A concept album is a record that has a narrative, theme, or story that links all the songs together in a unified way. Green Day’s American Idiot qualifies as such a record.
Dig into rock history, and you’ll find plenty more: The Wall by Pink Floyd, both Tommy and Quadrophenia by The Who, The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper, Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, and My Chemical Romance and The Black Parade are all examples. But who was the first to release a concept album?
If we’re going to be honest, it was Frank Sinatra in 1955. That’s when he released In the Wee Small Hours, which features songs about that particular time of day. But hang on. We can also make a case for folksinger Woodie Guthrie.
He released a collection of songs entitled Dust Bowl Ballads, which featured accounts of Depression-era America. The year was 1940.
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