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Music History Events: Concept Albums

March 8, 1994 Two seminal albums from the '90s are released: Soundgarden's Superunknown and Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral. They enter the albums chart at #1 and #2, respectively.More

October 20, 1992 Madonna releases Erotica, a concept album about the pleasures and pitfalls of sex and romance, a day before her controversial Sex book hits the market.More

February 22, 1983 Styx release Kilroy Was Here, a concept album about a dystopian future where rock and roll is banned and technology has run amok.More

September 17, 1982 Pink Floyd's seminal double album The Wall makes it to the big screen as a feature-length musical. Few expected the sprawling concept album to be turned into a feature film, but the band's celluloid collaboration with director Alan Parker and animator Gerald Scarfe becomes a surprise box office hit and a cult classic.More

April 4, 1981 Styx hit #1 in the US with Paradise Theatre, a concept album based on the rise and fall of a theatre in Chicago.More

November 30, 1979 Pink Floyd's album The Wall is released, seeing out the '70s in spectacular fashion as it sells over 13 million copies. The powerful concept album's themes of isolation and despair resonate with legions of fans, and it even spawns a #1 single - "Another Brick In The Wall (part II).More

June 16, 1972 David Bowie unveils his landmark album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. His breakthrough LP, it sells over 7 million copies and is hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time.More

May 23, 1969 The Who release their album Tommy, a rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy who plays a mean pinball.More

November 14, 1999 EMI Music Distribution begins offering retailers a $3 rebate on each unit sold of the latest Garth Brooks album In... The Life Of Chris Gaines, in order to boost sales. In exchange for the rebate, retailers are asked to lower the price of the Capitol album - which lists for $17.98 on CD - as low as possible.

March 27, 1990 Digital Underground, a rap collective that later includes Tupac Shakur, release their debut album, Sex Packets. It's a concept album about a drug that simulates the experience of having sex.More

June 3, 1972 Jethro Tull's concept album Thick As A Brick, complete with an insert from the fictional newspaper St. Cleve Chronicle and Linwell Advertiser, hits #1 in America.More

May 26, 1967 The Beatles release their landmark album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in the UK.More

June 12, 2012 Rush release a concept album titled Clockwork Angels, their 20th (and last) studio effort. On the album Neil Peart uses a new method in which producer Nick Raskulinecz "conducts" Peart's drumming during recordings.

September 18, 2001 Tori Amos releases Strange Little Girls, a concept album where she sings from the perspective of the female characters in songs written by males, including Eminem's "'97 Bonnie And Clyde," Neil Young's "Heart Of Gold," The Beatles' "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," and The Stranglers' "Strange Little Girl."

October 11, 1976 Donna Summer's Four Seasons Of Love concept album is released.

September 10, 1974 Randy Newman releases Good Old Boys, a concept album about a Redneck in the Deep South.

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