Let's Make A Concept Album V3 - The Final Wars (I swear, I will not kill anyone)
605 replies, posted
[QUOTE=pie_is_good;33152288]wait why is the protagonist going mad?[/QUOTE]
he got banned for 5 hours.
[QUOTE=pie_is_good;33152288]wait why is the protagonist going mad?[/QUOTE]
I dunno.
Life sucks, wife leaves, parents die, friends go away, home is destroyed...
[editline]6th November 2011[/editline]
Internet goes down during a WOW raid
[QUOTE=AK'z;33152297]he got banned for 5 hours.[/QUOTE]
I like this idea.
A non-serious concept album, eh..?
who said it wasn't serious?
Well it would be more "facepunchy" to do an album about dealing with being banned.
[QUOTE=pie_is_good;33152366]who said it wasn't serious?[/QUOTE]
Because a man going insane because he is banned from an online forum is a humorous concept.
[QUOTE=Hakita;33152392]Because a man going insane because he is banned from an online forum is a humorous concept.[/QUOTE]
Well, maybe to you.
[QUOTE=MakoSkyDub;33144002]Oh man, I thought it would be a bit longer before a theme was settled upon. As for this one, (assuming at this point I'm contributing something here so my opinion is somewhat valid) we should be careful not to have X songs with the same structure, like ten descents or some shit. How about coming up with a reasonably simple plotline and defining stages to be conveyed through each song or each trio of songs or something, so the album feels like it was done by more of a unit rather than loose material made and then fitted together afterwards?[/QUOTE]
The great(?) thing about insanity is that we have pretty much free reigns on just how we want it to be structured, hell we could have one descent then two rise, two descent one rise and suddely a big drop or whatever.
I think we could start of with a simple, soothing track. Life is great, nothing to complain about. The first three-four songs could be just calm and cool songs, that just chug on, preferably something catchy, to make people interested.
Then suddenly, BAM
A wild, crazy song, this soung could start of like the first songs, but have a sudden change of tempo. This is the event, that starts the descent into madness. After that, song, it's gloomy. Something bad have happened, a terrible thing that shouldn't be spoken about.
So currently, we have a list like this:
1 : A calm intro
2: Catchy fun song
3: Catchy fun song with only small, subtle hints (could be a dark synth or something idunno)
4: Fun happy song that collapses in the middle, switches tempo completely.
5: Depressing, sad song (could be ambient?)
After that, we can make tracks that are a mix of it all really, insanity is after all pretty random and there can be spots of perfect happiness and normality, with only insanity lurking in the background, ready to jump forward and fuck shit up.
I think we should have a motif, a riff that comes back every now and then, a red line if you will. In the earlier stages, it can be just a fun little catchy melody with a happy instrument, but later on it becomes darker, for instance it could be a piano playing a fun melody, but it becomes slower (faster?) and more erratic for every 2nd/3rd track or something like that.
Sort of like in "The Crimson Idol" by W.A.S.P, they have a simple motif there that comes back in every song, but depending on the mood of the song, it is played in a different way.
[QUOTE=Hakita;33152309]friends go away[/QUOTE]
[img]http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/arts/2004/11/04/g1deadfriends.jpg[/img]
Writing out song structure is the complete wrong way to go about making a concept album. Just thinking of the concept in general isn't enough either. Really flesh it out and make it a fully fledged concepts with real ideas, with a progression in terms of story, rather than just saying something like:
Idea: kid runs from home
happy song cuz life is okay
doom song cuz life is getting bad
frantic song cuz he runs away!
it's just boring, it's been done before, and it's missing the entire point of a concept album
also remember the music doesn't necessarily have to reflect the tone of the movement, you can use lyrics and instrumentation to do the same thing without being in-fucking-credibly overt.
[editline]6th November 2011[/editline]
now instead of something incredibly fucking mindgratingly boring as "a guy is going crazy (even though we have no idea why)!!" think about what else you could possibly base it around instead of writing something on your own. Perhaps base it around a historical event, like the rape of nanking, or all of WWII, or perhaps around the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, or the life of Buddah. Just random suggestions.
I might bash out some improv on the drums for "descent into madness" if anyone wants to use it in their track.
i'm not really for the whole insanity thing here - i mean, does anyone here even know WHY the guy's going insane?
we should do something more relatable and down to earth here, last album bombed because it was bunch of mindless ~high-concept artsy and deep artsy and deep~ stuff with very little substance behind it
something mundane, like the life cycle of a relationship, would suffice
[editline]6th November 2011[/editline]
Dark Side of the Moon is a good example of what i mean - it took the idea of a concept album, and brought it to something everybody can relate to - [I]life[/I]
that right there is what helped push the album to the masses
You wanted something relatable to Facepunchers, yet you propose a relationship story.
How about naming each of the songs on a different mental illness or personal struggles with their minds, and the song will reflect that mental illness. That way we don't have to worry about ordering and transitions so much than if we went for this album telling a story also I think it'll let individual artists have discrete expressions.
I would love to contribute to this album, but I don't have any decant software or recording devices yet, untill Christmas, so if it's likely to take that long I'll write a song for this album, and record it after Christmas. If it'll be completed by Christmas, I'll contribute on the next one.
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;33156714]"a guy is going crazy (even though we have no idea why)!!"[/QUOTE]
We know why! He got banned from facepunch for a few hours.
whatever works for you. it's not my album
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;33157369]whatever works for you. it's not my album[/QUOTE]
It is supposed to be everyone's album, it's a shame something made you feel like that.
I wonder what it could be that makes me feel like that!?
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;33156714]Writing out song structure is the complete wrong way to go about making a concept album. Just thinking of the concept in general isn't enough either. Really flesh it out and make it a fully fledged concepts with real ideas, with a progression in terms of story, rather than just saying something like:
Idea: kid runs from home
happy song cuz life is okay
doom song cuz life is getting bad
frantic song cuz he runs away!
it's just boring, it's been done before, and it's missing the entire point of a concept album
also remember the music doesn't necessarily have to reflect the tone of the movement, you can use lyrics and instrumentation to do the same thing without being in-fucking-credibly overt.
[editline]6th November 2011[/editline]
now instead of something incredibly fucking mindgratingly boring as "a guy is going crazy (even though we have no idea why)!!" think about what else you could possibly base it around instead of writing something on your own. Perhaps base it around a historical event, like the rape of nanking, or all of WWII, [B]or perhaps around the writings of H.P. Lovecraft,[/B] or the life of Buddah. Just random suggestions.[/QUOTE]
(Bolded) Yes, I like this idea (and I included a link to 'The Call Of Cthulhu' by said writer earlier, I think we should try and make a concept album based on that book and that mythos, because it is a great book. =)
I also agree on it being a bad idea on starting with a song list, it's better to let it come more natural, but obviously some sort of plan to make it coherent should still be necessary. =)
cthulhu has been beaten to death. he has far more great stories than just that.
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;33158057]cthulhu has been beaten to death. he has far more great stories than just that.[/QUOTE]
the hound is probably my favourite story of Lovecraft's
I think I'm going to experiment with some cool dynamics to represent the feeling of a sudden change a persons mental state.
I'm really looking forward to this one :D
I (HIGHLY) suggest "The Whisperer In Darkness" or possibly "The Lurking Fear"
[editline]6th November 2011[/editline]
[quote]The story is told by Albert N. Wilmarth, an instructor of literature at Miskatonic University in Arkham. When local newspapers report strange things seen floating in rivers during a historic Vermont flood, Wilmarth becomes embroiled in a controversy about the reality and significance of the sightings, though he sides with the skeptics. Wilmarth uncovers old legends about monsters living in the uninhabited hills who abduct people who venture or settle too close to their territory.
He receives a letter from one Henry Wentworth Akeley, a man who lives in an isolated farmhouse near Townshend, Vermont. He affirms that he has proof that will convince Wilmarth that he is wrong. From this point on, most of the story involves the exchange of letters between the two characters. Through their correspondence, we learn of the existence of an extraterrestrial race of monstrous beings that have an outpost in the Vermont hills where they mine a rare metal. They have no interest in the human race and usually hide from people. Nonetheless, they ruthlessly defend their outpost and their secrecy, often employing human agents with whom they have made secret pacts.
The aforementioned agents intercept Akeley's messages and proceed to harass his farmhouse on a nightly basis. The two eventually exchange gunfire, killing many of Akeley's guard dogs. Although Akeley expresses more worry in his letters, he abruptly has a change of heart. He writes that he has met with the extraterrestrial beings and has learned that they are a peaceful race. Furthermore, they have taught him of marvels beyond all imagination. He urges Wilmarth to pay him a visit and to bring along the letters and photographic evidence that he had sent him. Wilmarth reluctantly consents.
Wilmarth arrives to find Akeley in a pitiful physical condition, immobilized in a chair. Akeley tells Wilmarth about the extraterrestrial race and the wonders they have revealed to him. He also says that the beings can surgically extract a human brain and place it into a canister wherein it can live indefinitely and withstand the rigors of outer space travel. Akeley says that he has agreed to undertake such a journey and points to a cylinder bearing his name.
During the night, a sleepless Wilmarth overhears a disturbing conversation. When he investigates, he makes a horrifying discovery. He then runs from the farmhouse, steals Akeley's car, and flees to Townshend. When the authorities investigate the next day, all they find is a bullet-riddled house. Akeley has disappeared, along with all the physical evidence of the extraterrestrial presence.
As the story ends, Wilmarth recounts the horror that drove him from the Akeley farmhouse. When he went to the chair where Akeley had sat, he found only his disembodied face and hands. We are led to conclude that it was not Akeley who had sat in the chair and conversed with him but one of the extraterrestrials in disguise, whilst all the while Akeley's brain had rested in the named cylinder.[/quote]
The story is incredibly frighting, particularly the two large climaxes, and the whole story has a very blair witch feel to it, particularly with the early letters. So fucking scary.
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;33158057]cthulhu has been beaten to death. he has far more great stories than just that.[/QUOTE]
True, I just thought about Cthulhu because more people know about him and might garner some added interest from people, since they would know something about him. You're absolutely right though, he has plentiful of stories we can take from.
[editline]7th November 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;33158188]I (HIGHLY) suggest "The Whisperer In Darkness" or possibly "The Lurking Fear"
[editline]6th November 2011[/editline]
The story is incredibly frighting, particularly the two large climaxes, and the whole story has a very blair witch feel to it, particularly with the early letters. So fucking scary.[/QUOTE]
Personally, I think The Lurking Fear (from the excerpts I've read of it) would work much better than The Whisperer In Darkness, I'll definietly read the two stories though ; I really need to read more H.P Lovecraft.
Lurking Fear doesn't really have a solid conclusion or arc though, and has too many ups and downs.
I know it's industrial, but an album I suggest people to check out would be Devils in My Details by ohGr. It's pretty dynamic and claustrophobic. It really has a sense of insanity to it.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q6XdH7BdxI[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q6XdH7BdxI"][/URL][/media]
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;33158765]Lurking Fear doesn't really have a solid conclusion or arc though, and has too many ups and downs.[/QUOTE]
Alright, I'll still read it though! So, how about everyone reads "The Whisperer In Darkness" then? If we're going with that story, that is.
[editline]7th November 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=T.F.W.O.;33158773]I know it's industrial, but an album I suggest people to check out would be Devils in My Details by ohGr. It's pretty dynamic and claustrophobic. It really has a sense of insanity to it.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q6XdH7BdxI[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q6XdH7BdxI"][/URL][/media][/QUOTE]
I don't know what to think of this song in particular, it's really well-made in terms of dynamics, but the rest is pretty mediocre if not outright bad. I'll check it out though, sounds like I can learn a lot on dynamics from the album. =)
Do one about how hard it is to fit in
every Fper will relate to it
or do one about modern misery and how everyone seems to be sad about something and noone knows what
[editline]7th November 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;33156714]Writing out song structure is the complete wrong way to go about making a concept album. Just thinking of the concept in general isn't enough either. Really flesh it out and make it a fully fledged concepts with real ideas, with a progression in terms of story, rather than just saying something like:
Idea: kid runs from home
happy song cuz life is okay
doom song cuz life is getting bad
frantic song cuz he runs away!
it's just boring, it's been done before, and it's missing the entire point of a concept album
also remember the music doesn't necessarily have to reflect the tone of the movement, you can use lyrics and instrumentation to do the same thing without being in-fucking-credibly overt.
[editline]6th November 2011[/editline]
now instead of something incredibly fucking mindgratingly boring as "a guy is going crazy (even though we have no idea why)!!" think about what else you could possibly base it around instead of writing something on your own. Perhaps base it around a historical event, like the rape of nanking, or all of WWII, or perhaps around the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, or the life of Buddah. Just random suggestions.[/QUOTE]
The issue with doing a narrative-based and tightly constructed idea is that in this situation there are so many people, its very hard to collude to make it tight, and progress well.
Something similar to the Dark Side of the Moon kind of works better because while its not a narrative, its a collection of songs based around different aspects of the same concept
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