Editing Concept album (section)

==History==
{{See also|Album era}}

===1940s–50s: Origins===
<!---

Information that is not verified with a reliable source will be removed. Do not fill this section with miscellaneous examples of concept albums that fail to elaborate on their significance.

--->

In the 2016 [[BBC]] documentary ''When Pop Went Epic: The Crazy World of the Concept Album'', it is suggested that the first concept album is [[Woody Guthrie|Woody Guthrie's]] 1940 album ''[[Dust Bowl Ballads]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media|title = When Pop Went Epic: The Crazy World of the Concept Album|medium = [[BBC]] documentary|date = 6 May 2016|people = [[Rick Wakeman]] (narrator)}}</ref> ''The Independent'' regards it as "perhaps" one of the first concept albums, consisting exclusively of semi-autobiographical songs about the hardships of American migrant labourers during the 1930s.<ref>{{cite news|title=The return of concept album|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-return-of-concept-album-1796064.html|access-date=16 November 2012|newspaper=The Independent|date=2 October 2009}}</ref> In the late 1940s, the [[LP record]] was introduced, with [[space age pop]] composers producing concept albums soon after. Themes included exploring wild life and dealing with emotions, with some albums meant to be played while dining or relaxing. This was accompanied in the mid-1950s with the invention of the [[gatefold]], which allowed room for [[liner notes]] to explain the concept.{{sfn|McKnight-Trontz|1999|p=10}}

[[File:Frank Sinatra (1956-01-16, Studio A, with cup).jpg|thumb|left|[[Frank Sinatra]] in [[Capitol Records]] [[Capitol Studios|Studio A]], 1956, during the recording of his album ''[[Songs for Swingin' Lovers!]]'']]

Singer [[Frank Sinatra]] recorded several concept albums prior to the 1960s rock era, including ''[[In the Wee Small Hours]]'' (1955)<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Black|first=Johnny|date=5 March 1991|title=A-may-zing|journal=Q Magazine|volume=55|pages=33}}</ref> and ''[[Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely]]'' (1958).{{sfn|Cullen|2001|p=98}} Sinatra is occasionally credited as the inventor of the concept album,{{sfn|Rojek|2004}} beginning with ''[[The Voice of Frank Sinatra]]'' (1946), which led to similar work by [[Bing Crosby]]. According to biographer Will Friedwald, Sinatra "sequenced the songs so that the lyrics created a flow from track to track, affording an impression of a narrative, as in [[musical comedy]] or [[opera]]. ... [He was the] first pop singer to bring a consciously artistic attitude to recording."{{sfn|Friedwald|1995|}}{{refn|group=nb|In the late 1940s, [[boogie-woogie]] and [[Stride (music)|stride]] pianist [[Pete Johnson (musician)|Pete Johnson]] recorded an early concept album, ''House Rent Party'' (1946), in which he starts out playing alone, supposedly in a new empty house, and is joined there by other players. Each has a solo single backed by Johnson, and then the whole group plays a jam session together.<ref>Silvester, Peter, ''A Left Hand Like God, A Study of Boogie-Woogie'', pp. 98-99</ref>}}

Singer/pianist [[Nat "King" Cole]] (who, along with Sinatra, often collaborated with arranger [[Nelson Riddle]] during this era) was also an early pioneer of concept albums,<ref>"Cole developed the art of the concept album, a song collection consciously built on a single theme..." John Swenson (1999). The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide, University of California Press, {{ISBN|9780679768739}}, p. 1957</ref> as with his ''[[Wild Is Love]]'' (1960), a suite of original songs about a man's search for love.<ref>Will Friedwald (2020). ''Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|9780190882051}}, p. 305</ref>

===1960s: Rock and country music===
{{Listen
| type         = music
| filename     = 
| title        = Sgt. Pepper's album cover
| description  = 
| filename2    = 
| title2       = Sgt. Pepper's audio sample
| description2 = A sample of the song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, from the album of the same name by the Beatles. In this album, the Beatles play as a fictional band, after whom the album is named. In this sample, Paul McCartney introduces who Sgt. Pepper and his band are, setting up the concept for the album.
}}In the early 1960s, concept albums became highly featured in American [[country music]], but the fact went largely unacknowledged by rock/pop fans and critics, who would only begin noting "concept albums" as a phenomenon later in the decade,{{sfn|Elicker|2001|p=234}} when albums became closely aligned with countercultural ideology, resulting in a recognised "[[album era]]" and the introduction of the rock concept album.{{sfn|Danesi|2017|p=15}} The author Carys Wyn Jones writes that [[the Beach Boys]]' ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' (1966), [[the Beatles]]' ''[[Revolver (Beatles album)|Revolver]]'' (1966) and ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' (1967), and [[the Who]]'s ''[[Tommy (The Who album)|Tommy]]'' (1969) are variously cited as "the first concept album", usually for their "uniform excellence rather than some lyrical theme or underlying musical motif".{{sfn|Jones|2008|p=44}}

Other records have been claimed as "early" or "first" concept albums. The Beach Boys' first six albums, released over 1962–64, featured collections of songs unified respectively by a central concept, such as cars, surfing, and teenage lifestyles.<ref name="Leaf1990">{{cite AV media notes |title=Little Deuce Coupe / All Summer Long |others=[[The Beach Boys]] |year=1990 |first=David |last=Leaf|author-link=David Leaf|publisher=[[Capitol Records]]|type=CD Liner|url=http://albumlinernotes.com/Little_Deuce_Coupe.html}}</ref> <!--- Further source for LDC: <ref>{{cite web|last1=Springer|first1=Matt|title=52 Years Ago: The Beach Boys Release a Concept Album About Cars, 'Little Deuce Coupe'|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/beach-boys-little-deuce-coupe/|website=[[Ultimate Guitar]]|date=7 October 2015}}</ref> ---> Writing in ''[[101 Albums That Changed Popular Music]]'', Chris Smith commented: "Though albums such as Frank Sinatra's 1955 ''In the Wee Small Hours'' and [[Marty Robbins]]' 1959 ''[[Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs]]'' had already introduced concept albums, [the Beach Boys' 1963 album] ''[[Little Deuce Coupe]]'' was the first to comprise almost all original material rather than standard covers."{{sfn|Smith|2009|p=xix}} Music historian [[Larry Starr]], who identifies the Beach Boys' 1964 releases ''[[Shut Down Volume 2]]'' and ''[[All Summer Long (album)|All Summer Long]]'' as heralding the album era, cites ''Pet Sounds'' as the first rock concept album on the basis that it had been "conceived as an integrated whole, with interrelated songs arranged in a deliberate sequence."{{sfn|Starr|2007|pp=253–254, 265}}

''The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time'' (2015) states that [[the Ventures]] "pioneered the idea of the rock concept album years before the genre is generally acknowledged to have been born".{{sfn|Moskowitz|2015|p=689}} Writing in his ''Concise Dictionary of Popular Culture'', [[Marcel Danesi]] identifies the Beatles' ''[[Rubber Soul]]'' (1965) and the Who's ''[[The Who Sell Out]]'' (1967) as other examples of early concept albums.{{sfn|Danesi|2017|p=72}} [[Brian Boyd]] of ''[[The Irish Times]]'' names [[the Kinks]]' ''[[Face to Face (The Kinks album)|Face to Face]]'' (1966) as the first concept album: "Written entirely by [[Ray Davies]], the songs were supposed to be linked by pieces of music, so that the album would play without gaps, but the record company baulked at such radicalism. It's not one of the band's finest works, but it did have an impact."<ref name="Boyd2016">{{cite news|last1=Boyd|first1=Brian|title=The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys: 12 months that changed music|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/the-beatles-bob-dylan-and-the-beach-boys-12-months-that-changed-music-1.2671482|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=4 June 2016}}</ref>

"Popular consensus" for the first rock concept album, according to AllMusic, favours ''Sgt. Pepper''.<ref name="AllMusic/Concept albums" /><ref name=":0" /> According to [[music criticism|music critic]] [[Tim Riley (music critic)|Tim Riley]], "Strictly speaking, [[the Mothers of Invention]]'s ''[[Freak Out!]]'' [1966] has claims as the first 'concept album', but ''Sgt. Pepper'' was the record that made that idea convincing to most ears."{{sfn|Riley|1988|p=11}}{{refn|group=nb|[[Frank Zappa]] said that within ''Freak Out!'', "It wasn't as if we had a hit single and we needed to build some filler around it. Each tune had a function."{{sfn|Zappa|Occhiogrosso|1989|pp=65–80}} The Beatles' [[John Lennon]] commented: "''Sgt. Pepper'' is called the first concept album, but it doesn't go anywhere&nbsp;... it works because we ''said'' it worked."{{sfn|Sheff|1981|p=197}} }} Musicologist Allan Moore says that "Even though previous albums had set a unified mood (notably Sinatra's ''[[Songs for Swingin' Lovers!]]''), it was on the basis of the influence of ''Sgt. Pepper'' that the penchant for the concept album was born."{{sfn|Moore|2016}}{{refn|group=nb|He continues that: "Things might have looked different had Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys managed to complete the album ''[[Smile (Beach Boys album)|Smile]]'' at the time. ... it would have suggested an entirely different possible line of development for the concept album, wherein parts of tracks reappeared in others producing a form frankly far more sophisticated than any of its contemporaries."{{sfn|Moore|2016}}}} Adding to ''Sgt. Pepper''{{'}}s claim, the artwork reinforced its central theme by depicting the four Beatles in uniform as members of the Sgt. Pepper band, while the record omitted the gaps that usually separated album tracks.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Johnny|last=Black|title=Concept Albums: A-may-zing!|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|date=April 1991}} Available at [https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/concept-albums-a-may-zing Rock's Backpages] (subscription required).</ref> Music critic and journalist Neil Slaven stated that [[Frank Zappa]]'s ''[[Absolutely Free]]'', released the same day as ''Sgt. Pepper'', was "very much a concept album, but The Beatles effortlessly stole his thunder", and subsequently ''Sgt. Pepper'' was hailed as "perhaps the first 'concept album' even though the songs were unrelated."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Slaven|first=Neil|title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-85712-043-4}}</ref>

===1960s–70s: Rock operas, progressive rock, soul, and disco===
{{Main|Rock opera|Progressive rock}}
{{see also|Progressive soul}}
<!---
Information that is not verified with a reliable source will be removed. Do not fill this section with miscellaneous examples of concept albums that fail to elaborate on their significance.

--->Author Bill Martin relates the assumed concept albums of the 1960s to [[progressive rock]]:

{{blockquote|In discussions of progressive rock, the idea of the "concept album" is mentioned frequently. If this term refers to albums that have thematic unity and development throughout, then in reality there are probably fewer concept albums than one might first think. ''Pet Sounds'' and ''Sergeant Pepper's'' do not qualify according to this criterion ... However, if we instead stretch the definition a bit, to where the album ''is'' the concept, then it is clear that progressive rock is entirely a music of concept albums—and this flows rather directly of ''Rubber Soul'' (December 1965) and then ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Pet Sounds'', and ''Sergeant Pepper's''. ... in the wake of these albums, many rock musicians took up "the complete album approach."{{sfn|Martin|2015|p=41}} }}[[File:Genesis live 1974-11-20.jpg|thumb|left|[[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] recreating their concept album ''[[The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway]]'' (1974) for a live performance. Band member [[Peter Gabriel]] is wearing a costume for one of the album's characters.]]

''[[Popmatters]]''{{'}} Sarah Zupko notes that while the Who's ''Tommy'' is "popularly thought of as the first rock opera, an extra-long concept album with characters, a consistent storyline, and a slight bit of pomposity", it is preceded by the shorter concept albums ''[[Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake]]'' ([[Small Faces]], 1968) and ''[[S.F. Sorrow]]'' ([[The Pretty Things]], 1968).<ref>{{cite magazine|first = Sarah|last = Zupko|url=https://www.popmatters.com/pm/reviews/article/24787/prettythings-sf |title=The Pretty Things: S.F. Sorrow  |magazine=PopMatters |access-date=18 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080623190644/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/reviews/article/24787/prettythings-sf |archive-date=23 June 2008 }}</ref> Author Jim Cullen states: "The concept album reached its apogee in the 1970s in ambitious records like [[Pink Floyd]]'s ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon|Dark Side of the Moon]]'' (1973) and the [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]]' ''[[Hotel California (Eagles album)|Hotel California]]'' (1976)."{{sfn|Cullen|2001|p=98}} In 2015, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked ''Dark Side of the Moon'' at number one among the 50 greatest progressive rock albums of all time, also noting the LP's stature as the second-best-selling album of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-greatest-prog-rock-albums-of-all-time-20150617/pink-floyd-the-dark-side-of-the-moon-1973-20150617|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=17 June 2015}}</ref> Pink Floyd's ''[[The Wall]]'' (1979), a semi-autobiographical story modeled after the band's [[Roger Waters]] and former member [[Syd Barrett]], is one of the most famous concept albums by any artist.<ref name= "barker2015">{{cite web|last1=Barker|first1=Emily|title=23 of the Maddest And Most Memorable Concept Albums|url= https://www.nme.com/photos/23-of-the-maddest-and-most-memorable-concept-albums-1425767|website=[[NME]]|access-date=23 January 2017|date=8 July 2015}}</ref> In addition to ''The Wall'', Danesi highlights [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]]' ''[[The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway]]'' (1974) and [[Frank Zappa]]'s ''[[Joe's Garage]]'' (1979) as other culturally significant concept albums.{{sfn|Danesi|2017|p=72}}

According to author Edward Macan, concept albums as a recurrent theme in progressive rock was directly inspired by the counterculture associated with "the [[proto-progressive]] bands of the 1960s", observing: "the consistent use of lengthy forms such as the programmatic [[song cycle]] of the concept album and the multimovement suite underscores the hippies' new, drug-induced conception of time."{{sfn|Macan|1997|p=13}} 

[[Progressive soul]] musicians inspired by this approach conceived concept albums during this era reflecting themes and concerns of [[the African-American experience]], including [[Marvin Gaye]] (1971's ''[[What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album)|What's Going On]]''), [[George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton]] (the 1975 [[Parliament (band)|Parliament]] album ''[[Mothership Connection]]''),<ref>{{cite journal|last=Keister|first=Jay|title=Black Prog: Soul, Funk, Intellect and the Progressive Side of Black Music of the 1970s|journal=American Music Research Center Journal|volume=28|year=2019|url=https://www.colorado.edu/amrc/sites/default/files/attached-files/109701_cu_amrcjournal_cover_prf.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124071719/https://www.colorado.edu/amrc/sites/default/files/attached-files/109701_cu_amrcjournal_cover_prf.pdf |archive-date=2020-11-24 |url-status=live|via=colorado.edu|access-date=29 January 2021|pages=5–22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Amadour |date=December 16, 2022 |title=15 Minutes with George Clinton |url=https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/15-minutes-with-george-clinton/ |newspaper=Lamag - Culture, Food, Fashion, News & Los Angeles}}</ref> and [[Stevie Wonder]]'s ''[[Innervisions]]'' (1973) and [[Songs in the Key of Life|''Songs in the Key of Life'']] (1976).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perone |first=James E. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Album/sOPNEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22concept+album%22+%22songs+in+the+key+of+life%22&pg=RA2-PA87&printsec=frontcover |title=The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations [4 volumes] |date=2012-10-17 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-37907-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Neal |first=Mark Anthony |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/What_the_Music_Said/Omzh7ZVOtJkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22concept+album%22+%22songs+in+the+key+of+life%22&pg=PA110&printsec=frontcover |title=What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture |date=1999 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-92071-1 |language=en}}</ref>

By the mid-1970s, concept albums extended to [[Disco|disco music]] artists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brooks |first=Dwight E. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Earth_Wind_Fire_s_That_s_the_Way_of_the/POOTEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22concept+album%22+%22earth+wind+&+fire%22&pg=PA61&printsec=frontcover |title=Earth, Wind & Fire's That's the Way of the World |date=2022-11-03 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-5013-7807-2 |pages=61-62 |language=en}}</ref> Examples include [[Phylicia Rashad]]'s 1978 album [[Josephine Superstar|''Josephine Superstar'']], which details the life of film star and activist [[Josephine Baker]]; <ref>{{Cite book |last=Shapiro |first=Peter |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Turn_the_Beat_Around/hT86CQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22concept+album%22+%22josephine+superstar%22&pg=PT270&printsec=frontcover |title=Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco |date=2015-06-23 |publisher=Macmillan + ORM |isbn=978-1-4668-9412-9 |language=en |quote=Phylicia Allen's (Victor Willis's wife and the future Mrs. Huxtable on The Cosby Show) Josephine Baker concept album, Josephine Superstar}}</ref> Parliament's ''[[Mothership Connection]]'' (1975) featuring [[space disco]] elements such as [[Science fiction|sci-fi]], [[Unidentified flying object|UFOs]], [[Space exploration|galactic exploration]], and [[Interplanetary spaceflight|spaceflight]];''<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC - Music - Review of Mothership Connection |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/hgcz/ |access-date=August 19, 2018 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>'' and [[The Undisputed Truth]]'s [[Method to the Madness|''Method to the Madness'']] (1976) which is [[Frame story|framed]] by the group's abduction by aliens and performance for "the Space Gods".<ref>{{Citation |title=The Undisputed Truth - Method To The Madness |date=1976 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/336042-The-Undisputed-Truth-Method-To-The-Madness?srsltid=AfmBOopFek4sKks_zg7RbCz6CpVSH9Bxfgt-4mw8aDm-LdWPVMDzryx2 |access-date=2025-02-13 |language=en}}</ref>

===1980s–present: Decline and return to popularity===
<!---
Information that is not verified with a reliable source will be removed. Do not fill this section with miscellaneous examples of concept albums that fail to elaborate on their significance.
--->
With the emergence of [[MTV]] as a [[music video]] [[Cable television|network]] which valued [[Single (music)|singles]] over albums, concept albums became less dominant in the 1980s.{{sfn|Cullen|2001|p=98}}<ref name="independent"/> Some artists, however, still released concept albums and experienced success in the 1990s and 2000s.<ref name="independent"/><ref name=":0" /> ''[[NME]]''{{'}}s Emily Barker cites [[Green Day]]'s ''[[American Idiot]]'' (2004) as one of the "more notable" examples,<ref name="barker2015"/> having brought the concept album back to high-charting positions.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Top 10 Concept Albums of All Time|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/gw-archive-features-news-artist-lists/top-10-concept-albums-all-time/1995|website=[[Guitar World]]|date=26 October 2015|access-date=27 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802113546/http://www.guitarworld.com/gw-archive-features-news-artist-lists/top-10-concept-albums-all-time/1995|archive-date=2 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[My Chemical Romance]]’s ''[[The Black Parade]]'' (2006) is another example of a modern concept album. Dorian Lynskey, writing for ''[[GQ]]'', noted a resurgence of concept albums in the 2010s due to [[Streaming media|streaming]]: "This is happening not in spite of the rise of streaming and playlists, but because of it. Threatened with redundancy in the digital era, albums have fought back by becoming more album-like."<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/concept-album-muse-kendrick-lamar-beyonce-daft-punk | title=Why everyone from Beyoncé to Daft Punk is releasing a concept album | first=Dorian | last=Lynskey | work=[[GQ]] | date=13 July 2015 | access-date=25 April 2016 }}</ref> Cucchiara argues that concept albums should also describe "this new generation of concept albums, for one key reason. This is because the unison between the songs on a particular album has now been expanded into a broader field of visual and artistic design and marketing strategies that play into the themes and stories that form the album."<ref name="PMperf" />

Towards the end of the 80s, however, as [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] suited a fairly niche crowd, a few heavy metal artists began producing concept albums, particularly among the more progressive groups. [[King Diamond (band)|King Diamond's]] ''[[Abigail (album)|Abigail]]'' and [[Savatage|Savatage's]] ''[[Hall of the Mountain King (album)|Hall of the Mountain King]]'', both released in 1987, stand some of the earliest examples of concept albums produced by a heavy metal artist.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=darkluna |date=2023-08-12 |title=Epic Concept Albums in Heavy Metal: Unveiling the Saga Behind the Sound |url=https://iloveheavymetalradio.com/epic-concept-albums-in-heavy-metal-unveiling-the-saga-behind-the-sound/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=I love Heavy Metal |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cao |first=Dr Philip |date=2012-06-22 |title=Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King [1987] |url=https://rockworld.vn/2012/06/23/savatage-hall-of-the-mountain-king-1987/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=RockWorld.vn |language=en}}</ref> A year later, [[Iron Maiden|Iron Maiden's]], ''[[Seventh Son of a Seventh Son]]'', released in 1988, would become one of the most notable examples of a heavy metal concept album at the time.<ref name=":1" /> Around this time, [[progressive metal]] began taking form with artists such as [[Queensrÿche]], [[Fates Warning]], and Savatage. Shortly later{{Vague|date=August 2024|reason=Shortly later than what?}} in 1988, Queensrÿche would release ''[[Operation: Mindcrime]]'', which would be considered one of the first progressive metal albums, and was also a concept album.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Belling">{{Cite web |last=Belling |first=Alasdair |date=2020-07-27 |title=In retrospect: The heavy metal concept album |url=https://www.bluntmag.com.au/features/in-retrospect-the-heavy-metal-concept-album/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Blunt Magazine |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Blum |first=Jordan|date=2024-01-18 |title=The History of Prog Metal in 21 Albums |url=https://loudwire.com/history-evolution-prog-metal-albums/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Loudwire |language=en}}</ref> Thus it could be argued that from the genre's inception, progressive metal has been a hotspot for concept albums, like its rock counterpart. Other notable progressive metal concept albums are [[Dream Theater]]'s ''[[Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory]]'', [[Opeth]]'s ''[[Still Life (Opeth album)|Still Life]]'',<ref name="Belling"/> and [[Orphaned Land]]'s ''[[Mabool]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Uncreator |first=The |title=Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven Review |url=https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Orphaned_Land_-_Mabool:_The_Story_of_the_Three_Sons_of_Seven_Review}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Guy |first=Angry Metal |date=2010-01-08 |title=Orphaned Land The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR Review |url=https://www.angrymetalguy.com/orphaned-land-the-never-ending-way-of-orwarrior-review/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Angry Metal Guy |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the 21st century, the field of classical music has adopted the idea of the concept album, citing such historical examples as [[Franz Schubert|Schubert's]] ''[[Winterreise]]'' and [[Robert Schumann|Schumann's]] ''[[Liederkreis, Op. 39 (Schumann)|Liederkreis]]'' as prototypes for contemporary composers and musicians.{{sfn|Shuker|2017|p=10}} Classical composers and performers increasingly adopt production and marketing strategies that unify otherwise disparate works into concept albums or concerts.<ref name="bennett">{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Dawn and Diana Blom |title=Pinching (or taking back) ideas from popular music: Placing the concept album in contemporary classical music |url=https://www.academia.edu/19068346 |website=Academia.edu |access-date=11 December 2019}}</ref> Since 2019, the classical music magazine [[Gramophone (magazine)|''Gramophone'']] has included a special category for "concept album" in its annual [[Gramophone Classical Music Awards|recordings of the year awards]], to celebrate "albums where a creative mind has curated something visionary, a programme whose whole speaks more powerfully than its parts. A thought-through journey, which compels to be heard in one sitting."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cullingford |first1=Martin |title=Concept Album |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/2019/concept-album |website=Gramophone |access-date=11 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/article/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2019-the-full-report|title=Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2019: the full report|website=Gramophone|language=en|access-date=2024-08-15|archive-date=25 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125034852/https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/article/gramophone-classical-music-awards-2019-the-full-report|url-status=live}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=March 2020}}

In a year-ending essay on the album in 2019, [[Ann Powers]] wrote for ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' that the year found the medium in a state of flux. In her observation, many recording artists revitalized the concept album around autobiographical narratives and personal themes, such as intimacy, [[intersectionality]], African-American life, boundaries among women, and grief associated with death. She cited such albums as [[Brittany Howard]]'s ''[[Jaime (album)|Jaime]]'', [[Raphael Saadiq]]'s ''[[Jimmy Lee (album)|Jimmy Lee]]'', [[Jamila Woods]]' ''[[Legacy! Legacy!]]'', [[Rapsody]]'s ''[[Eve (Rapsody album)|Eve]]'', [[Jenny Lewis]]' ''[[On the Line (Jenny Lewis album)|On the Line]]'', [[Julia Jacklin]]'s ''[[Crushing (album)|Crushing]]'', [[Joe Henry]]'s ''[[The Gospel According to Water]]'', and [[Nick Cave]]'s ''[[Ghosteen]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Powers|first=Ann|author-link=Ann Powers|date=17 December 2019|url=https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/music-club-2019-concept-albums-not-dead.html|title=The album is evolving.|magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|access-date=15 September 2020}}</ref> ''[[EPIC: The Musical]]'', a series of concept albums retelling ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]'', arose to massive popularity, with its first release in January 2023 surpassing three million streams within its first week of release<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=EPIC: THE TROY SAGA Passes 3 Million Streams in First Week of Release |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/EPIC-THE-TROY-SAGA-Passes-3-Million-Streams-in-First-Week-of-Release-20230104 |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=[[BroadwayWorld]] |language=en |archive-date=2024-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113012848/https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/EPIC-THE-TROY-SAGA-Passes-3-Million-Streams-in-First-Week-of-Release-20230104 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the musical remaining popular as subsequent "saga" albums were released, the last one being released in December 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mann |first1=Jesse |last2=Fienemann |first2=Cailen |date=2024-08-02 |title='EPIC: The Musical': A Review |url=https://deadtalknews.com/2024/08/02/epic-the-musical-a-review/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Dead Talk News |language=en-US}}</ref>