A new post over in Hold the Jam Uploads. Some music from my favorite UK prog-metal band, Threshold. Go check it out. 
And now, onto something in music I have a great love for: Concept Albums. Albums that tell a narrative story or are unified by an overall theme.
Here's a list of concept albums in my collection that I enjoy, and I recommend people go find and check out...
Ayreon - The Final Experiment
In the year 2084, mankind faces self-destruction. Scientists develop the Time Telepathy project, beaming messages and warnings of the future into the past, hoping to warn mankind and change history. The messages are received by Ayreon, a blind minstral. He sings songs of humanity's dire future, even journeying to the court of King Arthur. But Merlin is jealous of Ayreon's ability, and seeks to discredit and silence him...
Ayreon - Into The Electric Castle
Eight people from across Earth history - a Highlander, a Roman, a Barbarian, an Indian, an Egyptian, a Knight, a Hippie, and a Futureman - are brought to another planet by a being called Forever of the Stars. They must journey through the Electric Castle and find out what lies within... but some may not make it back out alive.
Ayreon - The Human Equation
A man is in a coma, the victim of a mysterious accident. While his wife and best friend stay by his side, the man's emotions are personified and take him on a journey from his childhood to the day of the accident, forcing him to face the darkness that lies within.
Ayreon - 1011001
The album that sees the culmination of the Ayreon journey, tying together the strands of all previous stories.
The Forever people are the oldest race in the universe, but they long ago gave up emotions for a life ruled by technology. Desperate to recapture their lost emotions, the Forever influence the creation of the human race on Earth, but they are impatient with Man's development and interfere to accelerate it. This has disasterous consequences, as mankind developes down a self-destrcutive path.
Arena - Contagion / Contageous / Contagium
A man who is shunned by the world sees visions of an apocalypse, but when he finds a way to warn the world via a global TV broadcast, he telepathically transmits all his negative emotions, thus he is the key to fulfiling his own prophecy. Left alone in a world of violence and hatred, the man must protect an innocent girl from those who hunt her.
The story is made up of a full album and two EPs; the story is provided on the second EP, allowing the listening to put the tracks together in the proper order.
Anubis Gate - Andromeda Unchained
In the 3rd Millennium, the human race has colonized Andromeda. The story centers around two citizens, a husband and wife, and the trials they go through: the loss of their son, a civil war, resistance against a mind-controling dictator, and finally an escape back to Earth. But Earth is no longer the cradle of life it once was...
Coheed & Cambria - The Second Stage Turbine Blade
Coheed & Cambria - In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3
Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness
Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 2: No World For Tomorrow
An epic tale set in the galaxy known as Heaven's Fence.
Supreme Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan wages a war for total control of Heaven's Fence. He tricks his greatest enemies, Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon, into murdering their children, and destroys them as well. But the oldest son, Claudio, survives, and must embark on a quest to accept a destiny he does not want: to become the Crowing, a messiah that will save Heaven's Fence from Wilhelm's dominance.
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Part 2: Scenes From A Memory
Nicholas is haunted by dreams of a young woman, dreams he cannot understand. Through hypnotic regression, he learns that he is the reincarnation of the woman, Victoria Page, who was caught in a love triangle between Julian Baynes and his brother, Sen. Edward Baynes. As Nicholas explores this past life, he learns that Victoria's death was not suicide, but murder...
Dream Theater - Six Degress Of Inner Turbulence
A double-album that is a mix between theme and story concepts. The first disc is comprisdes of 5 songs, each dealing with life issues, such as alcoholism, death, politics, and faith. The second disc is a single 42-minute suite, divided into sections, each telling the story of someone dealing with mental illness.
Track 1 of Disc 1, "The Glass Prison", is the first song in drummer Mike Portnoy's AA Suite, a tribute to Bill W, founder of Alcoholics Anonymous The suite has been developed with a new song over each of Dream Theater's successive albums since. Each song is divided into sections, and when completed the suite will mirror the 12 Steps program of alcoholism rehabilitation. As of their most recent album, the suite comprises 4 songs:
"The Glass Prison" - Steps 1-3 (Six Degress Of Inner Turbulence)
"This Dying Soul" - Steps 4-5 (Train Of Thought)
"The Root Of All Evil" - Steps 6-7 (Octavarium)
"Repentance" - Steps 8-9 (Systematic Chaos)
Epica - The Divine Conspiracy
Mankind is divided by many different faiths and systems of belief. But what if God created them all, as a test for humanity to overcome its differences and discover its shared true nature?
Evergrey - In Search Of Truth
The tale of a paranoid man, convinced he is the victim of alien abduction.
Evergrey - The Inner Circle
Deals with the themes of religon, cults, and child abuse.
Iced Earth - The Dark Saga
An album based on the SPAWN comic books series.
Iced Earth - Horror Show
A theme album covering classic horror monsters.
Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1)
An expansion of their "Something Wicked" song trilogy.
The Setians are the original inhabitants of Earth, descended from the "Great Architect". In a bid to gain ultimate power and knowledge, Humans invade Earth and wipe out all but ten thousand Setians. These ten thousand go into hiding, initiating their plan of revenge: the Clouding wipes human memory, making them forget their origins. The Setians work in secret over thousands of years, influencing mankind, creating religions to further divide humanity, until the day the Setian mesiah, Set Abominae, will be born to fulfil the final part of the plan and destroy the human race.
Kamelot - Epica
First part of a 2-album story, Kamelot's interpretation of the classic Faust tale.
Ariel is a man of learning, obsessed with discovering the ultimate truth, and is the favorite of God. Mephisto, the fallen angel, makes a bet: if he can corrupt Ariel and take his soul, God must let Mephisto return to heaven.
Kamelot - The Black Halo
After the death of his love, Helena, and their unborn child, Ariel is lost and falls further under Mephisto's influence, but there may yet be hope for his salvation...
Mind's Eye - A Gentleman's Hurricane
A master assassin has seven days before his final job, and seeks refuge in a small town, telling his life story to a priest.
Odd Logic - Legends Of Monta, Part 1
A fantasy/scifi tale, told by a grandfather to his grandson.
The peaceful planet of Syon faces invasion by the imperial forces of Monta. A band of brave heroes must collect the pages of an ancient scroll, the key to defeating the dark forces.
Pain Of Salvation - One Hour By The Concrete Lake
A man working in the weapons industry feels doubt about the morality of his job. He travels the world to see the impact his work has on the lives of others.
The album's title is a reference to Lake Karachay in Russia, the most polluted spot on Earth. Through the 1950s and 60s, it was a dumping ground for nuclear waste. Now is is entirely filled with concrete. A study in 1990 determined the site was so irradiated, it could easily kill a person with just one hour of exposure.
Pain Of Salvation - The Perfect Element I
An album about the forming of an individual from childhood to adolescence, conveyed through the experiences of two unnamed characters, refered to as "he" and "she".
Pain Of Salvation - Remedy Lane
A semi-autobiographical concept from band frontman Daniel Gildenlow, about a relationship in crisis and the various emotions involved, set during a few days in Hungary.
Pain Of Salvation - Be
Exploring God and the nature of humanity, and humanity as God's own way of understanding itself.
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
The story of young drug addict Nikki. Disillusioned with American society, he joins Operation: Mindcrime, and undergorund movement to create a new world order, and falls under the thrall of Mindcrime's charismatic leader, Dr. X. Nikki is aided by Sister Mary, a prostitue-turned-nun, and the two begin to develop a romantic conenction, allowing Nikki to begin questioning his role as X's puppet.
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime II
Picks up the story 18 years later, when Nikki is released from prison. He vows to hunt down Dr. X and kill him as revenge for Mary's death.
The albums are performed together in their entirety on the live DVD, Mindcrime At The Moore. The performance includes actors, which finally helps to clarify facts left vague in the lyrics.
Section A - Parallel Lives
A man named William has the power to slip into parallel dimensions through his dreams, and the Dark Alliance is hunting him for his talent.
Shadow Gallery - Room V
Continuation of the story begun in the album Tyranny.
A man (former weapons designer) and woman (a bioengineer) go on the run from a global conspiracy. The two have a child; years later the conspiracy catches up to them, killing the woman and kidnapping the child, for her blood holds the key to an antidote for the biotoxin the conspiracy plans to unleash on the world. The man is recruited by an underground resistance to help them fight the conspiracy.
Superior - Ultima Ratio
A troubled man creates a new religion, Ultima Ratio, dedicated to ridding humnaity of its emotions, believing that emotions only cause pain and suffering. But this man faces a test of his own faith when he falls in love...
Sylvan - Posthumous Silence
A father learns about the life of his lost daughter through her diaries.
Symphony X - The Odyssey
Songs based on Homer's "The Odyssey".
Symphony X - Paradise Lost
A concept story based on John Milton's epic poem, "Paradise Lost".
Threshold - Clone
A hybrid concept of theme and story, centering on the genetic modification of humans, the development of telepathy, and exploration beyond Earth to colonize Mars.
Tomorrow's Eve - Mirror Of Creation 2: Genesis II
Continues the story begun in the album Mirror Of Creation.
A man with amnesia is aided by a beautiful doctor. Eventually, he remembers the horrors of his past, and learns that he was part of an experiment to save the dying human race.
Vanden Plas - Christ 0
A story based on "The Count of Monte Cristo", about a man imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, his escape from prison for revenge, and the Interpol agent persuing him.
Vision Divine - Stream Of Conciousness
A man in an asylum recalls a spiritual journey: he attempted suicide, but was brought back to life by a guardian angel. The angel agreed to show him the ultimate truth, the chance to look through the eyes of God, but the man pays a price with the loss of his sanity.
Vision Divine - The Perfect Machine
A scientist seeks a way to save his dying son, and discovers the secret to immortality. But with everyone now immortal, life loses its meaning over the countless centuries...
Vision Divine - The 25th Hour
A sequal to Stream Of Consciousness, set 40 years later. The man in the asylum discovers that he is just one facet of a never-ending line of reincarnation, and seeks to escape the cycle and find peace.
