fun game.
I’ve made no secret of my love of concept albums. I’ve written about it here, here, here, and a little bit here. It’s fascinating to me to listen to an album in a way that is designated by an artist, a rare thing in music; usually, critics listen to a song in any context they desire, with whatever sort of background and thought that goes through their heads. Concept albums are a way for an artist to say, “Okay, but you should try listening to the music with this in mind.”
The reason many critics dislike concept albums, I think, is that they reject the context of the artist’s intent. Critics, a rebellious bunch by trade, dislike being told how to listen to something. But what they miss out on is the opportunity to really explore the different ways a piece of music can be experienced; maybe on first listen you try it your way, but at some point, you should at least give the intended concept a shot. It can be an absolute joy.
At any rate, I was driving the other day, listening to The Weeknd’s House of Balloons, when I got to thinking about other ways I could contextualize what I was hearing. The result was the game that is the subject of this article.
Try this: Listen to any album. Seriously, anything. Try to make it something that isn’t already a concept album, though that’s not necessarily a deal-breaker. Now, make up a story that ties the whole thing together. Something that makes the lyrics and the music make sense in a way the artist, and you, never thought of before. Sometimes, while you’re listening track by track, things will jump out at you, plot points, characters, surprises. Sometimes, there will be a twist that changes the entire thing, forcing you to start over and re-write what you’ve come up with.
I present the following examples without analysis because I think it’s more fun for you to listen to these albums on your own and see if you can hear where I’m coming from without me explaining it too deeply. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to hear something you’ve listened to a thousand times with fresh ears.
Then you can start to make your own. And when you do, come back and leave a comment with what you found. The more we come up with, the further this game can spread!
Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
The Concept: In a disjointed, time-jumping narrative, a schizophrenic man kidnaps a woman, takes her to his/their island hideaway, and proceeds to torture and drown her in order to rejoin the fractured parts of himself/themselves. In the end, the man re-emerges from the water as one person, but, realizing what he’s done, is left to wallow in shame and sadness alone.
The Weeknd, House of Balloons
The Concept: An aspiring R&B singer develops a crippling drug and alcohol addiction in order to cope with the forced lifestyle of beautiful women and endless parties he holds to build a persona in an industry that won’t accept him for who he really is: A homosexual.
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[Another fun part about this game? Two albums by the same artist can have totally different concepts! Case in point...]
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The Weeknd, Thursday
The Concept: The protagonist is a vampire who, similar to a werewolf at a full moon, transforms every Thursday. The events of the album take place one week after the main character inadvertently over-drained and killed his one true love, and is forced by his bloodlust to take up the hunt again.
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Tell us what you come up with! We’ll update the list with some of the best ideas.