concept album

Meaning

A concept album is a studio album where all the tracks are unified by a central theme, story, or artistic idea, rather than being just a collection of unrelated songs. It is a common format in rock, progressive music, and hip-hop.

Examples

• Pink Floyd's 'The Dark Side of the Moon' is a classic concept album.

  Pink Floyd's 'The Dark Side of the Moon' is a classic concept album.

• The band is planning to release a sci-fi concept album next year.

  The band is planning to release a sci-fi concept album next year.

• It's a concept album that tells the story of a fictional historical figure.

  It's a concept album that tells the story of a fictional historical figure.

• You need to listen to the tracks in order because it's a concept album.

  You need to listen to the tracks in order because it's a concept album.

• Many progressive rock bands are famous for making complex concept albums.

  Many progressive rock bands are famous for making complex concept albums.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The band released a conceptual album last month.

  ✓ The band released a concept album last month.

  Although 'conceptual' is an adjective, the standard, universally used term in the music industry is the noun-noun collocation 'concept album'.

• ✗ I love this concept album because each song has a completely different, unrelated story.

  ✓ I love this album because each song has a different story.

  By definition, a concept album must have songs that are unified by a single theme or overarching narrative.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Since it is a ___, you should listen to the songs in order from start to finish.

  💡 An album unified by a central theme.

  Show answer

  concept album

• The singer wrote a ___ about her experiences living in Paris.

  💡 An album with a single narrative or topic.

  Show answer

  concept album