Albums you listen to start-to-finish which tell a story

[Tristan]

I've been going through a phase where I'm really enjoying those albums which tell a story over their length and which are really enjoyable to listen to in their entirety with a good pair of headphones. You know, The Wall kinda stuff but more modern.

Here are my current favs...what have you got?

Plan B - The Defamation of Stickland Banks. This is a really soul/jazzy hip hop album which tells the story of a man who falls in love but is then falsely accused and imprisoned for rape.

Prince Paul - A Prince Among Theives. This is a really light hearted story of a young aspiring rapper who takes a job selling drugs to pay for his first album. It's got cameos by Kool Keith (who plays a crazy weapons specialist), Biz Markie, De La Soul, Xzibit, RZA and a whole bunch more. A great album which mocks hip hop's culture.

Dangermouse and Daniele Luppi - Rome. A soundtrack to a fictional movie. 5 years to record on vintage equipment and with singing from Jack White (White Stripes) and Nora Jones.

The Roots - How I Got Over. Not quite a full story-telling but a trip through adversity and self-doubt and the tracks blend into each other.

Alt-J - This Is All Yours. Again not a full story-telling album but a well blended album from two very talented guys with hints of rock, gospel, and acapella..

Yeah I'm a mid-thirties white guy who likes hip hop. Deal with it :-)

[woodworker]

Old guy here: Quadrophenia. Poetic Champions Compose.

[dashDustin]

Kanye's 808s and Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

I'll have to give that Prince Paul album a listen.

[Saab2000]

The Wall and Tommy are obvious 'story' albums but I haven't listened to them in years in their entirety.

It's rare nowadays to listen to whole CDs or albums from start to finish, but I find U2's Achtung Baby to be a comprehensive work and Roxy Music's Avalon (one of the great albums ever) to get better every time and it's greater, by far, than the sum of its parts.

These two are not stories, but are great as whole works.

[robin3mj]

Graceland
Nebraska

[rydesteel]

Genesis...The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. We're only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. I'd ride to this daily in the Isolation ward at UN/Omaha in 89.

Tom Russell...The Man from God knows Where..since we are all immigrants from someplace and I like Singer songwriters

Todd Snyder...Peace Queer...Is This Thing Working..is this thing on

[Diablo de Acero]

Actual Lps are paced and 23 minutes a side. Cds are longer and contain more songs(than needed) than the average attention span. The shorter format meant you really had put the best on and shelve the rest. Roxy Music is great. It just keeps better the more you listen to it. Recently I been listening to Dawn of Midi's Dysnomia, Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, First two Tom Petty album, Led Zeppelin III, Genesis' Seconds Out, and Radiohead's The King of Limbs.

[skouri1]

Lately, All 3 of kendrick lamars albums but mainly,
Good kid maad city --offers a cohesive narrative of his youth
To Pimp a butterfly -- a super creatively put together narrative that transcends the individual

Ive been on a rap kick though

[treadonme]

Coltrane, A Love Supreme

[earlfoss]

Elton John's "Tumbleweed Connection" is a great listen all of the way through.
Silver Jews "Natural Bridge" is another go-to for me.
Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" is also made to listen to as a complete work.

That's only 3 of many that I like to spend time listening to all of the way through.

[kohlboto]

Anything by Thievery Corporation.
Loving this one right now:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=uN9tulBHr8Y

[Saab2000]

This inspired me to listen to Avalon uninterrupted. I don't know how long my level of fatigue will let me listen, but at least I'm starting them in order. It's really a masterpiece.

[David Tollefson]

Rush's 2112, though it's only one side.

Dream Theater's Systematic Chaos was done as a cohesive story as well. Dark stuff though.

[Diablo de Acero]

Avalon is great. Originally when it came out I kind of dismissed it, as a dumb young dip stick would do. It is too bad this where Roxy Music ends. It is always better to know when you said have it all than to continue to ramble.

[Nathanrtaylor]

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

This is one of those albums that require an actual get-up-and-take-a-break break from listening after it finishes. It's very involving.

[chasea]

I've been going through a phase where I'm really enjoying those albums which tell a story over their length...Yeah I'm a mid-thirties white guy who likes hip hop. Deal with it :-)

The Streets "A Grand Don't Come For Free."

[zetroc]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call.

[holliscx]

OK Computer the opening note of Airbag pulls me in to sit down and listen to the album the whole way through

In the next world war
In a jackknifed juggernaut
I am born again

Other solid albums track for track:

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Fugees - The Score

Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls / Swamp Ophelia / Rites of Passage

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of

Modest Mouse - Building Nothing out of Something

The National - Boxer

Patti Smith - Horses

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

R.E.M. - Green

Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

# #

To me the key is track ones ... Kanye for example comes out strong but quickly tails off.

This dates me a little but I used to fly and would always hit play on my Walkman as the jet started off down the runway. I loved the way the plane built speed in unison with "Where the Streets Have No Name" the timing was almost perfect right as the wheels lifted off the ground the lyrics began. Joshua Tree is a classic old school story album.

Another album I'll throw out is Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water is Life - the West African guitar tuning really does it for me plus French. See NPR tiny desk concert below.

[robin3mj]

The Streets "A Grand Don't Come For Free."

I haven't given that one a listen in a long time. Good call.

Also, the Beastie Boys' Hello Nasty- doesn;t quite tell a story but demands a full listen in proper order.

[Brandon White]

Pedro the Lion - Control - About a corporate man who has an affair and his wife murders him.
Pedro the Lion - Winners Never Quit - The downward spiral of a corrupt but well meaning politician.

The Good Life - Album of the Year - About a new relationship over the course of a year.
The Good Life - Black Out - The dreary side of Tim Kasher's bitter divorce.

Cursive - Domestica - The angry side of Tim Kasher's divorce.

And my Favorite, which has already been mentioned.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over The Sea.

I'll also have to revisit A Grand Don't Come For Free - that was in heavy rotation in 2004 and will surely conjure up memories of moving to Florida.