The Concept Album

I recently picked up a vinyl copy of Frank Zappa's Freak Out!, which is often hailed as the first concept album. Of course, this being Zappa, the concept mostly involves ridiculing everything in sight while throwing in a few avant-garde noises that sound like someone torturing a trombone. But the claim got me thinking – was it really the first concept album? Or is this just another case of the rock crowd declaring they invented something that had already been done centuries earlier by men in wigs?

Take Gustav Holst's The Planets. Written between 1914 and 1917, it’s a seven-movement suite where each piece represents a planet and its associated astrological character. It’s basically a concept album about the solar system – except Pluto got left out, though to be fair, even NASA can’t decide whether it belongs. Holst may not have had the benefit of a lavish gatefold sleeve or a Rolling Stone review, but if The Planets isn’t a concept album, I don’t know what is.

Or how about Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons? Composed in the early 18th century, it’s a set of four violin concertos, each painting a musical picture of the time of year. Birds chirp, storms rage, peasants get drunk. It’s practically a baroque version of Dark Side of the Moon, minus the paranoia and sound effects of cash registers. More importantly, it’s got a cohesive theme, and that, I’m told, is what makes a concept album.

Now, some might say, “Ah, but those were suites, written for live performance, not recorded music.” And yes, that’s technically true – Holst and Vivaldi weren’t laying down tracks for vinyl pressings. But what of it? They’re both thematic works designed to be played in sequence for a cumulative effect. Are we really going to disqualify them just because they were released a couple of centuries before someone thought to stick a microphone in front of an orchestra?

And if we’re going to be pedantic about format, we should also consider that neither Freak Out! nor Sgt. Pepper – another supposed “first” concept album – were originally intended as uninterrupted thematic pieces either. Zappa’s was more a collection of loosely related satirical sketches, and The Beatles’ effort was a brilliant but somewhat patchwork affair. The Planets and The Four Seasons, on the other hand, are laser-focused on their respective themes – one cosmic, the other meteorological.

So, is Freak Out! really the first concept album? Only if you ignore a few hundred years of classical music. Rock critics may scoff, but Holst and Vivaldi were dropping themed bangers long before Zappa was terrifying record executives. Perhaps it’s time we gave classical music its due and admitted that the first true concept albums were written with quills, not guitars. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find a vinyl copy of The Planets – because let’s face it, everything sounds better with a few crackles and pops.