When it comes to music, there is nothing more interesting to me than the concept album.
I had heard the phrase before, but I didn’t really know what it meant until last month. I was listening to Allan Cross’s podcast The History of New Music and he explained the concept album tells a purposeful story.
A concept.
One of my favourite concept albums is by Nine Inch Nails called Year Zero which is funny because I was never really into Nine Inch Nails to begin with.
Year Zero was the fifth studio album done by Trent Reznor who both composed and wrote the album’s music and lyrics.
The album was created in 2007. The concept of the album was a bleak vision for 15 years into the future. Back then it would put the album’s story in 2022 dubbed year zero by a new U.S government.
The new government was a Christian fundamentalist authority and they take power to respond to terrorist attacks.
The songs on the album were designed to be from the perspectives of different characters existing in this new dystopian future.
Reznor released the album and it immediately skyrocketed to number two on the Billboard 200 chart.
Its success made Reznor and the band’s art director, Rob Sheridan think of how they could break the barrier between music and other forms of media.
When they created a detailed album cover and an essay written on a website, it still didn’t quench their obsession, so they started working with 42 entertainment to create an alternate reality video game that would be paired with the music of the album.
The album’s success drove a nail between the band and their recording company Interscope. The final straw for the band was Interscope was planning on charging $10 more for the album in Australia. The CD used heat sensitive artwork that displayed a code that led to a website for the alternate reality game.
Reznor said that he already paid for the overages and encouraged citizens of Australia to pirate the music in protest.
It didn’t end there.
The band announced later that year they had finished their contract with Interscope and they would no longer be working with the label.
Four years after the album was released, Reznor was collaborating with a few Hollywood companies to create a Year Zero television series, but it never really got any traction. The project’s status is in limbo and has been for quite some time.
A wild ride right?
What if I told you Nine Inch Nails wasn’t the beginning of this crazy and creative way to use music?
Some wicked examples of concept album creators are David Bowie, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Eagles, The Beatles and The Beach Boys – the list is endless.
This is why I love music. People come up with these amazing ideas and spew them out into our ears and we can’t help but love it!
The next time you pick up your favourite album or listen through your streaming device, try making up a story that goes along with it.