As everyone knows, I’m a huge King Diamond fan, and if he’s on tour, I’ll drop everything to go to his concert. He also releases concept albums. Almost every album tells a story of some sort, often a scary tale. But he didn’t invent the idea. He just ran with it. The concept album has been around for a while, mostly done by rock bands. Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” is the most famous example. If concept albums exist in other genres than rock, let me know. Getting back to King Diamond, it’s hard for me to pick a favorite album or story. So I might go with the one that put him on the map...1987’s Abigail. Abigail begins with a ritualistic funeral where the stillborn Abigail is laid to rest. In this ritual, she is staked to the coffin by O’Brien of the Black Horsemen. Flash forward to the year 1845, and we are introduced to the newlywed couple, Jonathan La Fey and Miriam Natias. They are on their way to move into a mansion that was left to Jonathan by a relative who has passed. The are stopped on their way by the Black Horsemen. The leader, O’Brien, warns Jonathan to not go to the mansion, only giving this cryptic riddle: “18 will become 9.” Jonathan tells the horsemen to get lost. They ride off, telling him “We’ll meet again, my friend.” When Jonathan and Miriam arrive at the mansion, unbeknownst to them, a shadow has been waiting for them. The following night, Jonathan is visited by his ancestor, Count de La Fey. The Count leads Jonathan down to the crypt where Abigail’s coffin rests. He then tells Jonathan that Abigail’s spirit is now inside his wife. Flashback to July 7th, 1777. The Count found out that the baby his wife is carrying came from an affair. The Count pushes her down the stairs. She dies upon landing at the bottom. The baby came out stillborn. The Count cremates his wife, and mummifies the baby, who he named Abigail. Returning to Jonathan’s time, he finds things in the mansion that are way out of place. The church bell ringing with no one in the church, flowers dying, and an empty cradle. As the night progressed, Miriam grew by the hour. Abigail was possessing her and began to speak through Miriam. Jonathan suggests Abigail be reborn where she died...the staircase. At the top, Miriam pushes Jonathan down the stairs. Miriam goes into labor, giving a second birth to Abigail, dying as she sees Abigail’s eyes. The Black Horsemen come into the mansion and find Abigail eating Miriam’s body. They take her to the chapel in the forest, where she is staked and buried again... ...or so we thought! King released a sequel, Abigail II: The Revenge in 2002. Do you have a favorite concept album?
Another concept album/story told in music I enjoy is The Puppet Master by King Diamond. Yes, another one by the King. I could tell you the story of a puppeteer that makes puppets out of people, but I’ll let King himself tell the story.
I have the double cd of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" great concept album, saw the movie of the album, trippy as all hell, but good. Not too many artists now-a-days want to make concept albums, then again a lot of so-called-artists such as pop and hip-hop stars make or have others make crappy songs for them, no more real talent anymore. In the past I've written over 100 songs and eight albums in all of them a mix of all styles like the Eagles did, and few of them concept albums, but I never had much time recording them, besides I can only play the guitar and bass guitar.
The Wall was the greatest concert I've ever been to but for concept album is, for me, Quadrophenia by The Who. Hi ya Jerry, from a fellow bass player
I thought about talking about another King Diamond concept...one that spans two albums. Later on when I have time, I’ll post it.
I thought I’d give this thread a bump. “The Graveyard” is the first King Diamond album I bought. This introduced me to King’s storytelling and made me a fan from this day forward. King Diamond is like the Stephen King of heavy metal.
