Theme (album)

Theme is a 1988 album by Leslie West. It featured Jack Bruce and Joe Franco.

Track listing

Personnel

References

Concept album

A concept album is a studio album where all musical or lyrical ideas contribute to a single overall theme or unified story. In contrast, typical studio albums consist of a number of unconnected songs (lyrically and otherwise) performed by the artist. It has been argued that concept albums should refer only to albums that bring in themes or story lines from outside of music, given that a collection of love songs or songs from within a certain genre are not usually considered to be a "concept album."

History

1940s–1960s

Woody Guthrie's Dust Bowl Ballads (1940) is regarded as one of the first concept albums, consisting exclusively of semi-autobiographical songs about the hardships of American migrant labourers during the 1930s.Merle Travis' Folk Songs of the Hills (1947) can be considered a concept album as it exclusively features songs about working life on railroads and in coal mines.

In the early 1950s, before the mainstream breakthrough of rock and roll, concept albums were mostly prevalent in jazz music. Singer Frank Sinatra recorded several notable concept albums prior to the 1960s rock era, including In the Wee Small Hours (1955; songs about loneliness, heartache, introspection, and nightlife), Where Are You? (1957; songs about heartache), Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958; songs about loneliness and heartache), Come Fly with Me (1958; songs about world travel), and No One Cares (1959; songs about loneliness and depression). Often credited as the innovator or originator of the concept album, Frank Sinatra's The Voice of Frank Sinatra (1946), Songs for Young Lovers (1954), and In the Wee Small Hours (1955) are generally considered among the first, if not the first, concept albums. Singer/pianist Nat King Cole's concept albums include After Midnight (1956; collaborations with jazz instrumentalists in the style of late-night jam sessions) and "Penthouse Serenade" (1955; songs detailing the "cocktail piano" era.).