Iron Maiden 'Piece of Mind'. It's better when you're high, but that could be said about most any album. Still damn good even if you're not. It's not a concept album, because it doesn't tell an ongoing story from song to song but each song does tell an individual story. For example, my favorite - 'Where Eagles Dare' - is about Allied paratroopers on what's basically a suicide mission during WWII to rescue an American General being held prisoner by Nazis in a castle high in the Bavarian Alps. Phenomenal song. Another great one, 'To Tame a Land', was written about the movie Dune. And of course, 'The Trooper' which was written about Charge of the Light Brigade. Those are just a few. I feel like I'm not doing it justice by leaving out other great story songs like Revelations, Flight of Icarus, etc etc.
Here are some more that are just bad ass albums. Nine Inch Nails - Broken and Fixed every song is good. Marilyn Manson - Portrait of an American Family and Antichrist Superstar both albums are good all the way through. Rage - Rage, self titled first album. Korn - Korn, didn’t like anything after this album but this one was awesome all the way through.
If I had to pick albums that were good cover to cover Judas Priest's "Defenders of the Faith" comes to mind. I was also a big hair band fan so Def Leppard's "Pyromania" is up there too. I remember reading an article by Jon Bon Jovi about wanting to an entire album to be as good as Pyromania when they came up with "Slippery When Wet" but they had already done a pretty good one with their first one. Queensryche "Operation: Mindcrime" is a really good one as mentioned. White Zombie's "Astro Creep: 2000" is another good one. I'll add Ozzy's "Diary of a Madman" too.
Good call. Diary of a madman was way way way ahead of it's time. An album that is still relevant today. Randy Rhodes, to think if he were still alive today...
They used to be a really good rock band. Now they just suck. That stupid sugar song is easily in the top 5 for worst song ever.
I remember hearing a story about one of the hair metal bands hating one of their commercially successfully songs so bad they refused to play it at concerts. I wish I could remember who it was.
That's what happens to a lot of bands. They spend years writing and playing great songs. Thrn they get success and rich. By then they have used all their good material on their first few albums and have no incentive to create more of the same so the just crank out a bunch of overcommercialized crap because it keeps the Brinks truck rolling.
