Conceptual Art?

As with so many trends in the sixties, I suppose The Beatles were the originators of the Concept Album. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was one of the earliest elpees which had a (sort-of) theme running through it, tracks being linked by bridges or other devices running one naturally into the next. Several others jumped on the band wagon – The Mothers of Invention (We’re only in it for the money), Jethro Tull (Aqualung), Donovan (HMS Donovan), Simon & Garfunkel (Bookends) to name a few – and the Concept Album was booming. The idea peaked in the 70s with artists churning out concept albums by the dozen – Rick Wakeman is a name that springs to mind as a peculiarly prolific practitioner of this particular peculiar art-form. His albums such as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Six Wives of Henry VIII and 1984 are fondly remembered by many. But, it would be true to say, they are probably despised by equal numbers who thought that the whole thing was being taken too far. They would contend the music exhibited all the pomposity and pretentiousness that was rife among the big-name Prog Rockers, and eventually led to the downfall of both the rock genre and the concept album when Punk stormed over the musical horizon in 1976. I guess the most successful and long lived of these records were The Wall by Pink Floyd, who were rather unfairly branded the ultimate Rock Dinosaurs and Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds. Since that time concept albums have been rather thin on the ground and I, for one, feel now to be a suitable moment to revive and rehabilitate the ..er…um.. concept!

And I may not be the only one to have had this thought. The great second album by Mike Skinner aka The Streets entitled ‘A Grand Don’t Come For Free’ falls neatly into the category of concept album. It tells the epic tale of the trials and tribulations endured when a thousand quid mysteriously disappears from the young man’s possession. I won’t give away the denouement but will simply tell you that it’s well worth suffering the teenage angst alongside this poor guy as he wrestles with difficult social situations, girlfriend and mates. Give it a listen – Initially it sounds pretty miserable, but it’s blessed with tons of irony and humour, as well as a great story line. I’m sure you’ll come to love it as much as I do. The nearest comparison I can think of is that of the Jilted John album ‘True Love Stories’ which has a similar feel to it although the musical style is quite different and far more accomplished. In case you didn’t know Jilted John was none other than the brilliant Graham Fellows, best known as his alter-ego John Shuttleworth, well known Sheffield Community Broadcaster. (If you don’t know what I’m rabbitin’ on about, tune into BBC Radio 7 to catch a rerun of one of his shows.)

Anyway I extend a warm welcome to this prodigal art-form – providing the bandwagon’s reins are kept in check, I hope to see its second coming lasting a good long time!