PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Anybody else ever tried to make a theme based CD?

One where one song leads to the next in some kind of logical/artistic order?
Difficulty, challenges & how you overcame those .. any input/advice?
/or am I a dinosaur from days past?
//there used to be something about some albums/CDs that just led you thru it, you wanted to finish the story
///forum seemed kind of dead so thought I might kick-start a conversation

We tried once; "3Forks" led into "Ol' Man of the Wood"s, led into "12" .. I think we may have started off on the wrong foot by making the first song 11/8 <smirk />
We came out of the gate scaring people!

Tommy.
Quadrophenia
Desperado
Red headed stranger
Dark side of the moon? Maybe not.

Just to name a few off the top of my head..... It's not easy to write a cohesive, well done, concept album. I had toyed with the idea a few times but wisely decided it was not going to happen.

The Wall
Animals

It is probably more difficult than ever nowadays to do this because of how music is consumed.

That's why I thought it would be fun to ask.
It's a way to tell a story (or part of your story).
It was fun, and although not any kind of a 'success', we learned from it. Even if only to pay attention to how song leads to another (whether intentionally related or not).
If you want a listener to hear the 3rd song, better not give them a reason to stop listening prior. (see original topic post regarding 11/8)
We actually learned much more than that, some of it with humility, some with a dab of personal pride/satisfaction.

Well, my brother wrote lyrics for a 12 song rock opera, and I recorded demo tracks for it. He provided the story arc, which was a Sci Fi love story in the vein of Bride of Frankenstein. If that sounds wild, it was. Had a good time scoring it, and wrote each song in a different key until I had used them all. Agree that the concept is the hardest part, but when you have a committed lyricist, it can fall in place pretty quickly...

That sounds Awesome!

Yes but that was a long ago. My daughter is grinding on me to re-release them. We’ll see…

Not us. But then our label name is “All Over The Map Records.”
J&B

[quote=rharv]One where one song leads to the next in some kind of logical/artistic order? Difficulty, challenges & how you overcame those .. any input/advice?/quote]

Howdy rharv....

Yes....I've been involved in (2) concept projects and working with only one other person.
l wrote most of the songs/lyrics.
1) It's titled "Full Circle". This one is only (6) songs and is about life in the future. (1984 and took a couple months to finish)
2) It's titled "The Travels Of Qua'Zelar". This one is (12) songs about a "space traveler, adventurer". (1995....this one took longer)
I haven't uploaded #1) but If remotely interested, I have #2 uploaded to youtube as an example:

I've not promoted it all because it surely has no commercial merit and only those like yourself interested in tackling a concept project would possibly be mildly curious or interested.
It's a mix of songs & compositions.

It can be a daunting creative process and one has to be in it for the long haul
Keeping the songs and lyrics interesting and focused on the project topic is paramount.
In my opinion...it's lyrical imagery that is the most important aspect to keep in mind.
Then song sequence needs to be determined.
If you do have any questions I'll be glad to chime in.

I do have another concept project that is just me and not finished yet which is (6) songs.
Several of the songs are close but still need more work
Unfortunately, I may return to stardust before I do finish it.
It's called "The Medieval Man" and the struggle to survive in medieval times.
Here's one of the finished songs called "Dark Forest"...song #37 so you have to scroll down to the bottom of the list.
https://www.soundclick.com/wayneevansproject/?content=songs

(EDIT: (4) songs from the video above are on this list also: Stops/Adversary/Fast As Fire/Guitars In The Storm
and one song from the "Full Circle" project is on this list and called "Toy Guns")

Of course, whether a project of this nature is appealing and cohesive is up to any given listener and much can be open to personal interpretations.
Personally, I just like to write from the imagination, my creative therapy, so to speak.

Hope that helps....keep us in the loop if you decide to tackle a project of this nature.

Carry on.

I already have!
I just thought it would be fun to discuss the challenges, gotchas & tips.

I obviously didn't know that.
Considering that, sorry for my long winded response.

Carry on.

No problem,so what did you learn from the experience?

Unless one is touring and has a merch table or is so big that they can get into Target or Walmart, how are albums of any kind relevant anymore?

Christmas or birthday gifts for family and friends. Singing group or vocal soloist has a set list of songs they perform in public.

On the topic of tips and tricks, for the concept album I worked in my previous post I pretended I was staging a musical production. In my mind there was an actual stage and actors, and I blocked their actions in my head for each number including the non-musical parts. Also planned the transition from song to song just as I imagined it would be on stage. None of the staging actually happened of course, but I found the device useful, and it made the project more fun.

That is exactly the type of discussion I was hoping for, Ron.
That sounds like a great tip.

I wasn’t asking about vanity projects. I have a nice business doing those and bought BIAB specifically to get my costs down so that I could offer a more attractive price while doing less work — one of the best decisions I ever made.

Point of sale for church and school groups is the same as a band having a merch table — it supports performance.

All this talk of concept CDs — for whom? What’s the audience and how does anyone intend to reach them? Sure, you can put it out on YouTube, Apple Music etc, but how do you drive anyone to listen and buy?

I have a client who’s spent $10K (not with me) and in the hole for the same amount to myself and others on an album with a ‘concept” that only he understands. Now he wants me to distribute it — how? The album is dead and the music industry is song based, these days. Since he no longer performs and hasn’t had a release since 1990 when we were touring and it was for the merch table, there’s no avenue, no audience except for 10s of fans in the US and Europe. Yea, I can run off CDs and maybe sell 50 or 75 while giving away an equal number. I’ll never see a dime and the tracking studios will have to be content with 50¢ on the dollar that they’ve received except mine as I have never been paid for any of this. Oh yea, he doesn’t do social media.

I’ll get some traction on a few of the songs but he keeps insisting that it be released as an album. Since he has no money for a PR campaign, the best I can do is wish him luck.

Concept albums are a personal endeavor, it may just be that the intended audience is not commercial.
I mean, if it happens, cool.
I did it for personal gratification and would not have spent $10k. Your example is not the intended recipient of my post.

Some of us do this for fun too!
Not just $$

Sometimes what we want, perhaps need, is the challenge.

It's something that I hadn't really fully recognised in myself until I took redundancy from a role 20 years ago and was both looking at business options and also, as an alternative for a job that I might want to do.
I was actually quite shocked at for how many of the latter my reaction was "where's the challenge in that?"

I presently have three ideas for narrative constructions of series of songs, cf 'concept albums', though at present I still struggle to get going due to the effects of my depression. What I would do, though, even with such a narrative, it try also to make each song capable of standing alone. I don't have any illusions that anyone is likely to buy such a narrative collection, but I think the challenge may be good for me.

Exactly.
That's a good part of the challenge; making each song be able to stand alone.
And if the whole collection is listened to, it has even more meaning.
This is another great thing to point out.