5 Underrated Concept Albums That Will Blow Your Mind

When it comes to concept albums, many of us are familiar with classics like “The Wall,” “Tommy,” and “Ziggy Stardust,” but there are many lesser-known releases that are just as amazing yet often overlooked.

Drawing inspiration from Steven Wilson’s “Guide To 10 Amazing Concept Albums You Might Have Missed,” in this video, I have put together a list of 5 of my favorite underrated concept albums.

Prepare to be surprised as we embark on a bizarre journey into the fantastical realms of Vikings, aliens, and even Lord of the Rings!

So, without further ado, let’s uncover the hidden gems that lie beyond “The Wall.”

00:41 Bo Hansson - Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings
01:58 Absolute Elsewhere - In Search of Ancient Gods
03:28 The Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
05:06 Camel - "Nude"
06:39 Robert Calvert - Lucky Leif and the Longships

#progressiverock #progrock #conceptalbum #pinkfloyd #alanparsonsproject #lordoftherings #hawkwind #robertcalvert #brianeno #thewho #stevenwilson #radiohead #porcupinetree #videoessay #musicdocumentary #musichistory #70smusic #spacerock

[AlbumAffairs]

What's your favorite concept album?

[bennyscomin]

One of the strongest albums of their career, 1988's "In the Spirit of Things" by the story goes, their tour bus had made a wrong turn and they soon found themselves on a dirt road leading into the ghost town of Neosho Falls, in Kansas, which had been washed away by a flood in 1951. Intrigued, they spent the afternoon exploring remains of the still-standing structures on the main street, finding artifacts and items strewn about by those who clearly had to flee in a hurry.
So inspired were they, an intensely heartfelt album concept was born, imagining the various lives of the town's inhabitants leading up to the flood that washed their lives away. No one but Kansas could have pulled this off with such emotionally moving sincerity, all at the top of their game here, especially Steve Walsh and Steve Morse. This album should have made Kansas a household name again, 10 yrs. after "Point of Know Return". 'Brilliant and heartfelt, the album came out and disappeared quickly with no promotional support from the label. Criminally underrated and well worth seeking out.

[its_cookie_man]

On the topic of Camel, Stationary Traveler is also great! My pick for underrated concept albums probably goes to Klaatu's Hope, it's not completely unknown, but definitely deserves far more recognition.

[riordanskt]

Congratulations on this video! It's always good when you post!

[Remyjor]

incredible list! ive always thought Camel aand Alan parsons were incredibly underrated aand when they are mentioned its always just I Robot or mirage which are aamazing but seemingly their only albums anyone might know. I also recommend Ocean by Eloy! aside from 1 song, the album barely haas only haalf a million listens on spotify!

[DerekPower]

So … my own shoutouts to underrated concept albums as a lot of what I listen to can be described as either concept albums or theme with a very strong theme informed them. I’ll try to keep it reasonable in length =]

chris††† - deep dark trench - 2018

There are no shortage of concept albums in the underground electronic music scenes of the 2010s, the biggest one being vaporwave. However, if I wanted to showcase one from one of the big OG artists, it’s this one. It’s one long audio collage while the implicit concept is about processing the events of 11 September 2001. It deals with anger, concern, confusion, grief, loss, paranoia … basically it’s an emotional brain dump of everything that can go through the mind when confronted with something like this.

(And believe you and me, there are a lot of other albums from those scenes I can list … but I said I’ll keep it short =] )

Fantomas - Delirium Cordia - 2004

This album is CD-length track that seems to evoke undergoing surgery that may or may not involve anaesthesia. It’s dark, random, chaotic, unsettling, alternates between dense volume and more subdued moments. It’s part dream-nightmare, part journey, part fever dream and all-around an unnerving experience.

Nicholas Jaar - Pomegranates - 2015

Nicholas Jaar made this music based on the 1969 film The Color of Pomegranates, which was directed by Sergei Parajanov and based on the life and works of the famed Armenian troubadour Sayat-Nova. It leans electronic but it evokes the ancient and the natural (with an exception to the track “Club Kapital” … but even then). It is just as imaginative and daring as the film itself. When both Criterion and Eureka issued this film on Blu-ray, I kinda wished this was included as an alternate score.

Gail Laughton - Harps of the Ancient Temples - 1969

Gail Laughton was a harpist who was best known for being in the group Boyd Raebum and his Orchestra. However, he did only one album to his own name and the concept is in the title: eleven tracks consisting of a specific time and place (or general area) and going backwards in time. It starts with the Hebrews in 425 AD and end with Atlantis in 21, 000 BC. The only reason why anyone would know about it was that one of the tracks - Pompeii 76 AD - was featured in Blade Runner. The harp is the only instrument used in this album, but clearly this was composed and performed by someone who not only knew the instrument well, but could push its limits. Furthermore, it’s amazing how with one instrument, you can paint a number of different worlds and epochs.

And finally … I’ll do some shameless shilling here because why not? 😉

キラヨシ - City of Vices / Temple of Virtue - 2023 / 2024

This is my personal music project and my most recent albums. They both tell a fable about a young man named Adam who lives in a hedonistic place, but then leaves and ends up in monastery where he pursues a very different life. City of Vices sets up the story with where he originally lived, which can be thought of as “if Blade Runner were set in Constantinople”. Temple of Virtue continues the story where he flees the city, wanders through the wilderness, ends up at a monastery and slowly changes to being baptised a Christian and even desiring to become a monk. It ends with something like a “liturgical song cycle” informed by the Orthodox Church. I am proud of this work as it showcases a lot of things and is a sonic journey of the soul.

There’s *plenty* I could list but I’ll keep it here =]

[Warstub]

While it's not a strict Concept album (as far as I can tell), Lusk's 1997 'Free Mars' has some very trippy Science Fiction themes and references.

[uweschnitzler]

wow, Lord of the Rings is surely a masterpiece !

[JamesonWilde]

Not mentioning The entirety of Coheed and Cambria's discography is wild.

[maelvogue]

Celtic rock band Horslips had at least 4 concept albums based on Irish mythology and history. The best ones are probably The Táin and The Book of Invasions

[nsbdnow]

I put it in a response to the pinned comment, but just so people see it... "Spartacus" by Triumvirate is fantastic. Based on the true story of the famous slave revolt. It has stirring instrumental passages and heart-rending emotional lyrics as it tells the story. Totally sounds like ELP with the emphasis on the organ and synthesizers. You'll love it!

[TomAcrossAmerica]

I think David Matthew's "Dune" deserves a spot on this list. It set the vibe of Arrakis better than anyone else can (sorry Toto and Hans Zimmer, David did it first, 40 years ago, and did it better)