0:00:00 > 0:00:00WHEN POP WENT EPIC: THE CRAZY WORLD FKA U391D/01 BRD000000
1:59:37 > 1:59:40MUSIC: King Arthur by Rick Wakeman
1:59:43 > 1:59:45Me and my musical chums dressed up
1:59:45 > 1:59:48to play a track about the Arthurian legends.
1:59:48 > 1:59:53Grandiose music, a heroic subject, outlandish costumes.
1:59:53 > 1:59:56This could only be the '70s -
1:59:56 > 2:00:00heyday of that much maligned creature, the concept album.
2:00:08 > 2:00:11I mean, be honest, the dreaded words "concept album"
2:00:11 > 2:00:14probably conjure up visions of straggly-haired rockers
2:00:14 > 2:00:18jabbering on about unicorns, goblins and the end of the world.
2:00:18 > 2:00:20But back when people actually listened to LPs
2:00:20 > 2:00:24from start to finish, there was nothing more rewarding.
2:00:29 > 2:00:33Some of these records tell a story, others explore a mood or a theme.
2:00:33 > 2:00:37But they all create their own world and draw you in.
2:00:37 > 2:00:42And some performers - me included - may have got a bit carried away.
2:00:42 > 2:00:47In the '70s, the bombast and excess of concept albums,
2:00:47 > 2:00:52and the bands that made them, grew ripe for parody...and they got it!
2:01:03 > 2:01:07OK, there may have been some wrong turns along the way,
2:01:07 > 2:01:11but these records explored the far frontiers of music
2:01:11 > 2:01:14and gave us some of our best-loved LPs.
2:01:14 > 2:01:18So join me to explore this strange parallel universe -
2:01:18 > 2:01:23the weird and sometimes wonderful world of the concept album.
2:01:23 > 2:01:25Let's venture into the maze.
2:01:39 > 2:01:42OK, let's meet a concept album...
2:01:43 > 2:01:47'This is Apollo Control at 102 hours into the flight of Apollo 11.'
2:01:47 > 2:01:51..not from the '70s, but from 2015.
2:01:51 > 2:01:54The band is Public Service Broadcasting
2:01:54 > 2:01:57and the concept is in the title, The Race For Space -
2:01:57 > 2:02:02a theme that so pervades the album, it's practically a documentary.
2:02:02 > 2:02:06NASA RADIO CHATTER
2:02:06 > 2:02:10I find writing conceptual albums to be very liberating.
2:02:13 > 2:02:17The Race For Space is a very diverse album - it's got electronic stuff,
2:02:17 > 2:02:21it's got funk stuff, it's got post-rock stuff on there,
2:02:21 > 2:02:26and I feel it's the conceptual idea behind it providing the glue,
2:02:26 > 2:02:29the sort of the backbone to the album that allows you
2:02:29 > 2:02:32to take these journeys off into these different styles and genres.
2:02:32 > 2:02:34- 'Lift off?'- 'Go.' - 'Flight Op?'- 'Go.'
2:02:34 > 2:02:37- 'Guidance?'- 'Go.' - 'Control?'- 'Go.'
2:02:37 > 2:02:41I still feel there's a perceptive and demanding audience
2:02:41 > 2:02:46for the album format and I think you can get a lot more out of music
2:02:46 > 2:02:49and the relationship between tracks by a correctly sequenced,
2:02:49 > 2:02:53or a well-sequenced set of tracks.
2:02:53 > 2:02:56So the concept album didn't stop with the '70s
2:02:56 > 2:02:57and prog rockers like me,
2:02:57 > 2:03:02but has kept on going, crossing the decades and the musical boundaries,
2:03:02 > 2:03:06and it's taken a bewildering variety of forms.
2:03:06 > 2:03:08So it's worth stopping and asking -
2:03:08 > 2:03:12what, in essence, is a concept album?
2:03:12 > 2:03:15Either it's a narrative or it's descriptive or it has elements,
2:03:15 > 2:03:19maybe individual songs, but they're still...
2:03:19 > 2:03:21talking on the same subject.
2:03:23 > 2:03:26It's like putting together a movie for somebody's ears.
2:03:26 > 2:03:30You've got to get a story, you've got to find the dynamics, um...
2:03:30 > 2:03:33You've gotta find the right drama in it.
2:03:33 > 2:03:35But it's not always that simple,
2:03:35 > 2:03:40because some records are hailed as concept albums for other reasons.
2:03:40 > 2:03:45There's a theme and there's a vibe. Or there's this THING. I always say,
2:03:45 > 2:03:48"Does it sound like it'd be in the same movie?"
2:03:48 > 2:03:51And sometimes the concept is for the listener to discover.
2:03:51 > 2:03:54I make sure that I understand the narrative.
2:03:54 > 2:03:58I don't necessarily give other people that privilege.
2:03:58 > 2:04:00Sometimes the concept escapes onto the cover,
2:04:00 > 2:04:05or it's the alter ego that artists create for themselves.
2:04:05 > 2:04:07Sometimes it's so obscure
2:04:07 > 2:04:10that no-one can put their finger on what the concept is.
2:04:12 > 2:04:16So tracing the story of the concept album is like going through a maze.
2:04:16 > 2:04:20There are unexpected turns, the occasional dead-end
2:04:20 > 2:04:23and exits that turn out to be new openings.
2:04:24 > 2:04:27But some of the things you find on the way are among the most
2:04:27 > 2:04:31accomplished and exotic creations in the history of rock,
2:04:31 > 2:04:37and the whole glorious odyssey starts back in 1940s America.
2:04:37 > 2:04:40WOODY GUTHRIE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
2:04:46 > 2:04:48You can't tell the story of the concept album without
2:04:48 > 2:04:50the daddy of them all.
2:04:50 > 2:04:54Before MP3s, CDs, tape cassettes and even vinyl LPs,
2:04:54 > 2:04:57Woody Guthrie turned his own experiences
2:04:57 > 2:05:00of the hardships of rural America during the Depression
2:05:00 > 2:05:03into a folk music classic.
2:05:03 > 2:05:07# On the 14th day of April
2:05:07 > 2:05:10# Of 1935
2:05:10 > 2:05:13# There struck the worst of dust storms
2:05:13 > 2:05:16# That ever filled the sky... #
2:05:16 > 2:05:19The concept is straightforward -
2:05:19 > 2:05:23Guthrie wanted to tell America about suffering on its own doorstep.
2:05:23 > 2:05:27# ..And through our mighty nation
2:05:27 > 2:05:30# It left a dreadful crack... #
2:05:30 > 2:05:34But for Woody, a concept album... He had to be there.
2:05:34 > 2:05:36He had to be right in the setting,
2:05:36 > 2:05:39he had to be experiencing what everyone was experiencing,
2:05:39 > 2:05:42so he was one of those hundreds of thousands of people
2:05:42 > 2:05:44who sat in dust up to his chest.
2:05:44 > 2:05:48# I'm a dust bowl refugee
2:05:48 > 2:05:52# I'm a dust bowl refugee
2:05:52 > 2:05:57# And I wonder, will I always
2:05:57 > 2:06:00# Be a dust bowl refugee?... #
2:06:00 > 2:06:04When Woody started out, an album was exactly that -
2:06:04 > 2:06:09a bulky collection of 78s, each side lasting only a few minutes,
2:06:09 > 2:06:11bound up like a photo album.
2:06:13 > 2:06:16But in 1948, a new development presented artists
2:06:16 > 2:06:20with a broader canvas to make a bigger statement.
2:06:22 > 2:06:24Vinyl.
2:06:27 > 2:06:30For the first time, boffins had found a way
2:06:30 > 2:06:33to get 40 minutes of music on one disc.
2:06:33 > 2:06:36The era of the long-playing record had begun.
2:06:36 > 2:06:39MUSIC: Beethoven's 5th Symphony
2:06:44 > 2:06:47The vinyl LP was largely invented
2:06:47 > 2:06:52in order for pieces of classical music to expand in a symphonic form,
2:06:52 > 2:06:55instead of being broken up into chunks, as it was on old 78s.
2:07:00 > 2:07:04And all of a sudden, the vinyl 33 and a third LP
2:07:04 > 2:07:07allows musicians to stretch out a bit.
2:07:07 > 2:07:11It allows people to be able to kind of construct albums
2:07:11 > 2:07:14on longer themes.
2:07:14 > 2:07:17MUSIC: You Make Me Feel So Young by Frank Sinatra
2:07:17 > 2:07:21And not just themes, but stories.
2:07:21 > 2:07:25# You make me feel so young
2:07:25 > 2:07:28# You make me feel so Spring has sprung... #
2:07:28 > 2:07:30Taking classical music as a blueprint,
2:07:30 > 2:07:37one artist led the way in exploiting the broad canvas of the long player.
2:07:37 > 2:07:41Frank Sinatra put storytelling at the heart of the concept album
2:07:41 > 2:07:46with a string of pioneering LPs for Capitol Records in the 1950s.
2:07:46 > 2:07:53# Each place I go
2:07:53 > 2:07:58# Only the lonely go... #
2:07:58 > 2:08:02The great step that he took was to say to himself,
2:08:02 > 2:08:06"I won't just sing individual songs that tell stories,
2:08:06 > 2:08:08"but I will group them together
2:08:08 > 2:08:13"so that a group of 12 of them tells a larger story,"
2:08:13 > 2:08:16in the same way that a 19th century classical song cycle
2:08:16 > 2:08:20like Schubert's Winterreise might tell a story.
2:08:20 > 2:08:22# It's quarter to three
2:08:23 > 2:08:27# There's no-one in the place
2:08:27 > 2:08:30# 'Cept you and me... #
2:08:30 > 2:08:33Only The Lonely was a perfect example of that.
2:08:33 > 2:08:37It is a story that picks
2:08:37 > 2:08:40the narrator up
2:08:40 > 2:08:42in romantic difficulties
2:08:42 > 2:08:44and leaves him alone in a bar,
2:08:44 > 2:08:46telling the tale to the bartender
2:08:46 > 2:08:49at a quarter to three in the morning.
2:08:49 > 2:08:53# ..We're drinking, my friend
2:08:53 > 2:08:56# To the end
2:08:56 > 2:09:00# Of a brief episode... #
2:09:03 > 2:09:05In terms of setting the mood,
2:09:05 > 2:09:08you put on that album not to listen to a particular hit,
2:09:08 > 2:09:12you put it on because it absolutely created this emotion,
2:09:12 > 2:09:14this feeling,
2:09:14 > 2:09:17and worked best as an album,
2:09:17 > 2:09:21and that's kind of the fundamental that you need for concept albums,
2:09:21 > 2:09:25which is they are their own whole, like a movie or a book -
2:09:25 > 2:09:29they work best in their entirety.
2:09:29 > 2:09:35# Just making one for my baby
2:09:36 > 2:09:39# And one more
2:09:39 > 2:09:42# For the road... #
2:09:42 > 2:09:46Sinatra's gift was to sing other people's songs as though
2:09:46 > 2:09:48the emotions were his own.
2:09:48 > 2:09:52But with the next decade, things were set to change.
2:09:52 > 2:09:57The LP became the canvas for a new breed of artist in the 1960s -
2:09:57 > 2:10:00singers and bands who wrote their own songs
2:10:00 > 2:10:03and invited you into their world.
2:10:03 > 2:10:06And no subject was off limits.
2:10:06 > 2:10:09# Wouldn't it be nice if we were older?... #
2:10:09 > 2:10:12Pet Sounds, released in 1966,
2:10:12 > 2:10:15is the first album on our journey whose concept
2:10:15 > 2:10:18is the artist's own inner life,
2:10:18 > 2:10:21which might seem odd coming from The Beach Boys -
2:10:21 > 2:10:25known so far for breezy songs about girls, cars and surfing.
2:10:25 > 2:10:29And it's not just its emotional sincerity that made a splash -
2:10:29 > 2:10:32if you'll pardon the pun.
2:10:32 > 2:10:36The real true, mind-bending artistry
2:10:36 > 2:10:40that went into Pet Sounds, the attention to detail,
2:10:40 > 2:10:44the drive to make something like that, is extraordinary.
2:10:44 > 2:10:48# ..Hold each other close the whole night through... #
2:10:48 > 2:10:54The artistry sprang from songwriter and resident genius Brian Wilson.
2:10:54 > 2:10:58He said he wanted the record to express "feelings from my soul"
2:10:58 > 2:11:00and he hired lyricist Tony Asher
2:11:00 > 2:11:04to help put his emotional life into words.
2:11:04 > 2:11:08I think Brian felt like he wanted all the songs to be fresh
2:11:08 > 2:11:13and original and new and not necessarily what you'd expect
2:11:13 > 2:11:15from The Beach Boys.
2:11:15 > 2:11:18# Oooh-ooh... #
2:11:18 > 2:11:21The album is tinged with the heartache of a young man
2:11:21 > 2:11:24on a journey from innocence to experience.
2:11:24 > 2:11:26And to achieve what he called this
2:11:26 > 2:11:29"new type of sophisticated-feeling music"
2:11:29 > 2:11:32he turned to the recording studio.
2:11:33 > 2:11:39# I can hear so much in your sighs... #
2:11:39 > 2:11:43And herein lies one of those technology-driven turns
2:11:43 > 2:11:46that altered the course of the concept album.
2:11:46 > 2:11:50Because the studio was now more than just a place you recorded in.
2:11:50 > 2:11:54It was an Aladdin's cave of enabling technology - synthesisers,
2:11:54 > 2:11:58mellotrons and, crucially, the multi-track tape recorder
2:11:58 > 2:12:01which allowed musicians to build up layers of sounds
2:12:01 > 2:12:03and set free the imagination.
2:12:03 > 2:12:05UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS
2:12:13 > 2:12:17Pet Sounds achieved only modest sales in the US -
2:12:17 > 2:12:19maybe it was just too weird.
2:12:22 > 2:12:24But in Britain it was a hit.
2:12:25 > 2:12:29More importantly, it established the idea of the concept album
2:12:29 > 2:12:33as a beacon of technological innovation.
2:12:33 > 2:12:37The Beach Boys had set a high bar
2:12:37 > 2:12:39and within a year, The Beatles produced
2:12:39 > 2:12:42their most experimental record yet...
2:12:42 > 2:12:47# We're Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band... #
2:12:47 > 2:12:51..Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The concept?
2:12:51 > 2:12:54It's all on Peter Blake's iconic cover.
2:12:54 > 2:12:57The most famous group in the world are calling themselves...
2:12:57 > 2:12:58something else.
2:12:58 > 2:13:01It's the idea that a fictitious band is playing the songs
2:13:01 > 2:13:03that gives the record coherence.
2:13:03 > 2:13:07This playful use of alter egos inspired others
2:13:07 > 2:13:10and expanded the notion of what an LP could be.
2:13:15 > 2:13:18But it was another British band that gave us what may be
2:13:18 > 2:13:23the concept album in its most ambitious form yet - the rock opera.
2:13:27 > 2:13:29# He stands like a statue
2:13:29 > 2:13:30# Becomes part of the machine
2:13:30 > 2:13:32# Feeling all the bumpers
2:13:32 > 2:13:34# Always playing clean
2:13:34 > 2:13:36# He plays by intuition
2:13:36 > 2:13:38# The digit counters fall
2:13:38 > 2:13:40# That deaf, dumb and blind kid
2:13:40 > 2:13:43# Sure plays a mean pinball!... #
2:13:46 > 2:13:49Tommy by The Who, released in 1969,
2:13:49 > 2:13:52tells the story of a deaf, dumb and blind boy
2:13:52 > 2:13:55and his quest for spiritual fulfilment.
2:13:55 > 2:13:59It has the scale and ambition of a classical opera.
2:13:59 > 2:14:04# Feel me
2:14:04 > 2:14:07# Touch me
2:14:09 > 2:14:10# Heal me... #
2:14:10 > 2:14:15Tommy is completely different from Sgt Pepper or Pet Sounds.
2:14:15 > 2:14:19It's not just thematic, it's linear and chronological.
2:14:19 > 2:14:21It really is a story
2:14:21 > 2:14:25and no surprise that in the years to come, it turns into a film.
2:14:25 > 2:14:28Of course it does, it's the ultimate concept album.
2:14:28 > 2:14:30# Ain't got no distractions
2:14:30 > 2:14:32# Can't hear no buzzers and bells... #
2:14:32 > 2:14:35With stars like Elton John,
2:14:35 > 2:14:36Tommy burst into life
2:14:36 > 2:14:39in Ken Russell's flamboyant movie treatment.
2:14:39 > 2:14:42# That deaf, dumb and blind kid
2:14:42 > 2:14:44# Sure plays a mean pinball. #
2:14:44 > 2:14:48In a way, it was surprising this breakthrough album
2:14:48 > 2:14:50had come from the Who.
2:14:50 > 2:14:52# I can see for miles and miles... #
2:14:52 > 2:14:55Back in 1968, they were known mainly for a string of singles.
2:14:55 > 2:14:59Oh, and for smashing up their gear at the end of gigs,
2:14:59 > 2:15:02but The Who's creative driving force, Pete Townshend,
2:15:02 > 2:15:05had set his sights on higher things.
2:15:06 > 2:15:09Pop music is crucial to today's art
2:15:09 > 2:15:13and it's crucial that it should remain art,
2:15:13 > 2:15:17and it's crucial that it should progress as art.
2:15:17 > 2:15:19Townshend wrote much of the material
2:15:19 > 2:15:22during the band's tour of the States in 1968.
2:15:22 > 2:15:25He wouldn't do any partying or anything.
2:15:25 > 2:15:29He'd have these charts and he'd devise these schemes
2:15:29 > 2:15:33and plot structures - all on Holiday Inn paper and stuff.
2:15:33 > 2:15:35So detailed! And he's thinking...
2:15:35 > 2:15:37You'd think, "Christ, you should get out more."
2:15:37 > 2:15:39The band's manager, Kit Lambert,
2:15:39 > 2:15:42was worried he was getting a bit carried away.
2:15:42 > 2:15:43Kit Lambert kept saying,
2:15:43 > 2:15:45"Look, it's all right you pretending to be Wagner -
2:15:45 > 2:15:46"we need a single," you know?
2:15:46 > 2:15:49And he said, "I'm not going to write any singles now,
2:15:49 > 2:15:51"I'm going to concentrate on this."
2:15:52 > 2:15:56Tommy was released in May 1969 as a double album.
2:15:59 > 2:16:03It came with an overture, complete with recurring musical motifs,
2:16:03 > 2:16:05in true classical style.
2:16:11 > 2:16:14The band booked Ronnie Scott's jazz club as the venue
2:16:14 > 2:16:17to present this new rock opera to a sceptical press.
2:16:19 > 2:16:21When they went in, the press were pretty hostile.
2:16:21 > 2:16:24Townshend got angry at that, so he turned round
2:16:24 > 2:16:27and said to John Entwistle and the others
2:16:27 > 2:16:28words they loved to hear.
2:16:28 > 2:16:32He said, "Right, let's play it very loud - seriously effing loud."
2:16:32 > 2:16:35So they turned it up really loud, went into Tommy,
2:16:35 > 2:16:38just played the whole thing really fast all the way through
2:16:38 > 2:16:40and they got a standing ovation.
2:16:40 > 2:16:44# Tommy doesn't know what day it is
2:16:44 > 2:16:49# He doesn't know who Jesus was or what praying is... #
2:16:50 > 2:16:52Tommy was a forerunner of rock musicals
2:16:52 > 2:16:55like Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell,
2:16:55 > 2:17:00but our next record moves us away from fiction into hard reality
2:17:00 > 2:17:02and comes from a musical culture
2:17:02 > 2:17:04where the concept album was quite alien.
2:17:04 > 2:17:07MUSIC: I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye
2:17:07 > 2:17:11# Ooh, I bet you're wonderin' how I knew
2:17:11 > 2:17:14# 'Bout your plans to make me blue... #
2:17:14 > 2:17:18Detroit, home of Motown - the ultimate hit singles label
2:17:18 > 2:17:23and the home turf of Marvin Gaye, master of the soulful love ballad...
2:17:23 > 2:17:29that is, until he started to look at what was going on around him.
2:17:29 > 2:17:32They push us around, they arrest us for nothing,
2:17:32 > 2:17:36they call us niggers, they say we stink, they insult our women.
2:17:36 > 2:17:39We've had this for years, as long as we can remember -
2:17:39 > 2:17:40and the point simply came
2:17:40 > 2:17:44when somebody decided he wouldn't take it any more.
2:17:48 > 2:17:50Marvin Gaye had been shocked
2:17:50 > 2:17:54when racial tensions in black suburbs boiled over into riots...
2:17:54 > 2:17:58and the reality of the Vietnam War was brought home to him
2:17:58 > 2:18:01when his own brother was called up.
2:18:01 > 2:18:05He said, "With the world exploding all around me,
2:18:05 > 2:18:08"how am I supposed to write love songs?"
2:18:08 > 2:18:12The result was the first-ever R&B concept album -
2:18:12 > 2:18:15What's Going On, released in 1971.
2:18:15 > 2:18:18# Oh, what's going on
2:18:18 > 2:18:20# What's going on
2:18:20 > 2:18:22# Yeah, what's going on
2:18:22 > 2:18:24# Tell me what's going on
2:18:24 > 2:18:25# Ooh... #
2:18:25 > 2:18:29Marvin was compelled by the Vietnam War, the peace movement,
2:18:29 > 2:18:32the assassination of Martin Luther King.
2:18:32 > 2:18:36I mean, you know, I think he just really felt prophetically called
2:18:36 > 2:18:37to make that record.
2:18:37 > 2:18:40# ..Oh, but who are they to judge us
2:18:40 > 2:18:44# Simply because our hair is long? #
2:18:44 > 2:18:49This is the concept album as social comment.
2:18:49 > 2:18:52What's Going On is not a question - it's a statement.
2:18:52 > 2:18:55It so baffled Motown owner Berry Gordy
2:18:55 > 2:18:59that initially he refused to release it.
2:18:59 > 2:19:01It's grounded in the Motown tradition,
2:19:01 > 2:19:03but it completely expands it,
2:19:03 > 2:19:07you know, really rewrites the book on what R&B is.
2:19:07 > 2:19:11# Rockets, moon shots
2:19:11 > 2:19:15# Spend it on the have-nots... #
2:19:15 > 2:19:18I was so glad when Marvin did it,
2:19:18 > 2:19:21cos he did it real R&B church-sounding -
2:19:21 > 2:19:26politically, socially, you know, commentary in the songs -
2:19:26 > 2:19:30but he still did it with that Marvin Gaye smoothness
2:19:30 > 2:19:33of Sexual Healing, even though he's talking about What's Going On.
2:19:33 > 2:19:35It still sounded like a love song.
2:19:35 > 2:19:37# Oh, make me wanna holler
2:19:37 > 2:19:40# The way they do my life, yeah
2:19:40 > 2:19:42# Make me wanna holler
2:19:42 > 2:19:44# The way they do my life
2:19:44 > 2:19:46# This ain't livin'... #
2:19:46 > 2:19:49What's Going On is so anchored in reality
2:19:49 > 2:19:51it's practically a news bulletin...
2:19:53 > 2:19:57..but elsewhere, artists were moving in a different direction.
2:19:57 > 2:19:59MUSIC: Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie
2:19:59 > 2:20:01# Ooh, yeah... #
2:20:04 > 2:20:05The '70s was the decade
2:20:05 > 2:20:08when the concept album entered the Space Age
2:20:08 > 2:20:11and no-one did it better than David Bowie.
2:20:11 > 2:20:13He created a brilliant pop fantasy,
2:20:13 > 2:20:16a futuristic fable that charted the rise and fall
2:20:16 > 2:20:20of the androgynous rock superstar, Ziggy Stardust.
2:20:20 > 2:20:22MUSIC: Starman by David Bowie
2:20:22 > 2:20:27# There's a starman waiting in the sky
2:20:27 > 2:20:28# He'd like to come and meet us
2:20:28 > 2:20:30# But he thinks he'd blow our minds
2:20:30 > 2:20:32# And there's a starman... #
2:20:32 > 2:20:35Released in 1972, the album is about an alien
2:20:35 > 2:20:37who brings humanity a message of hope
2:20:37 > 2:20:40five years before the end of the world,
2:20:40 > 2:20:45but the story is less important than the alter ego Bowie created.
2:20:45 > 2:20:48The concept album has moved on so much now,
2:20:48 > 2:20:51we're getting concept artists -
2:20:51 > 2:20:53we're getting rock singers
2:20:53 > 2:20:55that aren't just saying, "Here is my wonderful work,"
2:20:55 > 2:20:58they're saying "I am my wonderful work."
2:20:58 > 2:21:01You know, the name is not his own name,
2:21:01 > 2:21:04the hair, the face, the visuals are not his own.
2:21:04 > 2:21:08# I had to phone someone so I picked on you... #
2:21:08 > 2:21:10Unlike Sgt Pepper,
2:21:10 > 2:21:12Ziggy didn't just exist on the album cover
2:21:12 > 2:21:14and, once in character,
2:21:14 > 2:21:18Bowie was free to explore - well, just about anything.
2:21:18 > 2:21:21Here you had a different kind of pop record
2:21:21 > 2:21:23that melded glam rock and pop
2:21:23 > 2:21:26and intellectual thinking in a way that The Beatles didn't.
2:21:26 > 2:21:29It was thinking about the apocalypse, the end of times,
2:21:29 > 2:21:32sci-fi - all these different subjects in one place,
2:21:32 > 2:21:36and did it in a record that completely captivated so many people
2:21:36 > 2:21:37in a very direct way.
2:21:37 > 2:21:41# There's a starman waiting in the sky
2:21:41 > 2:21:43# He'd like to come and meet us
2:21:43 > 2:21:46# But he thinks he'd blow our minds... #
2:21:46 > 2:21:50Also in the early '70s you've got a further refinement
2:21:50 > 2:21:55of the idea of the concept album with artists like Pink Floyd,
2:21:55 > 2:22:00and what they do is bring out an album like the Dark Side Of The Moon
2:22:00 > 2:22:05where all the tracks seep into each other like blood through a bandage.
2:22:05 > 2:22:09MUSIC: Speak To Me/Breathe by Pink Floyd
2:22:16 > 2:22:19Floyd's 1973 release was serious stuff -
2:22:19 > 2:22:22a sombre meditation on life and death,
2:22:22 > 2:22:26yet it became the biggest-selling concept album ever.
2:22:26 > 2:22:30Something like that was obviously so of its time.
2:22:30 > 2:22:35This kind of, like, mind-expanding time, but still,
2:22:35 > 2:22:37you know, I still picked it up when I was a teenager
2:22:37 > 2:22:39and I still listen to it regularly.
2:22:39 > 2:22:41I mean, it's a phenomenal record, you know?
2:22:41 > 2:22:45All the uncanny, weird things that they do,
2:22:45 > 2:22:48yet it's so... It's so musical, it's so expressive,
2:22:48 > 2:22:50it's so perfect, you know?
2:22:50 > 2:22:52I think they would probably say that, too.
2:22:52 > 2:22:55The people that made it probably stood there and said,
2:22:55 > 2:22:56"Man, that's cool."
2:22:59 > 2:23:04Dark Side Of The Moon is about really adult, strange themes.
2:23:04 > 2:23:10It's about death, it's about life, it's about contemplating mortality.
2:23:11 > 2:23:16It becomes immersive. It reflects the fact that we now have stereos,
2:23:16 > 2:23:20the fact that we're now rolling joints on gatefold album sleeves,
2:23:20 > 2:23:25the fact that we're now completely immersed in this total experience.
2:23:25 > 2:23:31# Breathe, breathe in the air
2:23:33 > 2:23:37# Don't be afraid to care... #
2:23:37 > 2:23:42For fans, a key part of that total experience was the album cover -
2:23:42 > 2:23:47created by one of the most cutting-edge design teams around.
2:23:48 > 2:23:52Hipgnosis was run by Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson.
2:23:52 > 2:23:55Up to then, they'd specialised
2:23:55 > 2:23:59in producing surreal photographic designs for Pink Floyd
2:23:59 > 2:24:01and other leading bands.
2:24:01 > 2:24:05Rick Wright, the keyboard player, said to us,
2:24:05 > 2:24:06"You know what? I'm a bit fed up
2:24:06 > 2:24:08"with your sort of weird photo designs.
2:24:08 > 2:24:11"Why don't you try and do something which is a little bit more
2:24:11 > 2:24:14"like a Black Magic chocolate box?"
2:24:14 > 2:24:16And we were, "What? We don't do that!"
2:24:16 > 2:24:21So, we were looking through a French photographic book from the '50s,
2:24:21 > 2:24:25and there was an early colour photograph in there
2:24:25 > 2:24:28of a prism sitting on a sheet of white music,
2:24:28 > 2:24:30with light coming in through a window,
2:24:30 > 2:24:32and it created this rainbow effect,
2:24:32 > 2:24:34and Storm turned round to me and said, "I've got it,"
2:24:34 > 2:24:39and somehow that image resonated with people,
2:24:39 > 2:24:43and has become the symbol of Pink Floyd.
2:24:43 > 2:24:49# Run, rabbit run... #
2:24:49 > 2:24:51You know, it opens up nice and soft,
2:24:51 > 2:24:53takes you in, runs you up, you know,
2:24:53 > 2:24:56then you move into the wonderful soul-like, wailing section
2:24:56 > 2:24:57at the end...
2:24:57 > 2:25:01FEMALE VOCALISATION
2:25:04 > 2:25:06..and then that's the end of side one,
2:25:06 > 2:25:08and the stylus is going, "Dip-dip-dip."
2:25:08 > 2:25:11Then you've got to get up off your seat, right?
2:25:11 > 2:25:13Or up off your beanbag, right? Turn the album over
2:25:13 > 2:25:15and then when Money hits,
2:25:15 > 2:25:17you're basically going back to sit down again,
2:25:17 > 2:25:20- and it's like... - HE MIMICS "Money" BASSLINE
2:25:20 > 2:25:22# Money
2:25:22 > 2:25:25# Get away
2:25:25 > 2:25:31# Get a good job with more pay and you're OK... #
2:25:31 > 2:25:34..and then it goes back into the curve again,
2:25:34 > 2:25:37and leaves you with that wonderful, you know,
2:25:37 > 2:25:40with that wonderful, huge ending.
2:25:40 > 2:25:45# And everything under the sun is in tune
2:25:45 > 2:25:52# But the sun is eclipsed by the moon. #
2:25:52 > 2:25:56And now we come to two key points in our tale.
2:25:56 > 2:25:58First, it's the early '70s -
2:25:58 > 2:26:01the era when the concept album was, for a time,
2:26:01 > 2:26:03practically joined in marriage
2:26:03 > 2:26:06to the genre we know as progressive rock.
2:26:06 > 2:26:10And, second, it's where I come into the story.
2:26:10 > 2:26:15# Cold summer listening
2:26:15 > 2:26:16# Hot colour... #
2:26:16 > 2:26:22In 1971, I joined what was perhaps the last word in prog rock bands.
2:26:22 > 2:26:24Yes.
2:26:24 > 2:26:28# I still remember the dream there... #
2:26:28 > 2:26:31Here is the ultimate in pretentious rock -
2:26:31 > 2:26:33that's what Yes' great appeal was.
2:26:33 > 2:26:35No, we're not Slade
2:26:35 > 2:26:38and we're not going to wear funny glasses like Elton John.
2:26:38 > 2:26:42This is a group of classically trained musicians,
2:26:42 > 2:26:47who are trying to meld the best of classical music
2:26:47 > 2:26:50with the best of rock music,
2:26:50 > 2:26:55and poetry and tripped-out mystique and Krishna and everything on top.
2:26:55 > 2:27:00# Dawn of light lying between a silence and sold sources... #
2:27:00 > 2:27:03I was with them for some of their best-known records -
2:27:03 > 2:27:06not least the infamous 1973 double album
2:27:06 > 2:27:09Tales From Topographic Oceans.
2:27:09 > 2:27:11# Coloured in pastures... #
2:27:11 > 2:27:14Everyone agrees it's a concept album,
2:27:14 > 2:27:18but no-one can quite put their finger on what the concept is.
2:27:18 > 2:27:19I've got no idea!
2:27:19 > 2:27:22Listen, I find that a really strange album.
2:27:22 > 2:27:26I think it divided, split a lot of Yes fans.
2:27:26 > 2:27:28Side one and side two, I love.
2:27:28 > 2:27:32Side three and four rarely gets on the turntable.
2:27:32 > 2:27:35As for singer Jon Anderson's lyrics,
2:27:35 > 2:27:39even he didn't claim to know what they meant.
2:27:39 > 2:27:41I think I work a bit backward,
2:27:41 > 2:27:44because I write a tune and then I write the lyrics -
2:27:44 > 2:27:47not so much for the idea behind the lyrics,
2:27:47 > 2:27:49but for the sound of the words.
2:28:05 > 2:28:07And even if you haven't heard the music,
2:28:07 > 2:28:10you've probably seen the album covers.
2:28:14 > 2:28:19The person tasked with creating art for the most obscure lyrics ever
2:28:19 > 2:28:21was Roger Dean.
2:28:21 > 2:28:25Fortunately he'd already illustrated previous Yes albums
2:28:25 > 2:28:27and had evolved a bold strategy -
2:28:27 > 2:28:29to come up with a concept of his own
2:28:29 > 2:28:32and apply it across a series of records.
2:28:33 > 2:28:36I was thinking in terms of creating a world
2:28:36 > 2:28:39whereby... Where the music may have come from,
2:28:39 > 2:28:42so, it was the music, the world and a culture,
2:28:42 > 2:28:46and I had this idea for a story that took place in this culture
2:28:46 > 2:28:48that wove in and out of albums.
2:28:49 > 2:28:52This is the first one I did for Yes. This is Fragile.
2:28:52 > 2:28:56The story is about a little boy who dreams that his world is going
2:28:56 > 2:28:58to break up
2:28:58 > 2:29:02and he has to galvanise his parents and friends to build
2:29:02 > 2:29:07a space ark and take all the bits of the world to find a new home.
2:29:07 > 2:29:13# What happened to this song
2:29:13 > 2:29:18# That we once knew so well? #
2:29:18 > 2:29:24The story idea, though, was followed through on the live album.
2:29:24 > 2:29:27This is Yessongs, there is
2:29:27 > 2:29:32the space ark taking the segments of the planet to a new world.
2:29:32 > 2:29:39# I must have waited all my life for this
2:29:39 > 2:29:44- # Moment- Moment - Moment... #
2:29:45 > 2:29:50Colonising the planet, there's cities being built, pathways,
2:29:50 > 2:29:54bridges. So we come to Tales From Topographic Oceans,
2:29:54 > 2:29:58perhaps the most controversial of the Yes albums.
2:29:58 > 2:30:00The music immensely complicated.
2:30:00 > 2:30:06# The future poised with the splendour just begun... #
2:30:06 > 2:30:09There was never an attempt to illustrate the music, but
2:30:09 > 2:30:12fortunately, a lot of people think it worked very well.
2:30:12 > 2:30:18# ..Of liquid into sun... #
2:30:18 > 2:30:22There was a great correlation between the music and the imagery.
2:30:22 > 2:30:28# And for a moment when our world had filled the skies
2:30:28 > 2:30:30# Magic turned our eyes... #
2:30:33 > 2:30:35But, for me,
2:30:35 > 2:30:38some of Yes's grandiose ideas were spiralling out of control.
2:30:38 > 2:30:41It is pretty well known that my least favourite LP
2:30:41 > 2:30:44of Yes is Tales From Topographic Oceans.
2:30:44 > 2:30:47Truth of the matter is, we had too much material for a single LP
2:30:47 > 2:30:49and not enough for a double LP.
2:30:49 > 2:30:52In fact, I'm not even sure I know what it was all about.
2:30:52 > 2:30:54Something to do with the vision of a Hindu yogi
2:30:54 > 2:30:56and the Shastric scriptures, I think.
2:30:56 > 2:30:58There's great bedtime reading for you!
2:30:58 > 2:31:03# My words but a whisper Your deafness a shout
2:31:06 > 2:31:08# As the last wave uncovers... #
2:31:08 > 2:31:10I wasn't the only musician starting to have
2:31:10 > 2:31:15doubts about the marriage of the concept album and prog rock.
2:31:15 > 2:31:20# But your new shoes are worn at the heels... #
2:31:20 > 2:31:23In particular, Ian Anderson, front man of Jethro Tull,
2:31:23 > 2:31:25had produced a spoof concept album.
2:31:27 > 2:31:31It had a title you might call anti-pretentious.
2:31:31 > 2:31:35# To be thick as a brick... #
2:31:38 > 2:31:42What Thick As A Brick came from was really a bit of a naughty dig
2:31:42 > 2:31:45and I was having a little bit of fun with it,
2:31:45 > 2:31:48because it was easy to poke fun at people who were actually
2:31:48 > 2:31:53better musicians than we were, but had grandiose ideas,
2:31:53 > 2:31:58sometimes perhaps a little bit, dare we say, above their station.
2:31:58 > 2:32:00To make it even more absurd, I thought,
2:32:00 > 2:32:04we'll put this in the words of an eight-year-old precocious schoolboy.
2:32:07 > 2:32:10Could this be a dig at certain writers of precocious lyrics?
2:32:10 > 2:32:12Who knows?
2:32:12 > 2:32:16But certainly taking the mickey is what the cover is all about.
2:32:16 > 2:32:18I thought, "We will go for broke here,"
2:32:18 > 2:32:20and the idea of presenting it all as
2:32:20 > 2:32:22a newspaper featuring a spoof story.
2:32:22 > 2:32:26And so we had to find all the material to come up with
2:32:26 > 2:32:32a spoof, very parochial, rather silly English newspaper.
2:32:33 > 2:32:37With headlines such as, "Non-Rabbit Missing," the album,
2:32:37 > 2:32:41cover and all, went down very well with the public.
2:32:41 > 2:32:43And therein lies an irony.
2:32:43 > 2:32:47When you set out to poke fun at the concept album and then, of course,
2:32:47 > 2:32:50it then becomes a number one in the Billboard charts, whatever...
2:32:52 > 2:32:56..then you've joined the club, almost,
2:32:56 > 2:33:00and suddenly Jethro Tull became very much the prog rock band.
2:33:07 > 2:33:11Well, it seems that's just the way it was in the early '70s.
2:33:11 > 2:33:15Audiences wanted it big, loud and conceptual.
2:33:20 > 2:33:24So, when I left Yes, I did a few concept albums of my own.
2:33:24 > 2:33:29But ones where you could actually understand what the concept was.
2:33:29 > 2:33:32I had already dipped my toe in the water with my 1973 album,
2:33:32 > 2:33:38The Six Wives Of Henry VIII. Surreal character studies in music.
2:33:38 > 2:33:40The critics slaughtered it,
2:33:40 > 2:33:43but it flew up the charts and sold millions of records, which
2:33:43 > 2:33:47just goes to show that when it comes to concept albums, you can
2:33:47 > 2:33:50never underestimate the good taste of the record-buying public.
2:33:56 > 2:33:59So I followed that up with another one.
2:33:59 > 2:34:04This time based on Jules Verne's Journey To The Centre Of The Earth.
2:34:05 > 2:34:09"They advanced with difficulty, over granite fragments
2:34:09 > 2:34:11"mingled with flint, quartz and alluvial deposits,
2:34:11 > 2:34:16"eventually reaching a plane covered with bones like a huge cemetery..."
2:34:16 > 2:34:18Journey To The Centre Of The Earth was a grandiose affair,
2:34:18 > 2:34:21with the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Choir
2:34:21 > 2:34:23and David Hemmings as narrator.
2:34:23 > 2:34:26Premiered with two sell-out shows at the Royal Festival Hall.
2:34:26 > 2:34:29"Exploring the forest, they discovered a herd of gigantic
2:34:29 > 2:34:33"animals, mastodons, which were being marshalled by..."
2:34:33 > 2:34:3720,000 people came to see the live show at Crystal Palace,
2:34:37 > 2:34:40complete with two giant inflatable dinosaurs.
2:34:40 > 2:34:43Unfortunately, one of them sprung a leak during the show
2:34:43 > 2:34:46and let off giant farts throughout the entire performance.
2:34:46 > 2:34:49Or was that my bass player?
2:34:52 > 2:34:56But despite the flatulent dinosaurs, it was clear there was a
2:34:56 > 2:35:00public appetite for concept albums turned into spectacle.
2:35:00 > 2:35:03So when it came to staging my next album,
2:35:03 > 2:35:07The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur, I decided to think big.
2:35:07 > 2:35:13Castles, horses, knights, the odd maiden, medieval costumes.
2:35:13 > 2:35:15"Impossible," they said.
2:35:15 > 2:35:18"Holiday On Ice were in just before you, so it will be an ice rink."
2:35:18 > 2:35:22"Not a problem," I said, "I will do it on ice."
2:35:24 > 2:35:28I actually went to see this on ice, at, I think,
2:35:28 > 2:35:31was the Empire Pool, Wembley.
2:35:31 > 2:35:34I truly didn't know what I was seeing
2:35:34 > 2:35:36and I mean that not in a good way.
2:35:36 > 2:35:38You'd got guys with the pantomime horses,
2:35:38 > 2:35:41skating around while Rick is...
2:35:41 > 2:35:43IMITATES FLASHY KEYBOARDS
2:35:48 > 2:35:53A concept too far, in my view, definitely a concept too far.
2:35:53 > 2:35:55Thanks, mate. I love you, too(!)
2:35:55 > 2:35:59But in terms of taking concept stage shows to the edge,
2:35:59 > 2:36:01I wasn't the frontrunner.
2:36:01 > 2:36:06That distinction probably has to go to Peter Gabriel of Genesis.
2:36:06 > 2:36:09# No... #
2:36:11 > 2:36:14He had already made his mark with the bizarre personas
2:36:14 > 2:36:17he had adopted to put over the darkly serious
2:36:17 > 2:36:23intent of albums like Foxtrot and Selling England By The Pound.
2:36:25 > 2:36:29But the ultimate was the stage show spawned by this album.
2:36:31 > 2:36:40# And the lamb lies down on Broadway... #
2:36:40 > 2:36:44The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, released in 1974,
2:36:44 > 2:36:48had a darker theme than anything Genesis had done before.
2:36:48 > 2:36:50And quite unexpected.
2:36:50 > 2:36:53The album is a concept album, but it rests on the concept of,
2:36:53 > 2:36:55in a sense, a Puerto Rican street
2:36:55 > 2:36:59punk in New York, which is a rather unusual concept, perhaps, for
2:36:59 > 2:37:03a bunch of public schoolboys from, you know, England to fall upon.
2:37:03 > 2:37:06# The wind is blowing harder now
2:37:06 > 2:37:10# Blowing dust into my eyes
2:37:10 > 2:37:13# The dust settles on my skin
2:37:13 > 2:37:17# Making a crust I cannot move... #
2:37:17 > 2:37:20You can see why it lent itself to the stage.
2:37:20 > 2:37:24It is a kind of Pilgrim's Progress through the streets of Manhattan,
2:37:24 > 2:37:28but populated with demons and strange visions.
2:37:37 > 2:37:40The cover was by the graphic art team Hipgnosis,
2:37:40 > 2:37:42famous for their work with Pink Floyd.
2:37:42 > 2:37:45In their archives is a folder of documents that shed
2:37:45 > 2:37:47light on the birth of the concept.
2:37:48 > 2:37:52OK, so this is an original folder which probably hasn't been
2:37:52 > 2:37:55opened in about 40 years.
2:37:55 > 2:37:58"Row with oversized ravens is gentle...."
2:37:58 > 2:38:00HE LAUGHS
2:38:00 > 2:38:03There's all sorts of things, funny things, here.
2:38:03 > 2:38:06We've got the Genesis logo that we designed for
2:38:06 > 2:38:08Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.
2:38:08 > 2:38:12You've got things like... This is interesting, this is a letter
2:38:12 > 2:38:16that Peter Gabriel wrote to Storm, my partner in Hipgnosis,
2:38:16 > 2:38:19outlining exactly what Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was about.
2:38:19 > 2:38:20You know,
2:38:20 > 2:38:24there's a whole explanation here so that we could try
2:38:24 > 2:38:27and work up the imagery that would go with the album.
2:38:27 > 2:38:29That's what I call a real concept album.
2:38:29 > 2:38:33And look here, at the end of it you have got alternative endings.
2:38:33 > 2:38:35He hadn't decided, Peter Gabriel,
2:38:35 > 2:38:38at the time, which ending he wanted, so he gave
2:38:38 > 2:38:40an option of both of them.
2:38:43 > 2:38:46# I wandered lonely as a cloud
2:38:47 > 2:38:49# Till I came upon this dirty street
2:38:51 > 2:38:54# I've never seen a stranger crowd... #
2:38:54 > 2:38:58The great thing about Genesis is that they had their cake
2:38:58 > 2:39:00and ate it, every last crumb.
2:39:00 > 2:39:04The music on The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was easily the best
2:39:04 > 2:39:07they ever made with Peter Gabriel.
2:39:07 > 2:39:10And the show was fantastic.
2:39:10 > 2:39:12# His skin's all covered in slimy lumps... #
2:39:14 > 2:39:17Gabriel, at one point, comes out in this...
2:39:17 > 2:39:21like an Elephant Man kind of costume.
2:39:21 > 2:39:25# We, like you, have tasted love
2:39:25 > 2:39:28# Don't be alarmed at what you see... #
2:39:33 > 2:39:37And the pictures look absurd because it was wonderfully absurd.
2:39:37 > 2:39:39But if you were at that concert,
2:39:39 > 2:39:44it was no different from seeing a fantastic Broadway show or
2:39:44 > 2:39:49West End show, but for a new, more switched-on generation.
2:39:49 > 2:39:52# You're in the colony of slippermen
2:39:52 > 2:39:56# There's no who, why, what or when
2:39:56 > 2:40:00# You get out if you've got the gripe... #
2:40:08 > 2:40:11The concept as total theatre was now a hot ticket.
2:40:11 > 2:40:15One American artist put his own twist on the spectacular live show.
2:40:16 > 2:40:18In a galaxy far away,
2:40:18 > 2:40:21George Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic collective
2:40:21 > 2:40:27were conjuring up a funk universe every bit as creative as prog rock.
2:40:31 > 2:40:35The concept, black people in space.
2:40:35 > 2:40:39# We are partying on the mother ship... #
2:40:40 > 2:40:45Having seen Pink Floyd, Sgt Pepper,
2:40:45 > 2:40:48those were like rock operas.
2:40:48 > 2:40:51I said, "Let me do a funk opera."
2:40:54 > 2:40:57If you went to see the band, they had their own mothership that
2:40:57 > 2:41:00came down and Dr Funkenstein came out.
2:41:00 > 2:41:02# If you hear any noise
2:41:02 > 2:41:05# It's just me and the boys... #
2:41:05 > 2:41:10At that point, you had only seen Star Trek. The girl
2:41:10 > 2:41:13was the only black person you saw in outer space
2:41:13 > 2:41:16that you identified with being in outer space.
2:41:16 > 2:41:21# Do not attempt to adjust your radio, there's nothing wrong... #
2:41:21 > 2:41:26In a genre where one normally didn't even see black people,
2:41:26 > 2:41:29he was, like, claiming that as a place where black people were
2:41:29 > 2:41:32not going to be erased, we were not going to be absent,
2:41:32 > 2:41:34we were not going to be made invisible.
2:41:34 > 2:41:35# We want the funk, come on
2:41:35 > 2:41:38- # Give up - Give up, yes, now
2:41:38 > 2:41:40# We need the funk... #
2:41:42 > 2:41:46So while on the surface the concept is space funk,
2:41:46 > 2:41:50this is really about black empowerment and aspiration.
2:41:54 > 2:41:58George is really important in terms of figuring out
2:41:58 > 2:42:01that you can be as impactful, but speaking in code, you know?
2:42:01 > 2:42:04So it is all there, but it is there to be deciphered.
2:42:04 > 2:42:07# Aahh
2:42:07 > 2:42:11# You got a real type of thing going down... #
2:42:11 > 2:42:14You can explore any kind of concept,
2:42:14 > 2:42:16go places where no man has ever gone before!
2:42:16 > 2:42:18You know, you never know what is going to happen
2:42:18 > 2:42:20when you've got a spaceship.
2:42:20 > 2:42:24# A whole lot of rhythm going round... #
2:42:25 > 2:42:29We now come to a rather distressing part of the story
2:42:29 > 2:42:31because, in the late '70s,
2:42:31 > 2:42:35we prog rockers suddenly found the heathen were at our gates.
2:42:37 > 2:42:40Along came punk and burst our bubble,
2:42:40 > 2:42:44and prog rock became the porn of the music industry -
2:42:44 > 2:42:48records that you smuggled out of shops in brown paper bags.
2:42:48 > 2:42:50# God save the Queen
2:42:50 > 2:42:53# The fascist regime... #
2:42:53 > 2:42:57I always remember John Lydon walking down the corridor
2:42:57 > 2:43:01towards me, wearing a T-shirt that said, "I hate Pink Floyd."
2:43:01 > 2:43:06The next thing I knew was that Jamie Reid, the designer, had designed
2:43:06 > 2:43:11an album cover with torn-up bits of newspaper against a pink background.
2:43:11 > 2:43:13And I knew the game was up.
2:43:13 > 2:43:15# There's no future
2:43:15 > 2:43:16# No future
2:43:16 > 2:43:19# No future for you
2:43:20 > 2:43:21# God save the Queen... #
2:43:21 > 2:43:23Well, punk certainly knocked us off our perch,
2:43:23 > 2:43:28but news of our demise had been somewhat exaggerated.
2:43:28 > 2:43:33# We don't need no education... #
2:43:33 > 2:43:36And as though to prove the point, in 1979,
2:43:36 > 2:43:37this comes along.
2:43:37 > 2:43:41# We don't need no thought control...
2:43:41 > 2:43:45The Wall was one of Pink Floyd's bestselling albums.
2:43:45 > 2:43:46A double, if you please.
2:43:46 > 2:43:51# No dark sarcasm in the classroom... #
2:43:51 > 2:43:55And Roger Waters, who came up with the whole idea,
2:43:55 > 2:43:56wrote most of the songs.
2:43:56 > 2:43:59He's got choirs, he's got strings -
2:43:59 > 2:44:02he's making something cinematic.
2:44:02 > 2:44:05He's making something for the ages.
2:44:05 > 2:44:08Truly, it's like punk never happened.
2:44:08 > 2:44:12And yet at the same time, it's got this fantastic edge,
2:44:12 > 2:44:14this pulse.
2:44:14 > 2:44:15# Hey, teacher
2:44:15 > 2:44:17# Leave them kids alone... #
2:44:17 > 2:44:22A dark edge perfectly captured in Alan Parker's 1982 film.
2:44:22 > 2:44:24I thought The Wall was genius.
2:44:24 > 2:44:26You know, I loved the aggression and I loved the anger,
2:44:26 > 2:44:28and I related to that.
2:44:28 > 2:44:31Wrong! Do it again!
2:44:31 > 2:44:35# All in all, you're just another brick in the wall... #
2:44:35 > 2:44:38The Wall had a second wind on a new medium.
2:44:38 > 2:44:41Do you know what the best part of MTV is?
2:44:41 > 2:44:43But it was a false friend.
2:44:43 > 2:44:47MTV comes along at the start of the '80s
2:44:47 > 2:44:48and that, far more than punk,
2:44:48 > 2:44:51sounded a death knell, really,
2:44:51 > 2:44:53for many of the great progressive rock groups.
2:44:53 > 2:44:55It was less a time for records with a narrative,
2:44:55 > 2:44:56that began at the beginning
2:44:56 > 2:45:00and ended at the end of side two and had a story to tell.
2:45:00 > 2:45:01MUSIC: "Thriller" by Michael Jackson
2:45:03 > 2:45:07Suddenly, we're not about really seeing concept albums,
2:45:07 > 2:45:09we're really seeing concept videos.
2:45:09 > 2:45:12You know, Michael Jackson with the Thriller video
2:45:12 > 2:45:14was a landmark moment.
2:45:16 > 2:45:19For a time, it seemed prog rock and the concept album were dead.
2:45:21 > 2:45:24But that didn't stop people kicking the corpse.
2:45:25 > 2:45:27We are Spinal Tap from the UK!
2:45:27 > 2:45:31The movie This Is Spinal Tap took a well-aimed swipe
2:45:31 > 2:45:33at the world of '70s prog rock,
2:45:33 > 2:45:36with its grandiose concepts and elaborate stages.
2:45:36 > 2:45:38And, of course, we all like to think,
2:45:38 > 2:45:40"That's us! They got that from us!"
2:45:40 > 2:45:43Because they picked up on something that could only have been us.
2:45:44 > 2:45:46And I think whoever wrote this scene
2:45:46 > 2:45:50had seen the extravagant props we had at Yes gigs.
2:45:50 > 2:45:53At one show, we put Alan White, our drummer,
2:45:53 > 2:45:55into a giant seashell pod in the middle of the stage.
2:45:55 > 2:45:58Unfortunately, the gearing mechanism failed
2:45:58 > 2:46:00and he was left in there gasping for air, he couldn't get out.
2:46:00 > 2:46:03It was pure Spinal Tap.
2:46:04 > 2:46:06The crew eventually broke into it to let him out
2:46:06 > 2:46:10and he came out clawing the air, he was in a terrible state.
2:46:10 > 2:46:12It was very dangerous.
2:46:12 > 2:46:14No, it was very funny.
2:46:14 > 2:46:16SONG REACHES CRESCENDO
2:46:16 > 2:46:18CROWD CHEERS
2:46:23 > 2:46:25And that could have been a dead end.
2:46:25 > 2:46:30The concept album going down with prog rock, outdated and irrelevant.
2:46:32 > 2:46:33But not quite.
2:46:33 > 2:46:35# Do you remember? #
2:46:35 > 2:46:38Coming out of the punk era, we get Misplaced Childhood by Marillion,
2:46:38 > 2:46:41a concept album on the theme of lost love
2:46:41 > 2:46:44that became a best-seller in 1985.
2:46:44 > 2:46:45# Do you remember
2:46:45 > 2:46:48# The cherry blossom in the market square?
2:46:48 > 2:46:49# Do you remember
2:46:49 > 2:46:53# I thought it was confetti in our hair...? #
2:46:53 > 2:46:55I find it easier to write like that.
2:46:55 > 2:47:00I mean, writing 12 songs about all different subject matters,
2:47:00 > 2:47:02I find that difficult,
2:47:02 > 2:47:07but, you know, when my mind is locked into a theme,
2:47:07 > 2:47:12it puts me in a run where I know the direction that I'm going in.
2:47:12 > 2:47:14# Lavender's blue
2:47:14 > 2:47:15# Dilly, dilly
2:47:15 > 2:47:17# Lavender's green
2:47:18 > 2:47:21# When I am King
2:47:21 > 2:47:22# Dilly, dilly
2:47:22 > 2:47:24# You will be Queen... #
2:47:24 > 2:47:28But as the '80s gave way to the '90s, this began to seem less
2:47:28 > 2:47:31the glimmering of the future than an afterglow of the past.
2:47:33 > 2:47:35By the time you get to the '90s, you know,
2:47:35 > 2:47:38no self-respecting artist that wants to
2:47:38 > 2:47:43be on the cover of the NME is going to admit in a million years
2:47:43 > 2:47:46that their new album is a concept album or anything
2:47:46 > 2:47:48so shameful or old-fashioned.
2:47:48 > 2:47:51A villain behind bars, or you could say real rock from The Rock...
2:47:51 > 2:47:55Fortunately for the concept album, some artists didn't care
2:47:55 > 2:47:57if they were on the cover of the NME...
2:47:57 > 2:47:58# I got a letter from the Government
2:47:58 > 2:48:00# The other day
2:48:00 > 2:48:02# I opened and read it It said they were suckers... #
2:48:02 > 2:48:07..especially when they had been banned by radio stations across America.
2:48:07 > 2:48:08# I said never... #
2:48:08 > 2:48:11It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
2:48:11 > 2:48:15was a landmark record with an unmistakable concept.
2:48:15 > 2:48:17Black politics.
2:48:17 > 2:48:19# ..Occurred to me The suckas had authority... #
2:48:19 > 2:48:21We believed that we're First World people.
2:48:21 > 2:48:25The Western world cannot throw us down the tube,
2:48:25 > 2:48:29so to speak, just because they feel that, you know, we are inferior.
2:48:29 > 2:48:30That's a bunch of crap.
2:48:30 > 2:48:32# A rebel in his own mind
2:48:32 > 2:48:35# Supporter of my rhyme Designed to scatter a line
2:48:35 > 2:48:37# Of suckers who claim I do crime... #
2:48:37 > 2:48:40Public Enemy led the way in rap music's embrace
2:48:40 > 2:48:42of the concept album through the '80s and '90s.
2:48:44 > 2:48:48They saw the record as a hip-hop version of Marvin Gaye's
2:48:48 > 2:48:51What's Going On - with attitude to spare.
2:48:51 > 2:48:53# Come on, y'all You too
2:48:53 > 2:48:54# Terminator X... #
2:48:54 > 2:48:57It's like an audio version of a Black Panther rally.
2:48:57 > 2:49:02Whether it's the impact of the crack plague or mass incarceration,
2:49:02 > 2:49:05all these hot button topics just spoke to the
2:49:05 > 2:49:08possibility of people making blows against the state.
2:49:08 > 2:49:10# Tables turn Suckers burn
2:49:10 > 2:49:13# They can't disable the power of my label
2:49:13 > 2:49:15# Def Jam, tells you who I am
2:49:15 > 2:49:18# The enemy's public They really give a damn...
2:49:18 > 2:49:20# Strong island where I got 'em wild... #
2:49:20 > 2:49:24The concept album found a new energy in hip-hop.
2:49:24 > 2:49:27In rock, its star had faded, but now and again
2:49:27 > 2:49:30you'd get the odd blazing comet.
2:49:33 > 2:49:35Oklahoma City, USA.
2:49:36 > 2:49:39This is the Womb Gallery.
2:49:39 > 2:49:40Yes, that's right.
2:49:40 > 2:49:43Home of the category-defying band The Flaming Lips,
2:49:43 > 2:49:45who, in 2002,
2:49:45 > 2:49:48released Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.
2:49:48 > 2:49:52They found they'd made a concept album almost by accident.
2:49:53 > 2:49:57We had been a sort of punk rock, drug rock,
2:49:57 > 2:50:02loud, noisy rock and roll rock punk rock group for a long time.
2:50:06 > 2:50:11Yoshimi was a Japanese musician the band and producer Dave Friedmann
2:50:11 > 2:50:13happened to be doing some session work with.
2:50:14 > 2:50:16And everything that we put in front of her,
2:50:16 > 2:50:18she would do something on it.
2:50:18 > 2:50:19Like, "Oh, there you go," you know?
2:50:19 > 2:50:24We made a track of all this crazy screaming and stuff.
2:50:24 > 2:50:26Dave said after we had made the track,
2:50:26 > 2:50:29"It sounds like she's either having sex with a robot,
2:50:29 > 2:50:31"or being killed by a giant robot."
2:50:31 > 2:50:33BASS, WHOOPING AND METALLIC SOUNDS
2:50:39 > 2:50:42In my mind, I was, like, "Yeah, it is, that's Yoshimi.
2:50:42 > 2:50:44"She's being killed by a giant pink robot."
2:50:44 > 2:50:46And I think we all looked at each other,
2:50:46 > 2:50:49like, "Hey, why don't we just say it's that?" You know?
2:50:50 > 2:50:53# Her name is Yoshimi
2:50:56 > 2:50:58# She's a black belt in karate
2:50:58 > 2:51:00# Hai, hai! #
2:51:00 > 2:51:03And as so many of us have happily discovered,
2:51:03 > 2:51:07once you've got a concept, ideas for new tracks start to flow.
2:51:07 > 2:51:11# I thought I was smart I thought I was right
2:51:11 > 2:51:13# I thought it better not to fight
2:51:13 > 2:51:15# I thought there was a virtue... #
2:51:15 > 2:51:19We came up with Fight Test, One More Robot, All We Have Is Now.
2:51:20 > 2:51:21It rolls along and it sounds like
2:51:21 > 2:51:23you're listening to this movie soundtrack
2:51:23 > 2:51:25and if only we saw the movie, we'd probably know
2:51:25 > 2:51:28all the little things that happened.
2:51:31 > 2:51:35Which brings the story of the concept album to the 21st century.
2:51:37 > 2:51:41And the internet has brought us a new music medium.
2:51:41 > 2:51:43The MP3 download.
2:51:43 > 2:51:45And you've got this ability to put onto an iPod,
2:51:45 > 2:51:48or put onto your phone, whatever tracks you like
2:51:48 > 2:51:49in whatever order you want.
2:51:49 > 2:51:52And that's kind of lethal, in a way,
2:51:52 > 2:51:55for the traditional production and sale of the album.
2:52:01 > 2:52:04All the music ever made is now just a click away.
2:52:04 > 2:52:06You can pick'n'mix it any way you like,
2:52:06 > 2:52:09so maybe it's no surprise that serious artists
2:52:09 > 2:52:11who feel they've got something to say
2:52:11 > 2:52:14are still making albums with a beginning, middle and an end.
2:52:14 > 2:52:15# Can't read my
2:52:15 > 2:52:16# Can't read my
2:52:16 > 2:52:20# No, he can't read my poker face... #
2:52:20 > 2:52:23Lady Gaga has been drawn to the concept album from the off.
2:52:24 > 2:52:26These days, people want to stand out.
2:52:26 > 2:52:30It's very easy to get lost in the mire of the internet.
2:52:30 > 2:52:34Um, so to make a grand statement is something that's quite powerful.
2:52:35 > 2:52:40Her 2008 debut album The Fame explores celebrity and pop culture,
2:52:40 > 2:52:42while the follow-up, The Fame Monster,
2:52:42 > 2:52:46confronts the darker side of living in the media spotlight.
2:52:46 > 2:52:50# The system broken, the school's closed, the prison's open... #
2:52:50 > 2:52:55In 2010, Kanye West produced My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,
2:52:55 > 2:53:00an album themed around extravagance, excess and consumer culture...
2:53:00 > 2:53:02# In this white man's world We, the ones chosen
2:53:02 > 2:53:06# So goodnight, cruel world I see you in the mornin'... #
2:53:06 > 2:53:11..and Kendrick Lamarr's 2015 concept album To Pimp A Butterfly
2:53:11 > 2:53:13picks up the baton from rap's pioneers.
2:53:13 > 2:53:18It explores the personal and political costs of racial inequality.
2:53:19 > 2:53:22# When my pride was low, lookin' at the world, like, where do we go?
2:53:23 > 2:53:27# When we hate popo, when they kill us dead in the street, for sure
2:53:27 > 2:53:28# I'm at the preacher's door
2:53:28 > 2:53:30# My knees gettin' weak and my gun might blow
2:53:30 > 2:53:32# But we gonna be alright... #
2:53:32 > 2:53:37The song Alright became the anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement,
2:53:37 > 2:53:41the campaign to end police brutality towards unarmed black citizens.
2:53:41 > 2:53:43# We gonna be alright... #
2:53:43 > 2:53:46To Pimp A Butterfly completely blew me away.
2:53:47 > 2:53:49It proves that you can still make records of that quality
2:53:49 > 2:53:52and of that much integrity, because the musicianship
2:53:52 > 2:53:55and lyricism, the structure of the record
2:53:55 > 2:53:57and everything about it
2:53:57 > 2:53:59was...was brilliant.
2:53:59 > 2:54:00Like high art.
2:54:01 > 2:54:03So far, singer-songwriter Laura Marling
2:54:03 > 2:54:06has made nothing but concept albums,
2:54:06 > 2:54:11including the acclaimed 2013 LP Once I Was An Eagle.
2:54:12 > 2:54:15# I am a master hunter
2:54:17 > 2:54:22# I cured my skin Now nothing gets in... #
2:54:22 > 2:54:24Through my own life circumstances,
2:54:24 > 2:54:27I think there is probably a bit of heartbreak and a bit of confusion
2:54:27 > 2:54:29about where I was going with my life.
2:54:29 > 2:54:31I began touring this character,
2:54:31 > 2:54:37um, Rosie, and her bird, her kind of spirit animal.
2:54:37 > 2:54:39# I don't stare at water any more
2:54:42 > 2:54:44# Water doesn't do what it did before... #
2:54:44 > 2:54:47She goes on this journey and there's lots of archetypal imagery,
2:54:47 > 2:54:50there's lots of water and there's lots of weather
2:54:50 > 2:54:52and there's lots of creatures.
2:54:52 > 2:54:55# When we were in love
2:54:55 > 2:54:57# If we were
2:54:57 > 2:55:01# When we were in love
2:55:01 > 2:55:05# I was an eagle... #
2:55:05 > 2:55:07The album is a 16-track story arc
2:55:07 > 2:55:11in which the central figure angrily rejects love and naivety
2:55:11 > 2:55:15and then rediscovers them at the end.
2:55:15 > 2:55:17'I'm a fan of the form of an album
2:55:17 > 2:55:20'and I take great care in structuring a record
2:55:20 > 2:55:21'from start to finish.
2:55:21 > 2:55:23'It gives me an internal structure.'
2:55:23 > 2:55:26Once I've been in that tripped-out state
2:55:26 > 2:55:29and whatever's risen from the unconscious has risen up,
2:55:29 > 2:55:30and I've managed to catch it
2:55:30 > 2:55:32and then take some control over it...
2:55:32 > 2:55:37only I know what it's going to be...
2:55:37 > 2:55:40and then, when it's done, other people can know.
2:55:40 > 2:55:42And judging by Laura's chart success,
2:55:42 > 2:55:46other people are very happy to enter into her world.
2:55:46 > 2:55:49So it seems the concept album is in rude health.
2:55:53 > 2:55:55My tour is almost done.
2:55:55 > 2:55:58There's just one last stop to make.
2:55:58 > 2:56:02And it's very gratifying for an old prog rocker like me.
2:56:03 > 2:56:04I'm pleased to report
2:56:04 > 2:56:07that the progressive rock concept album
2:56:07 > 2:56:08has made a comeback too,
2:56:08 > 2:56:12not least thanks to one of my great mates from the 1970s.
2:56:12 > 2:56:15In 2014, Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson
2:56:15 > 2:56:17released Homo Erraticus.
2:56:21 > 2:56:24It made the top 20 in the UK album charts -
2:56:24 > 2:56:27not bad for a record whose theme extends
2:56:27 > 2:56:32from the dawn of civilisation and into an uncertain future.
2:56:32 > 2:56:34# New blood, old veins
2:56:34 > 2:56:37# Kids can't wait to be gone... #
2:56:37 > 2:56:39'Well, Homo Erraticus was about one very simple thing -
2:56:39 > 2:56:42'the migration of the human race.'
2:56:42 > 2:56:4460... 70... 80,000 years ago,
2:56:44 > 2:56:48when Homo sapiens went out of Africa,
2:56:48 > 2:56:50that was very largely driven by climate change
2:56:50 > 2:56:53and the need, just as is today, as we're seeing,
2:56:53 > 2:56:56of people needing to find somewhere to go in order to survive.
2:57:01 > 2:57:04Which epic thought brings me to the end of my tour
2:57:04 > 2:57:06and to the question -
2:57:06 > 2:57:09does the concept album have a future?
2:57:09 > 2:57:12For me, the answer is a resounding yes.
2:57:12 > 2:57:17First, because we'll never lose our age-old love of a well-told tale.
2:57:17 > 2:57:23And second, because serious artists will always be drawn to big themes.
2:57:23 > 2:57:26And in a world of bewildering choice, the artists who stand out
2:57:26 > 2:57:29will be the ones who communicate the best stories
2:57:29 > 2:57:31and the boldest ideas.
2:57:31 > 2:57:34That's the big lesson I take
2:57:34 > 2:57:37from the great concept albums of the past.
2:57:39 > 2:57:42I'm sure that the best of these records really will last.
2:57:42 > 2:57:46Some of them are up there with the finest work that art can offer
2:57:46 > 2:57:49and there'll always be a very special place in my heart
2:57:49 > 2:57:52for the sheer joy of the concept album.