The Concept Album

The Concept Album never had a proper name. It was an idea that George came up with in 1983.

In the beginning, George composed a lot of the music. He decided to collaborate on the album with his girlfriend, and the two of them decided to try to figure out a storyline and the lyrics.

They spent a couple of weeks in a caravan at the edge of Dartmoor, where they were supposed to be writing songs. At least, they managed to write one, and they created the ideas for a few more, but they were mostly busy doing… other things.

Over the course of the following years, several more songs were composed. Lyrics were crafted for existing music. A roadmap of the story and songs was made and revised. These things tended to happen in outbursts of several songs.

The songs in this collection were all recorded on George’s Tascam 244 in 1986 and 1987. They are, at best, demos.

There are several missing songs that belong on The Concept Album. There was one with a working title of The Ceremony, one was called Round in a Circle, one had the working title The Return, and there may have been one or two more.

The idea for the story came from the renouned and massively groundbreaking 1982 Apple II computer game Wizardry.

The music was inspired by albums such as The Elder by Kiss, 2112 by Rush, The Wall by Pink Floyd, Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake by Small Faces, The Broadsword and the Beast by Jethro Tull, and others of the sort that were available at that time.

Will this album ever be completed? We cannot tell. But for what it’s worth, here is The Concept Album as it stands right now.