10 Strangest Concept Albums
4. Spider-Man: Rock Reflections Of A Superhero - Various
The superhero genre has arguably never been more popular, with Marvel rolling out franchise after franchise of films and TV shows. While Thor and The Avengers often inject a dose of humour into their worlds, you couldn't imagine the company ever being so bold as to shoe-horn in a musical number. Go back to 1975, however, and that's just what Marvel were looking to do, at least on 'literal' record.
At the time, the business was seeing success with its spoken-word storybook superhero albums, and had the idea that a set of songs might have the same appeal.
Marvel approached Lifesong Records, tasking them with producing a musical album which would appeal to older teens and college kids, focusing on one of their most popular characters, Spider-Man. By all accounts, everyone associated with the record label lent a hand, with the bulk of the work being undertaken by members of critically-acclaimed prog-rock group, Crack The Sky.
The results, while understandably uneven, are better than you might expect. This is a remarkably cohesive and likeable set of songs.