15 Brain-Twisting Concept Albums That Are Endlessly Rewarding
8. The ArchAndroid Janelle Monáe
Most artists dont greet the world with a dense concept album - it often takes a few years and a handful of releases for an artist to feel comfortable making her boldest statements. But Janelle Monáe took that chance, and her highly ambitious 2010 full-length debut, The ArchAndroid, quickly propelled her to the top of the R&B world with its tight collection of immaculately produced and highly diverse tunes. Commercially, its one of the most successful concept albums of the new millennium. Conceptually, its the perfect album for this generation, with the android serving both as an alter-ego of Monáes and as a metaphor for anyone society regards as an other. Monáe sings about the instantly relatable struggles of feeling isolated, searching for others to sympathize with in a homogenized society and becoming involved with the wrong people. The themes find a surprisingly comfortable home amid the fast, techno-inspired dance tunes: its an album that lets you party and makes you think at the same time. Like most great concept albums, the songs all run into one another, making the album truly stand out as a cohesive experience to be taken in all at once. Monáe travels comfortably from fast rock jams to quick-tempo dance dirges, detouring occasionally for songs like the Nancy Sinatra-style Oh, Maker and the ethereal closing track, BaBopByeYa. With an artist of this caliber just starting out, the future of the concept album looks as promising as ever.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
